EPHRAIM SWINNEY

Mayor 1854

Born in New Jersey in 1817, settled in Warren County in the 1830s, married Mary Berry December 21, 1843, in Warren County, Illinois. Circuit Clerk and Recorder, 1843-1848; County Clerk 1849-1861.

According to the 1903 County History "There were two oak trees on the quarter section when the townsite was located and surveyed. They were each about six inches in diameter. One of them stood near the residence of E. S. Swinney on South Fourth street, but the location of the other is not now remembered. Both have been gone for a long time. " Also, describing the election of 1852: :The election of officers was held October 23. Samuel Wood was chosen mayor; B. S. Swinney and William E. Rodgers, aldermen in the first ward; and N. A. Rankin, alderman in the second ward; James Thompson and Elijah Davidson being tied for the other aldermanship in the second.
The first session of the city council under the charter was held November 3. The first action was to appoint James G. Madden as clerk pro tern. An ordinance was then presented and adopted providing for the settling of tie votes on mayor or aldermen by drawing from a hat or box. At the next meeting the tie in the Second ward was settled and James Thompson declared elected. This first council elected B. F. Corwin, clerk; James Thompson, treasurer; George W. Savage, city attorney, and James Finney, city marshal.
The first city order issued under the charter was for $20. Armsby & Patterson got it for one-half cost of two and one-half rods of sidewalk. The first tax levied under the charter, in 1853, was at the rate of three-eighths of one per cent. on all the real and personal property in the city subject to taxation.
An early action of the city council pertained to the city printing. December 6, 1852, the printing was let at public auction at the court house, to Ashton & Hosea of the Monmouth Democrat, that firm agreeing to pay the city one-half cent per thousand for the privilege of doing it."
 

An example of Swinney's handwriting! From an 1849 property sale.

The Census of 1850, Warren County, Illinois:

E.S. Swinney

by Josh Downey (MC'07)

            Ephraim S. Swinney was one of the last trustees of Monmouth in 1852 before Monmouth became a city. He shared the office of Trustee with William Young, James Madden, R. Monroe, and Samuel Wood. E. S. Swinney served on the board as president of the board for the year. In the year of 1854 E. S. Swinney was elected the third mayor of Monmouth (following the first mayor, Samuel Wood and the second mayor, George Palmer).[1]

            Ephraim S. Swinney was born on June 23 of 1817 in Bridgeton, New Jersey, to father Daniel J. and mother Elizabeth (Seeley). His father was Irish in heritage and from Pennsylvania, his mother was of Welsh heritage and was out of New Jersey. In 1822 his father moved out of New Jersey and into Mansfield, Ohio, where Ephraim was educated. Mansfield became Daniel J. Swinney’s place of death in 1858 after he endured a career as a physician and a preacher of the Baptist Church. He died at the age of 76, his wife followed suit nearly one month after at the age of 72.[2]

            On the 21^st of December in 1843 Ephraim Swinney placed his hand in marriage to a Mary Berry from Kentucky. Mary’s father was killed in the War of 1812 (his name was B. Berry of Flemingsburg, Kentucky). Ephraim and Mary produced ten children during their marriage; Mary E. (later to become Mary Hutchinson), Miletus L., Ann M. (later to become Ann M. Tresham), Daniel J., John Milton, Lucy J., Catherine B. (later to become Catherine B. Cornell), Henrietta, Octavia G., and Richard Lee.[3]

            When Ephraim Swinney came to Monmouth in 1837, he traveled with two other men. The three of them took the route of the Ohio River and then up the Mississippi on boat. The three men landed in Oquawka, where they walked from to Monmouth for residence within Garrison’s Inn[4] which used to reside on West Broadway.[5] He slept there for some time until Smithey bought the building to make horseshoes.[6]

            According to the Old Timer,[7] Shortly after his arrival, Swinney landed a job picking corn for one silver dollar a day on the Gibson farm, just west of Monmouth at the time. He would then pick another lot that fall near Little York for an undisclosed amount of money. Swinney eventually found himself helping to construct the old courthouse by finding a job in the quarries to the north of Monmouth. He followed up with a job as a clerk at Daniel McNeil’s[8] store in 1939.

