Person:John Swain (6)

TBC Parts taken from the WHITTIER NEWS, Whittier California, November 20, 1958 J.G.Swain, Longtime Whittier Resident, Honored At Breakfast

A businessman here for 55 years - 42 as a realtor, Swain came to Whittier when a boy of nine and this year makes his 65th as a resident. He attended school at the Evergreen School near Painter Ave. and Whittier Blvd., long ago abandoned and removed. The years following his arrival here were depression years in Whittier, and Swain was forced to leave school for a job at the Whittier Cannery, then at the foot of Philadelphia St. He was also employed at all three Whittier hotels, The Thompson, Whittier and Greenleaf, and the age of nineteen he started a painting and wallpaper business. Later he was the assistant to Postmaster Clyde Baldwin, during which time his father continued to operate the paint and wallpaper store. Still later he became the bookkeeper for Whittier National Bank, where he remained until taking a similar job at the Whittier Home Telephone and Telegraph Co., operated by A. Wardman. In 1916 he entered the real estate business, combining this activity with a florist shop, both of which he operated in the front of a room in the St. John's building on Philadelphia St., for which he paid a rental fee of $15.00 a month. In the summer of 1919 he employed the late Leslie C. Nanney as a salesman, and a year later the Swain-Nanney Realty Co. was formed. That partnership continued until Nanney's death in 1949. In 1949 three other partners were taken into the firm, Swain's son Garland, Tolbert B. Moorhead and Seth Pickering. Moorhead and Pickering continued with the firm until 1952, and since that time the Swain-Nanney Realty Co. has been operated by Swain and his son Garland at 232 E. Philadelphia St. Testimonials in both humorous and serious vein were delivered at the breakfast at the Welch's by the following: Moorhead, who was Master of Ceremonies; Wade Huntington, a Whittier painting contractor for the past 37 years; R. R. Morris, a Whittier realtor for more than thirty years; Dewayne Burgess, manager of the Whittier office of the American Savings & Loan Assn., of which Swain was a member of the Board of Directors for many years. Harry Schuyler, for many years manager of the Leffingwell Ranch in East Whittier; Edward Keasley, a co-charter member with Swain of the Whittier Rotary Club; Dr. Paul S. Smith, President of the Whittier College, on whose Board of Trustees Swain has served; Pickering, a former partner in Swain's firm and now secretary of the Quaker City Savings & Loan Assn. Others who spoke: C. O, Durrett, a neighbor of Swain for many years and a colleague in the real estate business; John D. Gregg, president of The Rose Hills Memorial Park and former president of the Whittier Building and Loan Assn. which later became American Savings; The Rev. Albert E. Jenkins, Rector of St. Matthias Episcopal Church where Swain is one of the oldest members in years of membership and where Swain as served on the Vestry; and Verne J. Dolton, president-elect of the Whittier District Board of Realtors who read a letter of commendation received from Mrs. Leslie C. Nanney, widow of Swain's long-time partner and who is in Northern California. Representing the realty board, Durrett presented Swain a plaque marking his long time membership and his 42 years as a realtor. A gift from the 150 present at the breakfast, a table radio, was presented by Gregg to Mr. & Mrs. Swain. In reviewing Swain's 65 years in Whittier, the speakers recalled that his realty firm had developed more than 50 residential subdivisions in Whittier, Pico Rivera, East Whittier and other sections of the Whittier area. The company handled the original development with the Murphy Ranch Co. of Friendly Hills. The company has also handled many of the areas largest appraisals. Swain was one of the founders and the past president of the Whittier Realty Board; He was one of the early members of the Whittier Board of Trade, which later became the Chamber of Commerce; he was one of the founders and a past president of the Whittier Rotary Club. He served as a member of the advisory board of the Whittier branch of the Bank of America; and served as a member of the board and vice-president of the Whittier Building & Loan Assn. He is a Trustee of Whittier College; a member of the Whittier Masonic Lodge; is a past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias; and helped organize and served for 6 1/2 years as a member of the Whittier Draft Board. Mr. & Mrs. Swain will move soon to make their home on Balboa Island, and the Swain-Nanney Realty Co. will open a branch office in the Balboa-Newport area. They will continue to operate in Whittier, and will move their offices soon to the offices Smith & Benson Realtors, at the corner of Washington Ave. and Philadelphia St. Swain is the father of 2 sons, Garland, his partner in the realty firm, and Jack, Whittier advertising agency owner and operator. The present Mrs. Swain is the former Mrs. Wallace Gregg. They were married following the deaths of Mrs. Swain and Mr. Gregg.

Obituary from The DAILY NEWS, Whittier California, December 22, 1965 Whittier Pioneer Jack Swain Dies

