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Notes
on Samuel McCurdy Swope:
Son of a Saddle Tree maker, at the
age of 12 his town was encompassed in the Battle bearing its name. At that
time, and in the pre dawn of July 1 1863, he and two friends travelled
out to Willoughby Run (just west of Seminary Ridge) to speak to northern
cavalry then encamped and unaware of the carnage to come later in the day
and in the two days to follow. Apparantly enchanted by the youths,
they agreed to the boysí desire to ìtry out their horsesî, and allowed
them to ìride off to water themî. Not content with doing so at the obvious
stream, the boys rode to Marsh Creek, engaged in water play , and it was
there and while thus engaged that they heard what they thought was Penelope
Ann, a revolutionary cannon ignited once a year, on July 4th, and which
they believed to be a prepping for her performance four days later. In
little time they realized that Penelope Ann could not be responsable for
what they heard, and , family lore tells, the boys travelled on rapid horseback
ìthrough the battle then commencingî to three very annoyed Cavalrymen in
absence of their horses while their comrades were actively engaged.
On the occasion of Lincolnís address 4 months later, family lore tells
he was selling lemonade (in november?) with his friends but was accused
of ìpilfering fundsî (my fatherís words likely mimicking the story as told
by his grandfather), at which time he removed to underneath the platform
from which unusual vantage he watched the famous address.
ìIn 1874 he entered the office of David Wills of Gettysburg (ed note: David Wills is the man who hosted Lincoln the night before the famous speech and who was partially responsable for the national cemetery in that town) , with whom he read law, and as a result of which education was admitted to the Bar at Gettysburg in 1876, and two years later to practise before the Supreme Court of the State. He was twice elected District Attorney for the county of Adams, the second time without opposition, though a candidate of the minority party, and as such served six years from Jan. 1880 to Jan, 1886. In 1894 he was elected President Judge of the district, comprising Adams and Fulton counties by a very large majority. In politics he was Republican. Member and elder in Presbyterian Church. ì2
He married the beautiful Anna Kate Stair , known as ìAnnieî, and resided with her and their family on Baltimore Street next to the Presbyterian Church of which he was a member, and in a home now part of the Presbyterian church and holding the name of the subsequent owners. His grandaughter Betty recalls (she was an accomplished singer and a student at Peabody Institute) being asked to singî Oh Take me Homeî at the foot of the ex Judgeís wifeís Sleigh bed on numerous occasions. I get the impression that something more lively would have been preferred by the performer.
The Painting of Samuel McCurdy Swope that is hanging in the Adams County Courthouse (which was dedicated by his grandson Swope, also an attorney, like his father before him) shows Samuel McC with a daisy in his lapel. His grandchildren, who lived in the north of town, remember many evenings when their grandfather would walk to dinner at their home more than a mile removed. He always wore a flower in his lapel. He is remembered as a fine story teller with a dramatic flair. The stories of the battle as related above are those my father told me when I asked ìwhat was our family doing at the time of the Battle?î He answered, ìHiding in the Basement like the rest of the citizensî, and when pressed, told me the above, no doubt, a repeat of stories told to him by his grandfather who had experienced them as related.
Samuel McCurdy Swope moved for admission
of his son James Donald to acceptance by the bar of Adams County.
James Donald Swope would likewise move for the admission of his own son.
I was present when my father moved for the admission of my sister to the
same. There were tears in his eyes [ I only twice in my life saw tears
in my father's eyes] and he looked at the time to the painting of
his grandfather, beloved to him, watching the proceedings.
1850:
For this census , Samuel McCurdy Swopeís
parents were residing in the home on the Northwest corner of Baltimore
across the street from the Farnsworth house. It was a Tannery area at the
time, and his father had the work space behind the home.
1850 census shows John A Swope,
34 yo, saddle tree maker, real estate valued at 450$, wife Nancy 29 (and
heavy with Samuel McCurdy, soon to be born) , Lydia Swope 25, James (son)
2, Martha MíCurdy 62 (Nancyís mother), I canít figure out who Lydia Swope
25 is, but John Adam and Nancy (nee McCurdy) Swopeís daughter Lydia Swope
should be 5 for this census and is not mentioned. Could very well be an
error in transcription from text.
1860:
in 1860 Census he and his parents were
living with George and Clarissa (John Adam Swopeís Siblings). Apparantly,
the area they had formerly inhabited carried the smell of the tanneries
that were located there and in which Johnís father was engaged, probably
leading to the families relocation. The census shows:
John A Swope 43
Nancy 36
Lydia 13
James 11 years
Samuel 9 years
John 7 years
Lydia , James, Samuel and John all
attended school year in the year previous according to the census
which made note of the status of children as being school going or not
the previous year
1870:
in 12th July 1870 Census (page 31 of Census
for Adams County, Gettysburg Boro on line via Ancestry.com and in hard
copy)
the family is listed 165/176 and is listed
as one family with head of household George Swope:
George, cabinet maker 57 Real Estate
value 4000, Personal Estate Value 3500 (Brother to John A)
(Clarissa, the sister of George and John A and with whom they lived as
well in the 1860 census had died in 1865.)