            Swinney was elected as the coroner for the county of Warren at the end of 1839 on December 19^th.[9] Swinney’s first job in a Monmouth office was in 1840, on April 6th, when he was appointed to the board as the clerk. He served with McNeil above him as President. He was elected as clerk in 1841 with Samuel Wood, Benjamin C. Hord, Thomas Graham, Ivory Quinby, and Andrew White were elected as trustees of the town of Monmouth. Two days after the election of April 13^th, Samuel Wood was elected as president. Again in 1842 Swinney[10] was elected to the office of clerk with Yost Huffman as president.[11]

            In 1843 Swinney was elected as the county recorder, and held the position for five years when it was combined with the job of circuit clerk, which he held for another eight years. He had an excellent reputation while holding offices in Monmouth and was said that his books were “…as neat and accurate as any that are on file there {Monmouth City Hall}.”[12] It was also said by the Old Timer that he was respected by the old settlers of Monmouth and of Warren County by all those that knew him. He was considered a true friend and an honorable man.[13]

            In 1845 Swinney was a supervisor of one of the four wards of Monmouth, sharing the office with H. Henry, Yost Huffman, and J. C. Morgan as other supervisors of the wards and also with the trustees; F. M. Butler (president and treasurer), David Smith, Hiram Baldwin, George Babcock, A. Grant (clerk), Otis Mortindale (marshal of Monmouth), and John Young.[14] The 1846 election on May 23^rd gave F. M. Butler the president and treasurer seat, Alexander Grant as an appointed clerk, Ephraim Swinney as supervisor, and Otis Mortindale as the constable. In 1847 Swinney was not elected to a Monmouth office and there was an ordinance passed that “…the sale of ardent spirits within the corporation” were prohibited.[15] Swinney didn’t appear again in a Monmouth office until 1852.[16]

            On the 14^th of January in the year of 1847 Ephraim Swinney was sworn to testify on behalf of Daniel McNeil. McNeil was charged with “altering county records and negligence in office” according to the Monmouth Atlas of 1847. McNeil was acquitted of all charges of illegal design but the people “demanded better care of the paper” for the town of Monmouth.[17]

            In the 1850 United States Federal Census Ephraim Swinney (at the age of 33), and his wife Mary (age of 26), already had three children, all female; Mary E. was the eldest at the age of 5, Miletus L. in the middle at the age of 4, and Annette, the youngest, at the age of 2. They were living in the “dwelling-house numbered in the order of visitation” as number 1223 and the two had $1,457 worth of real estate.[18]

            In 1852 Ephraim Swinney was elected[19] as president trustee of the town of Monmouth (Monmouth became a city in 1853) and shared the office with William Young, James Madden, R. Monroe, and Samuel Wood. Samuel Wood was appointed as the first mayor of the city of Monmouth when on October 4^th of 1852 the board of trustees decided to create the office of mayor for Monmouth. The board of trustees was split into one mayor and four aldermen instead of five trustees. B. F. Corwin was the clerk of Monmouth, R. L. Monroe was treasurer and Walter Earp was constable. During this administration the town was divided into two wards and there were two aldermen elected from both wards.[20]

            The meeting of the Monmouth Council on the 22^nd of May, 1852 discussed the presence of wild hogs. “Be it ordained by the President and trustees is council convened that the marshal of the town of Monmouth (Walter Earp at the time) give notice in three public places that all hogs found running at large after the 3^rd day of June 1852 will be taken up and impounded under the ordinances of the town of Monmouth.”[21] Later, at the meeting of June 12^th, 1852 {written 1952 in the minutes book}, the issue of wild dogs was taken into account. It was written that 1^st, “Therefore be it ordained by the president and trustees of the town of Monmouth that any dog or dogs found rummaging at large after the taking effort of this ordinance within the limits of the corporation of said town not being (there is a word that is unreadable here) led or otherwise confined so that they cannot bite are hereby declared a nuisance,” and 2^nd, “And be it further ordained that it shall be the duty of the Marshal of said town to pursue and kill any dog or dogs that may be found running at large within the corporate limits of said town after taking affect of this act and remove the carcass beyond the limits of said corporation at the owners expense…”[22]

