The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1909-09-23
PIONEER DIES AT FAIR
CAPT. VIM c. SWAIN SUCCuMBS 10
APOPLEXY ON GROUNDS.
Was Well Known Job Printer or CITY
and Sprang from Prominent
Colonial Family.


Capt William {. Swain. one of Nil
Of the war between the states ana n
promiuent member of the Masonic bot"r.
of Wisconsin. died suddenly OF ap"peNl
ri the hospital on the state far grounds
on Wednesday evening. MIR. Swain was
II years of age. and for several years
had been an inmate Of the milwaukee,
branch of the National Soldiers home.
Capt Swain was stricken about i
o'clock. He was conveyed Ia the hos
initial conducted under the fair manage
mcnt. where he passed away two hours
later.
William Chester Swain was a native
of Halifax, VI, where he WAS born
April 80, 1882, and sprang from noted
Colonial family. His parents were CHIP
man and Dency Gilbert Swain, who
traced their lineage in an unbroken line
m Jeremiah Swain, who came to MaNSa-
chusctts in 1893, settling in Charleston
in that year. Mai Jeremiah Swain was
n prominent actor in King l'hIlIpS war
and was wounded At the NarragauNcu
FIGHT. The great grandfather of W. {.
Swain. Rev Joseph Swain, was IN 1907
chaplain Of Col Plaisted's regiment,
raised in Essex county, Mass, on the
expedition to Crown Point His grand
lalllI. ltNtlJI tNN @Al's lht w 90 .. '''''
at Concord in repair previous f. IN" h%ht
and served as an artisan in the patriot
army during the Rcyuiuu'u.
At the age of - years, ". c. Swain
entered n printing office ANA learned lu'
trade. working on various papers II ms
native state and later being employed "u
the New York Post when William 'Ql-
len Bryant the poet, was its editor. ~
1898 he went To- Albany and was there
9 "a a. q O.. o
for two years. going from there 10 Puts.
field. Mass. 10 take charge OF job
printing establishments He entered She
army i'm 1NG1. pulis'ug in Go. T. Ninety
third regiment, New York volunteers.
lie became q second lieutenant and was
later promoted SucccSsivciy to first leu
tenant and captain. lie served during
the Peninsula campaign, aud participate
ed in many Of the notable battles mt
Williamsburg. Autiotam, F'rcderickS
burg. Chaucelloryilic and Gettysburg, In
July, 1868 he was sent on detached ser
vice 10 tho draft rendezvous at Hart
island and was made chief engineer of
The island. At the end of three years
he was mustered out. but in the follow
ing spring he accepted a captains com
mission in the Twenty-fourth colorcd
infantry, and was engaged IL guarding
Confederate prisoners at Point Lookout
Md.
! He retired from the army in October
1865, and came to Wisconsin. For three
years he engaged III farming in Sank
county. He came to Milwaukee in jnu-
uary 1863 entering the employ o. the
old Daily News. In 1878 he formed n
partnership in the job printing business
with John SymcS under the name &C
Symcs. Swain Il Co. Samuel +. Fate
entered the firm in 1884, and the name
became that Of Swain n Tate and as
an incorporated company it was con
Quoted uatil several years ago, when
Mr.. Swain retired on account of poor
health. Mr.. Tate remaining IN the firm
Mr.. Swain became a Master Mason in
1863 in St. Nicholas lodge, no. 32l. New
York city. In Wisconsin ne occupied a
number Of prominent positions in the
fraternity, having been master Of q
lodge high priest of a chapter, and COM
mandcr Of the knights TcmpIar He
served as grand high priest of the grand
chapter Of Wisconsin in lS7I-TN and
was grand master Of the grand lodge OF
Wisconsin In 1893 He was also an
officer Of the general grand chapter Of
the United States and was widely known
throughout the Masonic world. He was
thirty second degree member, Scottish
rite bodies. He was also member of
the military order of the Loyal Legion
and was in lSJ59G president Of the Wis
cousin Society of Sons of the American
Revolution.
Mr.. Swain was married June II, 1877.
to Olive Egcrton Brayton They had
three children, Katherine Egcrton, Mary
BrHyton and George Chester Swain.
a rl,i