Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1910-06-04

mer swope As Heir to Fortune.
Since the publication Of the facts ID
the case Of Elmer swope OF this city
in connection with his claim to the
millions Of Thomas II. swope, D.
Kansas City, as given ia The Star o.
that city, It viii be interesting TO the
people of this city to know the an
cestry Of the late Thomas II. Swope
A singular coincidence is that the
grandfather OF both Elmer Swope and
Thomas II. Swope was Jacob Swope
as viii be noted when comparing the
%parentage of both.
In the history of the swope family.
which was published In 1896. nearly
all the families of that name are
traced. 1T is a distinguished famUr
and many prominent men are told OF
in this book. OF these Thomas Ssope's
ancestors the following is given:
/. Rev. Benedict Swope a clergy
man of the Reformed Church. 0asborn
near York, Pa. Time of birth unce..
tain. He preached in the neighbor-
hood OF Baltimore in 1870 and moved
to Kentucky in 1874 and settled at
Logan's Station. Lincoln County. He
died of govt at the home of his son
Jacob Swope, March 80, 1871. He had
eight children, Jacob, the fourth child
being the grandfather Of Thomas
Swope of Kansas City.
2. Jacob Swope was born in 1867
died 1S47. Married Margaret Pope in
Lexington County, Kentucky n had
nine children, the oldest, John Bre-
vett, father Of Thomas Swope.
3. John Brevett Swope born June Is,
1889, married Francis A. Hunton.
They had seven children, the Oldest Of
which was Thomas Swope.
4. Thomas II. Swope was born and
reared in Danville, Ky. He graduated
at Yale University, after which he
read law with Judge Reavis, in Gaines
vile, Alabama, but never practicei
his profession. He moved to Kansas
City in 1856.
This history coupled with the know
ledge of Col. Swope's residence in
Kansas City, makes it almost and i'm
possibility for him to have been Tres
ident Of New Jersey. The ground OF
which Elmer Swope's attorney in
| Kansas City was working, was that
Thomas II. Swope came east and lived
under assumed initials. They claimed
that they had proof of this at the
- H. la4sgNs~- 4Aat I1nNAr
Swope's father was known as Peter.
Granville p. Swope, enlisted in the
Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers and
rose to the rank of lieutenant. He
was mustered out in Washington. w.
II. Swope was also a private in a
Pennsylvania company. Alferd Swope
enlisted from New Jersey and is bur
led at Hampton. Va. This accounts
for all the Swopes that lived In that
section or could in any way be con
nected with Elmer Swope's %parentage.
The brother of Benedict Swope. re-
NAMED in York county and there are, a
number of descendants now living m
that part of the state. The most
prominent of whom are Judge Sam
Mac. Swope, of Gettysburg.
Following is what the executors
Messrs. John C. Paxton. and Stuart
Fleming found while visiting in Mar
tinsburg and New Jersey recently:
Rather curious, isn't it, in view of
the assertion Of Elmer Swope that his
father. Peter NJ. Swope, came to Kan
sas City and changed his name TO
Thomas H. Swope. that a Peter NJ.
Swope should be running a hotel back
at Point Pleasant, n. J., the very
years that Colonel Swope was known
TO be in Kansas City carrying on large
business deals?" said Stuart S
Fleming, executor of the Swope es.
tate, to a representative of the Kan.
sas City Star. He had just returned
from his trip to Martinsburg and New
Jersey. where he investigated the
claim of Elmer Swope to the Swope
millions. Talking further of t he claim
he added:
| II found that Swope hotel back in
New Jersey. slept in it a night and
found a score of old settlers who
knew Peter NJ. Swope who ran it and
knew of his marriage to Miss Eliza
beth Carroll OF Fleming, n. ]. These
same old settlers also knew and TOLD
of the birth Of his son, Elmer Swope
DO ! believe that Elmer SwoUe has
any just claim to the property lef
by Thomas H. Swope? Such strikin9
evidence as this hardly makes an an
swer necessary. does it?"
What Mr.. Fleming Found.
Mr.. Fleming returned to Kansa.
City after spending several weeks il
New Jersey investigating the CLAIM
: Elmer Swope, of Martinsburg, w. Va.
e has made to the Swope millions. Her
e are the things he found, which vii
j. make up the defense offered by III
4 legatees under the will to the sun
that is 10 be brought by Elme
Swope's attorneys:
That a Swope family, the head O
A