John A, Saddle tree maker Real Estate
Value 3000 Personal estate Value 600
Nancy 49 and a housekeeper
James A 21, ìworks as a Cabinet Makerî
Samuel McC, 19, Student College (this
would be Pennsylvania College, later to be called Gettysburg College)
1910:
He appears in the 1910 census Borough
of Gettysburg, Adams County, Penna and as Head of Household
Samuel Mc C SwopeÝ Age: 59 State: PA
Ý Color: W Enumeration District: 0011
Ý Birth Place: Pennsylvania
Ý County: Adams, Gettysburg
Ý Relation: Head of Household
Ý Other Residents: Wife Annie K 53, Pennsylvania
Son J Donald 28, Pennsylvania (to be married
that year, at which time he would move to Broadway and be head of household)
Daughter Mary S 24, Pennsylvania
Daughter Amy Mc C 17, Pennsylvania
NR Bertie Horner 32, Pennsylvania
NR Marie 15, Pennsylvania
1920:
Appears in 1920 Census Gettysburg, Baltimore
Street with wife Anna and continues as lawyer in general practise.
Page 32 of 40 in Online Images Ancestry.com,
and in district encompassing Jail (there are two districts this census).
The Jail is the former Library, now a municipal building, around the corner
from this home.
Samuel McC and Anna K.
No other residents of home
Spouse: Anna Kate ("Annie") STAIR 2, 6, 8
Children:
Marion (Died as
Infant)
James Donald îDeweyî
(1881-1950)
Mary Stair
(1885-1966)
Amy McCurdy
(1893-1980)
1.1 Marion (died
in Infancy) SWOPE3,
2
Died in Infancy
1.2
James Donald îDeweyî SWOPE4,
9,
2
[much
more info available in link]
óóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóó
Birth: 18 Jul 1881, Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania9
Death: 23 Mar 1950, Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania9
Spouse: Hazel Ruth "Billie" ìBamieî
REINECKE59
Children:
D M
E. R.
1.3 Mary
Stair SWOPE, 9,
2,
óóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóó
Birth: 1885, Gettysburg Pennsylvania,
9,
2
Death: 1966, 9,
2
Burial: Evergreen In Gettysburg.7
Resided: with husband on Carlisle
Street in the home that later [1970s] became the Appleford Inn and in which
her son continued to reside until moving to Baltimore Street in the 70s.
This home was built by, and in fact nearly bankrupt her distant cousin
McCurdy with its building, but whether or not Mary Stair Swope ever knew
that it pertained to her distant cousin is unknown to me.
She appears in the 1910 census Borough
of Gettysburg, Adams County, Penna with her birth family
Samuel Mc C SwopeÝ Age: 59 State: PA
Color: W Enumeration District: 0011
Birth Place: Pennsylvania
County: Adams, Gettysburg
Relation: Head of Household
Other Residents: Wife Annie K 53, Pennsylvania
Son J Donald 28, Pennsylvania
Daughter Mary S 24, Pennsylvania
Daughter Amy Mc C 17, Pennsylvania
NR Bertie Horner 32, Pennsylvania
NR Marie 15, Pennsylvania
Spouse: John DeKalb KEITH
Children:
1.4 Amy
McCurdy SWOPE 9,
2,
Birth: 1893, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Death: 1980
Amy McCurdy SWOPE Appears in the 1910 census
Borough of Gettysburg, Adams County, Penna with her family
Samuel Mc C SwopeÝ Age: 59 State: PA
Color: W Enumeration District: 0011
Birth Place: Pennsylvania Visit: 0343
County: Adams, Gettysburg
Relation: Head of Household
Other Residents: Wife Annie K 53, Pennsylvania
Son J Donald 28, Pennsylvania
Daughter Mary S 24, Pennsylvania
Daughter Amy Mc C 17, Pennsylvania
NR Bertie Horner 32, Pennsylvania
NR Marie 15, Pennsylvania
Spouse: Steven Remmington WING
Children:
S.
M.
Sources for this page [Samuel McC Swope and family]
1. Gilbert Ernest Swope,
The Swope Family 1676-1896, T.B. & H.B Cochran, Publishers, 1898.
pgs 90 and 123-124.
2. Ibid. page 123-124.
3. Family Notes from
D M Swope-research and interviews.
4. Gilbert Ernest Swope,
The Swope Family 1676-1896, T.B. & H.B Cochran, Publishers,1898.
page 124.
5.
Known Personally to Writer
6.
Known Personally to current living family members with whom writer is in
contact, and / or, known personally and described to writer by living family
members now dead .
7. Grave viewed by writer, photo in possession
8. Information to this writer from Sam's grandchildren with whom he and his wife Annie [Stair] SWOPE enjoyed a close relationship until the grandparent's deaths
9. Information
from James Donald Swope and Hazel Ruth "Ruth" REINECKE Swope and their
children
