Earl F. Swain was born in Rush County, Indiana, November 13, 1880, son of Isaac Newton Swain, who was born in North Carolina, June 4, 1853, and who came to Indiana with his parents when only four months old. Isaac Newton Swain is a son of Ovid Newton Swain, born in 1815, and Eunice (Sawyer) Swain, born in South Carolina in 1810. Ovid Newton Swain settled in Manilla, in Rush County, Indiana

He was a farmer by profession. He rented land for awhile and later bought a tract of eighty acres for eight hundred dollars. Isaac Newton Swain was married on February 19, 1874, to Mary Josephine Gibson, who was a daughter of Sydney Gibson, of Rush County. Her people were natives of Virginia and were one of the early families to settle in Rush County. Her father was an Indian trader, who traded clothes and groceries for furs. Isaac Newton Swain and wife are both members of the Christian church. He is an elder in the church and a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge and of the Improved Order of Red Men. He is a Democrat in politics and was assessor of Brandywine township for a term of six years.

Earl F. Swain , who is the subject of this sketch, came to Hancock County with his parents in 1887 and has lived in the county ever since. He received his early education at Beaver Meadow, Rush County. Willard Swain, a cousin, was his first teacher. His next schooling was in Brandywine township, in the Howe school house. The children of Isaac Newton Swain were: Cora, Samuel, James, Arthur, Earl F., Bert and Flora.

Earl F. Swain was married, on October 24, 1903, to Viola Larrabee, daughter of Louis N. Larrabee, who was at that time sheriff of the county. Her home was in Sugar Creek township. The children of Louis N. Larrabee are Edward, Walter, Roy, Cecelia, and Viola, who is the wife of the subject of this sketch. Earl F. Swain lived with his father until his marriage and then went to live with his father-in-law, and was with him for thirteen months, and served during this time as deputy-sheriff of Hancock County. Earl F. Swain is the father of the following children: Dorothy, Irene, Gladys, Kenneth Earl, Alice and Josephine. Earl F. Swain is living at the present time on a farm of two hundred acres owned by Willian F. Espy. He has lived here for several years and farms the entire place. He raises about one hundred and fifty Poland China hogs each year and about twenty head of Shorthorn cattle. He usually has about four thousand bushels of corn.

Mr. Swain is a Democrat in politics and in 1912 he was in the contest for sheriff, but was defeated for the nomination by only one hundred votes. He is a Mason and belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Greenfield. His wife is a member of the Christian church and he is one of its supporters.

Transcribed from History of Hancock County, Indiana, Its People, Industries and Institutions by George J. Richman, B. L., Federal Publishing Co., Indianapolis, Indiana, 1916. Pages 818-819.

Submitted by Sylvia (Rose) Duda, Laingsburg, MI September 11, 2001.

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