Giles Swan, along with his brother Adam, were among the earliest settlers in the Shelby area, in what was then Blooming Grove Township, about 1816.1 They came from Fairfield County, Connecticut, following Indian trails the last few miles as there were no roads cut yet. The area was densely forested with birch, beech, ash, sugar and oak.2 Deer and turkey, among other wildlife, were abundant, so much so, it was a favorite hunting area for the Wyandot Indians who lived to the west.
Giles made a final payment for 160 acres of land from the US government in 1819, on Section 10 of Township 022N, Range 019W, at the southwest corner of what is now SR 96 and Plymouth Springmill Road. He had already erected a cabin on the property and was living there with his wife Jane Rockwell. Jane traveled with her parents Joseph and Mercy Rockwell to the the area shortly after the Swans arrived.3 They married July 27,1817, believed to be the first marriage in the township.4
The Swans were friends with many of those who came in later years. Stephen and Sarah Marvin, Deborah Moyer, Eli and Mabel Barnes Wilson, and Henry and Lucy Grumman Whitney, who settled in what is now the city of Shelby, came in 1818 from Fairfield County, Connecticut. The three families stayed with the Swans the summer of 1818 while they cleared the land and built their cabins about a mile away.
The Independent News in 1869 relayed a wonderful story about the friendship among the families and their Native neighbors.
While the above mentioned families were all living together, one night, there came there a small band of Indians, numbering about ten or twelve, among whom were several well known Indians; one called ‘Jacob’ and another ‘Williams.’ This latter Indian was said to be a very intelligent Indian, and spoke English quite fluently. The Indians were well supplied with whiskey, as were also the settlers; and after the greetings were exchanged, the bottle was passed around quite freely, both whites and Indians drinking out of the same bottle, and the very best feeling pervaded both sides. When both sides were pretty well warmed up, the settlers proposed that the Indians should exhibit their war dance. At first the Indians objected, alleging their want of preparation, and of the proper materials for paint, &c., and of the proper implements, such as a drum; &c. But they were finally persuaded to proceed with the dance and the whites proceeded to kindle a fire in front of the cabin of Mr. Swan. One old Indian took a seat on a log, and was furnished with a clap-board, which he placed on his knees, and commenced a song in the Indian language, keeping time on the clap-board with his knife and hatchet, while the others ranged themselves around the fire, and commenced the war dance, yelling like demons, gesticulating furiously, and leaping around in the most grotesque and violent manner. The subject of the old Indian’s song, as he informed the settlers, was the ancient exploits of his tribe in war, and their triumph over their enemies. It was in fact an epic poem in the Indian vernacular, and although no doubt far below our standard, in point of merit, yet it is said this rude song had some striking and beautiful passages. After the Indians had concluded their dance, they then proposed that the whites should dance after their fashion, and they would join. Accordingly the whites formed on the floor, to dance the “French Four,” and two Indians danced, one with Mrs. Moyer, mother of the late Stephen Marvin’s wife, and the other with Mrs. Swan. The Indians unexpectedly, proved to be very graceful dancers, gliding around in a very easy manner. After each dance, the bottle passed around freely, and the dance was kept up till about two in the morning. The music was furnished by the white women, who sang the tune.5
Sharon Township was created from part of Blooming Grove Township February 9, 1819, which included one-half of the territory that is present-day Jackson Township, and Giles Swan’s farm. At the first election in 1823, fourteen settlers were present: Giles H. Swan, John B. Taylor, Joseph Curran, Eli Wilson, Almon Hayes, Harvey Camp, Henry Whitney, Matthew Curran, James Smith, Adam Swan, James Kerr, James Rockwell, Levi Bargaheiser and DeLanson Rockwell. Giles Swan, John B. Taylor and James Rockwell were elected trustees.6
In 1823 and 1824, Giles Swan purchased two more land patents from the US government totaling 160 acres on the north side of what is now SR 96, with the northern border as present day East Smiley Road.
Two girls and a boy were born to Giles and Jane – Maria (1818), John (1820), and Lucy (1825).
Around 1820, the first schoolhouse was erected near the crossroads, and not far from the residence of Giles Swan.7 He likely was a proponent of the schoolhouse and education; Giles and Adam both graduated from Yale College.
A newspaper account from 1928 mentions Giles Swan’s death in detail. The story was not true –
Giles Swan was killed at a log rolling, and its the first death on record in Jackson Township of our early settlers. He was buried along the bank of Bear Run, directly east of the Wm Gilchest home 1 1/2 miles east of Shelby.8
When Lucy was 18, in about 1843, the family moved west to Missouri. They lived there about four years, then moved to Polk, Iowa, where Giles again homesteaded 80 acres, purchased from the US government.9 He barely had time to clear land before he died two years later. Jane died in 1876 in Iowa. Little is known about brother Adam.
Giles Hallam Swan
B: 29 Apr 1793, Stonington, New London, Connecticut
M: 27 July 1817, Sharon Township, Richland, Ohio
D: Dec 1849, Polk City, Polk, Iowa
Jane Rockwell
B: 5 Jan 1798, Wilton, Fairfield, Connecticut
D: Mar 1876, Des Moines, Polk, Iowa
Children
Maria Swan
B: 1818, Jackson Township, Richland, Ohio
M: 1837, to Eli Mosier
D: 11 Apr 1862, Madison Township, Polk, Iowa
John R. Swan
B: 31 May 1820, Jackson Township, Richland, Ohio
M: 7 Mar 1844, Elizabeth Warren Strode, Clay, Missouri
D: 28 Feb 1900, Clay, Missouri
Lucy Swan
B: Apr 1825, Jackson Township, Richland, Ohio
M: 12 Sep 1856, Oliver Ralph Jones, Des Moines, Polk, Iowa
D: 2 May 1908, Des Moines, Polk, Iowa
Endnotes
- A.A. Graham, 1880, History of Richland County, Ohio, Mansfield, Ohio, A.A. Graham & Co., Publishers, 421
- Original land survey.
- A.A. Graham, 1880, History of Richland County, Ohio, Mansfield, Ohio, A.A. Graham & Co., Publishers, 421.
- A.A. Graham, 1880, History of Richland County, Ohio, Mansfield, Ohio, A.A. Graham & Co., Publishers, 422.
- Independent News, Shelby Ohio August 19, 1869. Story relayed by T.H. Wiggins, who interviewed Samuel Rockwell, nephew of Jane Rockwell. Mrs. Marvin was alive and present at the dance.
- A.A. Graham, 1880, History of Richland County, Ohio, Mansfield, Ohio, A.A. Graham & Co., Publishers, 572.
- A.A. Graham, 1880, History of Richland County, Ohio, Mansfield, Ohio, A.A. Graham & Co., Publishers, 422.
- A History of Shelby, The Shelby Daily Globe, 5-9-1928. The story is not true. Giles died in Iowa in 1849. The writer may have meant Joseph Rockwell, who was the first recorded death of an adult in Sharon Township in 1818.
- The Des Moines Register, Des Moines, Polk, Iowa, 3 May 1908, page 9, obituary of Lucy Swan Jones.
Submitted by Christina Yetzer Drain.