            Page 282 of the Monmouth City Hall Minutes Book 1836-1852 states that the “…city be divided into two wards moved that it be divided on East Street all that part of the city lying on the east side is said that be called the first ward and all that lying on the west side of the said East Street be called second ward and that the center of the said East Street shall be the dividing line,” giving way that Swinney became alderman of the first ward.[23] According to the minutes book at the Monmouth City Hall, “E. S. Swinney and William E. Rodgers having a majority of the votes cast in the first ward were declared duly elected aldermen in the first ward of the city of Monmouth.”[24] On the same day that Swinney became alderman of the first ward it was “Ordered that the rate of tax for the year 1852 be on half of one percent on the real estate within the corporate limits of the town of Monmouth.”[25] .

            Since the Monmouth city government had been newly established, Swinney’s administration dealt with issues that seem normal to any government of modern. Just as figuring out city limits and dividing the city into wards, the first mayor’s administration had to set ground rules for elections and pay for the elected officials. It was “ordered that the place of voting is the first ward shall be at the school house and that the place of voting in second ward be at the court house,” [26] and “on motion ordered that an election be held on Saturday the 23^rd of October 1852 for one mayor and two aldermen in each ward,”[27] as written in the Monmouth minute book of 1836-1852. Also written was that “on (the) motion ordered that the president of the board be authorized to procure a surveyor to locate the bounds of the city of Monmouth,” Swinney was the president at the time.[28]

            In the Journal of the City of Monmouth[29] that begins on November 30^th of 1852, on page 1, it was “…ordained by the city council of the city of Monmouth, that whenever there shall be a tie in the election of mayor or alderman of the said city, and the judges of the election shall certify the same to the mayor: the same shall be determined by (lot) in the following manner, to (this word is unreadable but can be construed as ‘writ’) a number of blanks shall be placed in a bag on box, upon two of which the names of the candidate shall be written. The mayor shall then draw from the same, and the candidate whose name shall be first drawn, shall be considered elected. Said drawing to be in the presence of a quorum of the board.”

On page 285 of the Monmouth City Hall Minutes Book, there was an order passed that “for each meeting of the board allows trustees $1.” On the meeting before that Swinney was paid for his work as trustee before the order was set, “Reference number 325 ordered that E. S. Swinney be allowed 5 dollars for services as trustee and that the clerk issue an order of the treasurer for the amount,” on September 6^th of 1852.[30]

            Swinney came into office in 1852 as president of trustees at a time when there was much worry about the sale of liquor in Monmouth as well as a concern to bring in a railroad line. In 1848 the “Sons of Temperance” society was formed in Monmouth with the president being Erasus Rice and the secretary was George W. Palmer.[31] Palmer’s wife, Carolyn, was the leader of the “Daughters of Temperance” and both groups gathered at the Monmouth courthouse on the 13^th of January in 1849. “On September 18, at another mass rally, the editor of the Atlas offered an anti-drinking resolution… it permitted individuals to buy liquor in quantity for private consumption, but outlawed sale by the glass.”[32] The Monmouth Atlas printed a notice for a temperance meeting, “Several of our citizens have called upon us in person and expressed a desire that we would give notice that a Temperance Meeting will be held at the Court house in Monmouth on Saturday evening next. It is desired that our citizens generally be in attendance, as the action of the city council in granting license to sell liquor will be taken up, and important resolutions will be laid before the meeting. Parents, and lovers of good order, turn out.”[33] It wasn’t until June 12^th, of 1854, that “An ordinance for prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors passed by the city council to take effect and be in force from and after the 25^th,” when Swinney was mayor.[34]

            Another theme of the administration was to increase the beauty and public spaces of Monmouth. In the April 30^th of 1852 edition of the Monmouth Atlas there was an article under the heading “The Public Square Once More.” It follows;

“There has been a plenty said about the improvement of the Public Square. It is idle to multiply words if that is all that is to be done. Almost the first of May and not a fence post painted yet.