John G. (Jack) Swain, one of Whittier's best known and most respected citizens, died early today. A Whittier resident almost all of his life, and almost all of the city's life, Mr Swain came here 73 years ago. He was a boy of 8 then. He would have been 81 on Feb. 7. Jack, his parents and a sister, the late Mrs. Mary Laird, moved from McClouth, Kans., near Lawrence, to a five-acre orange ranch at College Ave. and Short St. Mr. Swain saw almost all of this area's growth, and as a realtor helped develop much of it, including the neighboring cities of Pico Rivera and Santa Fe Springs and East and South Whittier. Real estate was not his life-long occupation, however. He founded or was associated with a number of other pioneering enterprised. Following his mother's death in 1896, he lived with a family on a Rivera ranch. Completing his elementary schooling there, he worked with his father who was a painting contractor. Later he operated his own paint and wallpaper store. Still later he served four years as assistant postmaster, and as such instituted Whittier's first home delivery service. He worked as a bookkeeper in a bank, and as the office manager of the Home Telephone Co. which had been founded by the late Aubrey Wardman. In 1917 he opened a real estate office, then in conjunction with a floral shop, and later he was co-founder of the Swain-Nanney Realty Co. with the late L.C. Nanney. As subdividers, this firm developed much of Whittier's residential property, including the hillsides and East Whittier citrus acreage. In his many contributions of civic service Mr. Swain became widely recognized by most of Whittier's citizens. He was a co-founder of the Whittier Board of Trade, now the Whittier Chamber of Commerce, the Whittier District Board of Realtors, and the Whittier Rotary Club. He was, during World War II secretary of the Whittier Selective Service Board. He was a member of St. Matthias Episcopal Church and Whittier Masonic Lodge. He served the chamber, realtors and Rotary as president. He was active in many other civic organizations throughout his life here, and helped stage Whittier's 50th and 75th anniversary celebrations. He was a former president and life-long member of the Whittier Founders Assn. Also, he was the city's unofficial historian. With his keen memory he could remember events, people and incidents, and his stories of early Whittier were widely enjoyed. This newspaper called upon him many times for historical data. Mr. Swain came to Whittier when the city was but seven years old. He attended for a time the Evergreen School, then on what is now Whittier Blvd. near Painter Ave. He helped both physically and financially in the building of Whittier College, and recalled his work there in Founders Hall when he sand papered much of the wood. Also he worked for a time peeling peaches at the cannery, then the only source of cash income when Whittier experienced an early depression. Mr. Swain's first wife, Clara Heydenreich, and mother of his two sons, the late F. Garland and L.J. Swain, died in 1945. Garland, who was associated with his father in the real estate business for several years, died earlier this year. L. J. (Jack Jr.) Swain heads the Swain-Mealer Advertising firm here. Some years after the death of Mrs. Swain and the death of their close friend, Wallace Gregg, Mr. Swain married the widow of Mr. Gregg, Mrs. Mabel Gregg. Following her death he married her sister, Augusta, and three years ago they moved to make their home in Leisure World near Seal Beach. However, for the past year Mr. Swain has been a patient at Presbyterian Inter-community Hospital and it was there that he died shortly after midnight today. In addition to his wife, Mr. Swain is survived by his son Jack, Jr., and 2 daughters-in-law, Mrs. L.J. Swain and Mrs. F. Garland Swain; seven grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren. Arrangements for the funeral service, which will be handled White-Emerson Co., have not been completed, but it is probable, the Daily News was told, that the service will be conducted Monday. Friends of Mr. Swain have been invited by his family to contribute to the memorial fund of St. Matthias Episcopal Church or to the American Cancer Society.

Editorial from The DAILY NEWS, Whittier, California, December 27, 1965 Mynatt Smith, Editor and Publisher

One Of Our Towns Best

The keen edge of holiday joy was dulled for many in the Whittier area by the death of Jack Swain. The 80-year-old pioneer who had spent almost all of his life -- nearly three fourths of a century -- in Whittier was more than a early settler or a community leader. He was a distinctive personality all his own, a throwback to those early days in America where life on the frontier produced a bigness in a man, a stalwart spirit, an ability to abide with adversity, indeed, to laugh at it. Jack Swain was a laugher all his life, not in the comic sense but as one who knew existence as a happy and exhilirating experience. This rare trait remained with him even into his last illness. He was not the kind of citizen who courted greatness in any way. Yet in many was greatness implanted itself in his spirit, and much of this rubbed off on his fellow citizens. Only a handful of its sons could have earned such an accolade, but Jack Swain by nature was a sort of unofficial Mr. Whittier.

1. ↑ 1900 United States Federal Census.

   Ancestry.com. 1900 U.S. Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2004. Original data: United States. 1900 United States Federal Census. T623, 1854 rolls. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C. Los Angeles, California, ED 110, roll T623 91, page 2B.

2. ↑ 1910 United States Federal Census.

   Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2004. Indexed by ProQuest from microfilmed schedules of the 1910 U.S. Federal Decennial Census. Data imaged from National Archives and Records Administration. 1910 Federal Population Census. T624, 1,784 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. Los Nietos Twp, Los Angeles, California, ED 283, roll 85, part 3, page 52A.

3. ↑ 1920 United States Federal Census.

   Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2005. Indexed by Ancestry.com from microfilmed schedules of the 1920 U.S. Federal Decennial Census. Data imaged from National Archives and Records Administration.1920 Federal Population Census. T625, 2,076 rolls. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C.
   For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: <a href="http://www.archives.gov/publications/microfilm-catalogs/census/1920/part-07.html">NARA</a>.
   Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 on roll 323 (Chicago City, Cook County, Illinois) are missing, even though the NARA catalog lists them as being there. The Family History Library catalog also lists them as missing.
   Whittier, Los Angeles, California, ED , roll , page , image 383.

4. ↑ 1930 United States Federal Census.

   Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census. [database on-line] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2002. Indexed by Ancestry.com from microfilmed schedules of the 1930 U.S. Federal Decennial Census.1930 United States Federal Census. [database online] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2001. Data imaged from National Archives and Records Administration. 1930 Federal Population Census. T626, 2,667 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. Whittier, Los Angeles, California, ED 1542, roll 175, page 3B, image 686.0.