JOEL L. SWINEHART.
Joel L. Swinehart, a well-known farmer of Audubon township, was born on July 18, 1864, in Lagrange county, Indiana, the son of Samuel and Eliza (Sigler) Swinehart, natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio respectively, the latter having been born in Wood county. After their marriage in Lagrange county, Indiana, they lived until 1869 in that state, when they removed to Benton county, Iowa, and in 1874 they again removed to Guthrie, where the mother died in 1876. The father spent the latter part of his life with his son, Joel L., the subject of this sketch, passing away at his home in October, 1912. Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Swinehart had six children, as follow: Charles, Mrs. Ella Matthews, Randal, Mrs. Savilla Ewing, Joel L. and Mrs. Minnie Spangler.
Joel L. Swinehart lived at home until his mother's death, at which time he was only eleven years old, and after her death he started out in life for himself, working for his board during the winter and attending school at the same time. After attending school until he was nineteen years old, he began working continuously at farm work, at which he was engaged until 1886, when he went to California and was engaged as a logger in the soft pine forests of that state. After being in California two years, in the fall of 1887, he returned to Guthrie county, where he worked until 1891, when he purchased eighty acres of land in section 36, of Audubon township. At the time it had only a small sixteen by twenty-two foot house, and a board stable, and there were only fifty acres under cultivation. In 1909 Mr. Swinehart built his present ten-room home, which is entirely and thoroughly modern. Most of the other buildings are practically new, the barn having been built in 1901.
On March 29, 1891, Mr. Swinehart was married in Adair county to Clarissa McClaran, who was born on October 5, 1874, in Pennsylvania, and who is the daughter of John and Rebecca (Hart) McClaran, natives of Vermont and Mercer county, Pennsylvania, respectively.
In 1878 the McClaran family came west and settled in the south edge of Guthrie county, Iowa, and later removed to Oklahoma, where the mother died in July, 1906. The father died at Coffeeville, Kansas, October 31, 1914. They had eight children, seven of whom are living: Benjamin, Ralph, Mrs. Swinehart, Mrs. Grace Lalley, William, Mrs. Ruth Stoner and John.
Mr. and Mrs. Joel L. Swinehart have had eight children, seven of whom are living. The children in the order of their birth are as follow: Charles, born on December 29, 1893; Grace, August 10, 1895; Lenora, February 17, 1897; Joel, February 15, 1901, died February 20th of the same year; Helen, August 20, 1902; Theodore, December 5, 1904; Dorothy, October 13, 1906, and Lynn, July 18, 1911. All the children are living at home, though Grace and Lenora have attended high school at Adair.
Mr. Swinehart was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, but dropped out of the lodge in 1907. A Republican in politics he has served as township trustee and clerk and also as school director, and was president of the board of trustees for two years, all of which positions he discharged with the entire satisfaction of the people of the township. Though not members of any church, Mr. and Mrs. Swinehart and family are loyal and faithful supporters of the Methodist Episcopal.
Among the men who deserve to be counted as successful farmers in this section, Joel L. Swinehart, of Audubon township, is one. He has made a conspicuous success in the business of farming, a fact which is generally recognized by his neighbors and friends. Popular in the county and township where he lives, Mr. Swinehart has behind him an honorable and upright career, and one of which he can be truly proud.
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Transcribed from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pp. 615-616.
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