                There is still time enough, however, to accomplish much the present season. We think our male citizens had better hold a meeting, discuss the subject, and decide immediately whether they will or will not act in the matter, and build a fence around the square. We are informed that the Ladies are only waiting to learn their negative decision, and they are ready to take up the matter and see the work accomplished. If they take it up, look out for flowers on our Common.”[35]

                At the city council meeting of November 30^th, 1852, there was passed an ordinance that “(owners of) property living on the square, be, and are hereby required to pave in front of their property on the square, in accordance with the provisions of ordinance No. 9 and be specified therein, by the first day of June A.D. 1853.” and “If person refuses to pave then the mayor will give the job to the lowest bidder and the owner will be taxed for the pay.”[36] The mayor was also “authorized to make contracts for crossways on the 4 principal streets heading from the square (letting) the job to the lowest bidder and the crossways to be made of wood, stone, or gravel- whatever is cheapest and most available.”[37] The stone was bid cheapest by William E. Rodgers for $1.15/perch and was to be delivered the first day of March in 1853.[38] At the January 3^rd meeting of 1853 Swinney presented Armsby and Patterson to pave 2 ½ roads at the rate of $8/road and it was written that Main Street was to be paved by the owners of the property in front of their lots from the east side of the street as far as the south side of their lots. Broadway residents were put in charge of paving in front of their lots from the west side of the town quarter to the east side of Chapel Street.[39] On June 12^th of 1854 it was passed that, “On motion it was ordered that all owners property on Broadway and Main Streets (here to fore) required to have the sidewalks in front of their respective lots are hereby ordered required to have their paving completed by the first day of September next or it will be done by the mayor at the expense of such property.”

            At the July 10^th meeting of 1854 James Huston was paid $2 for surveying the center of “Macomb road on the quarter section line on section Thirty Two and running west to the west line of the city.”[40]

            On July 10^th of 1854 the pay for city council member was raised from one dollar each meeting to one dollar and fifty cents for each meeting. Later that month on July 31^st, “Two wells were ordered to be deepened to hold more water- one to be done sufficiently for use to the public with supervision by B. F. Corwin” and the “digging and walling of one well near the premises where he now resides (was) to be done immediately.” At the August 14^th meeting Swinney and William Billings were paid $10 for expenses of the previous election and John Leeper was paid $1.50 for digging one of the public wells. Tax for the year of 1854 was raised to 40 cents per $100 of property owned.[41] At the September 11^th meeting all those that were involved with the public wells were paid, including Swinney who was paid $5 for cleaning out one of the wells.[42]

            E. A. Paine resigned from his office at city council during the October 9^th meeting, though it was not apparent if it was forced or voluntary. At the November 13^th meeting there were three wells ordered to be dug for use by the public; one near Hiram Baldwins’ residence, one near William Cowan's residence, and one that Swinney oversaw at the Public Square.[43] At the February 12^th meeting in 1855 it was decided that the next election will be held on April 1^st for the next set of city offices.  Swinney was paid $7.50 for his services as mayor and E. A. Paine was billed for a lawsuit against John Langdon.[44]

            There was an outbreak of small pox in March of 1855 and on March 12^th Dr. John A. Young was paid a sum of $36 for his services in combating the disease in the city, Samuel Clacomb was paid $39.55 for sundries that were used to prohibit the spread of small pox, and William Smith was paid $1.77 for medicine used at the city hospital.[45]

            At the meetings that follow there were orders that men and companies get paid for work that they had done for the city of Monmouth and were later cancelled. From the January 6^th meeting of 1853 “E. S. Swinney on account for Ashton and Hosea for printing from August 18^th 1852 to October 6^th 1852 for $12.11 account allowed and ordered that the clerk issue an order on the treasurer of the city of Monmouth for the amount,”[46] up until the March 7^th meeting of 1853 when it was “ordered that the clerk issue an order to William E. Rodgers for the sum of thirty four dollars and fifty cents for thirty perch of stone for crossways,” the payments ordered were cancelled.[47] This money was later found to be swindled by James Thompson, the treasurer for the previous year, who took $549.09 and E. A. Paine, supervisor for the previous year, who had taken money that was supposed to be paid for the work done to improve the town and pocketed it, as well as money that he accepted for road work that he had not done, but was said to have done. This same day the previous mayor, G. W. Palmer, arrived at city hall to settle his debts and for an examination of the books; he paid his debts at this time.[48] Armsby and Brothers were paid $4.46 for their work with paving roads, one of the companies that were swindled out of their money. The books were balanced this day and all debts were settled.

