Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-02-10
JouN swIssuE1M, AGrD SG.


resting place:
49,. s.s....-H
JoHN SwIssHELM, AGED 81.
A................... .............A
! No sign that he MAS one of the worlds he
roes, vet when the Revolutionary wal. broke
out his parents had but two children. The
eldest enlisted aud was killed, when John
shouldered his rifle, took his dead brother's
/ place, aud held it till the close of the strug-
gle. He spent the winter ia Valley Forge
and once in the darkest time discovered Gen.
George Washington on his knees In lonely
/ thicket praying aloud for his country. This
gave him hope when hope Mas welLuigh dead
and ne followed his commander across the
Jerseys, one OF the noble 1000. He died in
ISIS
Sws,helm and Jane Grey met when the lat
ter WAS 10 years OF age Prior 10 that time
her whole childhood aud young womauhood
was spent In an atmosphere Of public life,
from which she must certainly have caught
one glimpse OF her own future. Their neigh
Dor was Judge William wilkins who was
made secretary OF war, minister to Russia,
secretary OF the treasury, and supreme Judge
They lived at Williamsburg then, but she
stood upon the curb-stone at Pittsburgh on
the day that Gen. Lafayette visited the city.
This distinguished hero stepped aside and,
approaching her, laid his hand on her head,
turned up the face, aud spoke to the happy
child.
II was a quilting that she was introduced
10 James Swisshelm. OF her feelings on this
occasion she aiterWard wrote:
lie seemed 10 me As man whose presence
made me- feel that | was a very little 2 ri and
I siDull laEts lsru "A homo IItl u Siy
feet tall, well formed, strongly built with
black hair and ewes, long face, and heavy
bIacN whiskers. He was handsomely dressed
and bis manner was that OF grave and rcver-
eud srignor. a Russian count i'm New York
draw lug-ro1fn, when counts were few. could
not have seemed more foreign than this man
In that village parlor, less than two miles
from the place OF his birth. He was the sou
Of an old Revolutionary soldier with an unap-
prOachable name, who lived over In tie beau.
tiful valley his | knew At first, but did
not realize TIL some time afterWard that he
was the individual who rescued me from
drowning lew ye.rs ago, when our runaway
horses nad dragged a wagon I'm hich | was
seaied,into ioOded,creek. II seems that from
that moment he had elected me rs his wife,
hut never knew II. next saw him on horse
back, aud this man OF giant strength In full
suit Of black riding large, spirited black
horse became my Black knight
They were married on Nov Is, 1896. He
owned saw-mills, but was dissatisfied With the
location In Swis>vale, aud wanted 20 take his
young wife 10 the pine woods up the Ale
gheny, and this OccssOncd the first quarrel
they had after their marriage. She objected
to going. Then he took her TO live at his
home, but his mother and wife never could
live happily together His wife's love for him,
however continued great for the first two
years. After that everything WAS chaos be-
tween them. They differed ON everything.
She tried 10 be religious and follow pious
life, while he scOrned such a profession aud
sneetrd Ht her She loved TO write, but her
maidC. coutr butious TO the press met with
violent opposition from her uucOuth husband.
He wanted to keep her down to the drudgery
Of household work
Mrs Swssheim's first contribution was
printed In 1910 by George ID. Prentice in The
Lou0iie go1f,tdi Then In lS4j she wrote
stories under the nom de plume OF "Jenuy
Deans for Meals SATURDAY. Guzette and The
Doi'rr Newspaper, both OF Philadelphia. Her
fearless writings for an abolition paper soon
attracted attention and after editorial connec-
ton with M PittSb,Ugh Gazette and COmHler-
cal Journal she started the publication Of he
Saturday Visitor IN lSiS II was distinctiyely
abolit onist, and in the five years OF its career
was quoted aud read all over the United
States
She went to Washington in 1850 aided DR.
Gamaliel Bailey In the issue Of his great anti
slavery paper aud made persona visits 10 the
great men bl lihN IFIlfil. sue anu III Dhl tN
forwarded 500 TO Mrs. Harriet Beecher stowe
as a retaining fee for her services in the cause
OF the slave, aud 10! the result was Uncle
/ Toms Cabin"
Joshua r. Gddings introduced Mrs Swiss.
helm to President TAYLOR. However, the
whole air OF freedoms capital trilled aud pal.
plated with hate Tor her cause She had a
hard time, but her pen commanded attention.
She grew famous In NashingtOn-so much so
that notoriety at the hotel was unpleasant,
and she accepted an invitation to become the
guest Of Mrs. Emma d. +. " Southworth, the
/ novelist Then she wrote regularly for The
/ NeU lork Tribune, and Horace Greeley be
came one OF her most intimate friends. The
war came on, and Mrs. Swsshelm did noble
/ work as All army nurse.
/ The ladv's domestic troubles eliminated In
/ 1910. Outraged 10y what she considered his
| abuse, she resolved 10 leave her husband.
/ This she did after one OF her violent out
! bursts OF temper. She left in the dead OF
night, aud Of her departure afterward she
/ wrote:
~ went to the old meeting house, and
walked its one aisle, with the quiet dead ~
] ing all around me, thinking OF that good fight
. ere finished INV course and lay down 10 rest
as they did. But the sun went down, the long
twilight drew on the coming night, and
was homeless
Subsequently reconciliation was effected,
but once more thev separated. This time
/ Mrs. Swisshelm procured her household good,
/ by process Of law, and was divorced from hel
husband In 1880 she published her book
"Hslf a Century" I'm which she bitterly as
sails her husband. or their separation she
| wrote:
"Our marriage has been mistake produc
tive Of mutual injurt; but for one II WAS not
too late to repair the wrong lie, a man IL
the prime ~ life, with unspotted reputation
| living without labor on the income OF "A patri
! monial estate. TO which he had made large al
dtious, could easily find helpmate for hin
one who could pad matrimonial letters will
those devices by which husbands are manag
Ell. Nv deserton would leave him free Il
make a new choice, and could more easil'
earn living alone"
With her baby she left on May %, 1851, foi
St Paul, MINI.
INV husband-mine no more-came upoi
the boat while she lay At the wharf. hel,
baby upon his knee and wept over her
when the last bell rang he babe me good bv
carried her 90 the gangway, held her 10 Tia
last moment then placed her In my arms
sprang ashore, and hurried mp the wharf III
would, think, have carried her of, but tina