John Swett was an only child born July 31, 1830 in Pittsfield, New Hampshire, to Lucretia (born French) Swett and Ebenezer Swett, who were Congregationalists. He died August 22, 1913 in Alhambra Valley, near Martinez, California. He married Mary Louise (Tracy) Swett on May 8, 1862 in Sonoma, and they had 6 children. During his life he was a close friend of Sierra Club co-founder John Muir. Swett arrived in California in 1853 to mine gold but quickly sought work as a teacher in San Francisco. In 1862 he became a Freemason, joining San Francisco's Phoenix Lodge No. 144.