Albert F. Swanson

SWANSON, ECKERMAN

Posted By: Connie Swearingen- Volunteer (email)
Date: 12/17/2015 at 10:07:19

Northwestern Iowa
Its History and Traditions
1804 – 1926

In connection with commercial and industrial interests, the name of Albert F. Swanson has become widely and favorably known, and today, as president and manager of Auto Specialists, Inc., he is one of the prominent and successful business men of Sioux City. Mr. Swanson was born in Hartley, Iowa, September 26, 1891, and is the son of John F. and August M. (Swanson) Swanson, both of whom were natives of Skara, Sweden. The father came to the United States in 1880, when a young, man, and the following year sent back to the homeland for his sweetheart, to whom he was married at Paxton, Illinois. Directly thereafter they came to Iowa, locating in Spencer, where he entered the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. He remained with that company twenty-one years, during which time he was transferred to Hartley, Iowa, as road master. On resigning his position he located on a farm north of Hartley which he had bought for the purpose of rearing his family of nine children thereon. In 1919 he left the farm, which he still owns, however, and moved back to Hartley, where he now lives retired.

Albert F. Swanson attended the country schools and the Hartley high school and then entered Highland Park College, at Des Moines, where he was graduated. On leaving college he went to work for a sash and door factory in Des Moines, beginning at a salary of ten dollars a week, but so efficient and faithful was he in the performance of his duties that he was promoted from time to time and by the end of his first year was receiving one hundred and fifty dollars a month. He then resigned that position and organized the Glide Automobile Company, engaging in the repair and sale of automobiles, doing a wholesale and retail business. Mr. Swanson was president and manager of the company, which began business on June 1, 1913. In July, 1916, they sold the business for enough to pay their obligations, in addition to which Mr. Swanson recognized the fact that he had gained some very valuable experience. He then went to work at a salary for the Auto Salvage Company of Des Moines, and in December of that year the company sent him to Sioux City to establish a branch house. He opened a place at Third and Jackson streets and was very successful in building up a good business at this point. In May 1917, he enlisted in the Iowa National Guard, and in 1918, the Auto Salvage Company, fearing that he would soon leave for the front, decided to sell the Sioux City business. Mr. Swanson and two others then bought the business, which they incorporated as the Auto Salvage & Exchange Company. IN 1918 Mr. Swanson brought his brother here from Detroit to assist him in the operation of the business, and in 1919 he organized the Steam Tractor, Auto & Manufacturing Company, which was incorporated with a paid-up capital of one hundred thousand dollars. They engaged in the building of a high pressure steam tractor and also manufactured the Carbono piston rings. In 1922 the name of the company was changed to Auto Specialists, Inc., and at the time the manufacture of the tractor was discontinued. The company has enjoyed a steady growth in business, has gained a merited reputation for reliability and is today numbered among the prosperous concerns of this city.

On November 21, 1915, Mr. Swanson was married to Miss Velma Lenore Eckerman, of Des Moines, Iowa, and they are the parents of three children, Ruth Alberta, Barbara Jane and John Allen. In May, 1917, Mr. Swanson enlisted in Company D, Fourth Regiment, Iowa National Guard, and in December of that year was commissioned second lieutenant. On July 8, 1918, he was commissioned captain and ordered to recruit a company, which he did, but was never called into active service. He is a member of Landmark Lodge No. 103, A.F. & A.M.; Sioux City Chapter, No. 26, R.A.M., Sioux City Consistory, No. 5, A.A.S.R., Abu-Behr Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S.; and Rose Croix Chapter No. 400, O.E.S., of which Mrs. Swanson also is a member. He likewise belongs to Sioux City Lodge, No. 112, B.P.O.E., the Sioux City Boat Club, the Sioux City Gun Club, the Cosmopolitan Club of this city, and is a charter member of the Men’s Club of Smithsville and vicinity, organized for the purpose of civic improvements. His religious connection is with the Mayflower Congregational church, of the official board of which he is a member. Mr. Swanson is a wide-awake, alert and enterprising man, sagacious and farsighted in his business affairs, and the success which has come to him is well merited.