Biographical Sketch of

John Volney Swetting

Transcribed by Sandy Boudrou



Source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Green Lake, Marquette and Waushara Counties, Wisconsin, 
published 1890 by Acme Publishing Co., Chicago, Pages 513 and 514


John Volney Swetting, attorney-at-law, and one of the early settlers of Berlin, Wis., was born in the town of Whitestown, 
Oneida Co., N.Y., Dec. 4, 1817, and is the son of John and Mary (Sessions) Swetting.  The Swetting, or "Sweeting" family, 
as the name was originally spelled, is of English origin, and was founded in America in Cromwell's time by a political 
refugee from England.  He settled at Mansfield, Mass., where he reared a family.
 
Dr. Lewis Swetting, one of the descendants of that gentleman, and the grandfather of our subject, married Abiah Cobb, 
and their son, John Swetting, who was born in Mansfield, Aug. 15, 1765, removed to New York in 1787, and settled near 
Albany.  Later he became a resident of Onondaga County, whence he removed to Oneida County.  He wedded Mary Sessions, 
who was born in Queechy, Windsor Co., Vt., the wedding taking place in the town of Paris, Oneida Co., N. Y., March 12, 
1817.  Four children were born of their union, of whom John Volney, of this sketch, was the eldest; George Rodney, the 
second son, married Charlotte Pier, and died May 30, 1866.  His widow is now the wife of Stillman Wright of Berlin; 
Mary, the eldest daughter, died at the age of twenty years; Elizabeth J., who completes the family, is the wife of 
Judge Joseph E. Gary, of Chicago, who presided at the famous trial of the anarchists in 1888.  Judge and Mrs. Gary 
have three children, daughters.
 
Our subject was reared on a farm in the town of Westmoreland, Oneida County, where his parents removed when he was but 
two years of age.  He attended the district school and worked on the farm, as the season admitted, until sixteen years 
of age, when the family removed to Clinton, Oneida Co., N.Y., where better educational advantages were afforded.  There 
John pursued a course of study at the Clinton Liberal Institute, and prepared himself for the legal profession under the 
direction of Judge Othniel S. Williams, a prominent member of the Clinton bar.  On July 11, 1843, he was admitted to, 
and entered upon the practice of the profession in Clinton.  Mr. Williams having been elected Surrogate of Oneida County, 
Mr. Swetting was appointed his clerk, and served in that capacity for a period of eight years.  In the summer of 1850 he 
emigrated to Wisconsin to search of a favorable location in which to establish a practice, and being favorably impressed 
with the appearance of the young village of Berlin, or as it was then more generally called "Strong's Landing," he 
decided to make that place his home, and at once began business in his chosen profession.  The following year, 1851, he 
formed a law partnership with the Hon. Ezra Wheeler, subsequently State Senator and member of Congress, which connection 
continued two years, after which Mr. Swetting was alone in business.
 
In politics, our subject is a pronounced Democrat, and notwithstanding his residence in a community where his party is 
in the minority, he has been frequently elected to public office.  He has served as Supervisor of the town of Berlin, 
and member of the County Board, also as Court Commissioner, Alderman and Notary Public.  In 1877 he was appointed Clerk 
of the Circuit Court, to fill a vacancy, and after serving out the unexpired term, a year and a half, was elected his 
own successor and discharged the duties of the office for the two succeeding years.  An interval of a few years then 
elapsed, when in 1881, he was again elected to the same office, in which he then served until Jan. 1, 1889.  In 1877 Mr. 
Swetting was appointed as Commissioner to ascertain the amount of damage caused by the overflowing of the Fox River 
through the construction of dams.  He served two years in that capacity at that time, and was again appointed to the 
same position in 1884, since which time he has served as a member of the Board of Commissioners on overflowed lands, 
covering a period of nearly five years.
 
Mr. Swetting was married in Jacksonville, Ill., July 10, 1851, to Miss Maria Louisa Broadwell, a daughter of Baxter and 
Mary (Lindsley) Broadwell.  She was born in the town of Bethel, Morgan Co., Ill., in August, 1827, and by her marriage 
became the mother of six children, four of whom, two sons and two daughters, are yet living.  Eugene Broadwell, the eldest,
died at the age of four years; Frederick Rodney died when two years of age; Ernest Volney was born in Berlin, Aug. 1, 
1858, married Mrs. Bernice P. Johnson, and is now a practicing attorney of Estherville, Iowa; Luther Forsythe is engaged in mining at Idaho Springs, Colo.; Mary E. is the wife of William H. Bassett, of Duluth, Minn.; and Catherine Louise, the youngest, resides with her parents.
 
For nearly forty years Mr. Swetting has been a resident of Berlin, and has been identified with its growth from a mere 
hamlet to a beautiful city, containing 5,000 inhabitants.  In whatever position he has been placed, he has always 
performed the duties devolving upon him with ability and fidelity, by which he has won the esteem and confidence of 
his fellow-citizens.  On religious subjects he entertains broad and liberal views, never having united with any church.  
He is genial and social in his intercourse with his fellow-men, and as a citizen stands deservedly high in the community 
where he has so long resided.

 




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