[p. 463] general farmer, residing on his farm of ninety-two acres, situated in North Beaver Township, near Hope school-house, was born on the old Swisher farm in North Beaver Township, Lawrence County, April 22, 1833. His parents were John K. and Martha (McClure) Swisher.
John K. Swisher was born on his father's farm, situated along the Susquehanna River not far from the capital city of Harrisburg. Prior to his marriage he visited North Beaver Township and secured his land and then returned to Eastern Pennsylvania, where he married Martha McClure, and by wagon, brought his bride to the new home. He became a man of large substance and much prominence. He was one of the first county commissioners of Lawrence County and his name appears on the court records as serving when the court house was built. He owned 200 acres of land, and on his farm both he and wife died.
Francis M. Swisher grew to manhood on the old farm, which is now known as the Gwin farm. Before his marriage he went to the Territory of Kansas, much as his father had come to North Beaver Township, and there took up 162 acres of government land and ten acres of timber land, after which he returned to Lawrence County, married and went back to Kansas, where he lived for five years. His father became sick and he returned to give him filial care, as the two older brothers, John and Alfred, were in the army. The father made him a present of fifty acres off the home farm, and with this incentive to stay at home, Mr. Swisher consented and sold his Kansas land. During his residence in that then troubled State, he had many experiences with the Indians, and one of these might have proven fatal to him. An intoxicated Indian one night shot him with his bow and arrow and then escaped. After he settled again in Lawrence County he cultivated the old homestead farm until 1867, when he moved to his present place, where he has made all the fine improvements that mark it as the home of a successful agriculturist and careful manager.
On September 1, 1857, Mr. Swisher was married to Ellen Calwell, who was born in Union County, Pennsylvania, and when eight years of age was brought to North Beaver Township by her parents, Daniel and Jane (Huff) Calwell. Mr. and Mrs. Swisher have had the following children: Martha Jane, who was born in Kansas, March 7, 1861, married William P. Hogg; Julius Calwell, born in Kansas, died September 20, 1861; Salem Town, born February 27, 1863, died October 28, 1868; Lizzie Calwell, born October 21, 1865, married Frank Hayes, both deceased; George Washington, born September 9, 1872, is a mail carrier at New Castle; John Jay, born August 11, 1875, resides at home, and Bessie Edith and Jessie Edna, twins, were born September 8, 1879. Bessie Edith married James Buchanan and died in February, 1908. Jessie Edna is the wife of Rev. C. C. Chain, a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and they are located at Matamoras, Ohio. Mr. Swisher is a member of the Petersburg Methodist Episcopal Church and is president of its Board of Trustees.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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Updated: 24 Oct 2001