            On July 1^st of 1853 the Monmouth Atlas printed an article about the town’s negative feelings on the passage of licenses to sell liquor, “It is with deep mortification and pain that we are compelled to herald to our citizens and to the wide world that our present board constituting the city council have licensed the sale of liquor by the glass in Monmouth. We have for a long time felt a manly pride in the fact that the exertions of our citizens to put down drunkenness and disorder was being crowned with signal success. Never, since our residence in Monmouth have we witnessed so little of the baneful effects of alcohol as during the past six months. And we flattered ourselves that our citizens were so strongly in favor of temperance and good order that no effort would be made to introduce the sale of liquor under license law. And we believed farther that should such an attempt be made, we had a council that would set their faces against all licenses. But it appears that our hopes were groundless- the barrel has been tapped at both ends and license is given to make drunkards by the wholesale, regardless of the rule and affliction which is sure to be brought upon those who swallow the poisonous draught.”[49] The Monmouth Atlas[50]s printed “The Anti-license Meeting” on July 8^th of 1853 and there was a “good turn out…” and that “…their expression was firm and decisive against any and all grants of such license.” Swinney was the appointed secretary for the temperance meeting and the actions of the meeting. There was a call to have the city council of Monmouth to rethink their decision. Mr. Tourtlelott (the man who received the license) agreed to a refund of his money for an exchange of the license.[51] At this time Swinney was not in a Monmouth office, but was a County Clerk for Warren County.[52]

            Another issue that was floating around in the early 1850’s and before was the issue of railroads. The Oquawka Spectator printed a lengthy notice in their March 7^th issue of 1851, on page 4:

“Notice. Under an Act of the general Assembly of Illinois, entitled “An Act to Incorporate the Peoria and Oquawka Railroad Company,” approved February 12^th, 1849-Notice is hereby given, that on the Fourth day of February next, we will open, or cause to be opened at the respective Court Houses of the Counties of Peoria, Knox, Warren and Henderson, Books for receiving Subscriptions to the Capital Stock of said Corporation, at which places we will, by ourselves or agents, continue to receive Subscription to said Capital Stock from all persons thereon, until the whole amount thereof shall have been subscribed…

Whereas the above notice was duly published according to a provision of the act of incorporation referred to, and whereas the General Assembly having since passed an act amendatory of said act of incorporation, as follows, viz:

“A bill for an act to amend an act, ‘entitled ‘an act to incorporate the Peoria and Oquawka Railroad Company, approved February 12, 1849.”

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented by the General Assembly, that the company incorporated under the said act to which this is an amendment, shall be required to construct said road through the towns of Farmington, Fulton county, Knoxville in Knox county, and Monmouth in Warren county, and they should establish depots in each of said towns and places-Provided, however, that nothing in the act shall be so construed as to prevent said company from having stations at other points or places for the reception or discharge of goods, produce, stock, or other commodities.

Sec. 6. The said road contemplated herein to be completed within ten years from the passage of this act.

Notice is hereby given, that on the 1^st day of May next, books will be opened at Peoria, Farmington, Knoxville, Monmouth and Oquawka, in the State of Illinois, and at the office of Grimes & Starr, Esqs. At the city of Burlington, in the State of Iowa, for subscriptions to the capital stock of said Peoria and Oquawka Railroad, at which places we or our agents will continue to receive subscriptions, until the necessary amount of said stock shall be subscribed.”[53]

 In the Monmouth Atlas for January 2^nd, 1852, there was a notice printed; “Notice!! The citizens of Warren County are requested to assemble in Mass Meeting at the Court House, on Saturday the 10^th of January, at 1 o’clock, P.M. to take into consideration the construction of a Rail Road from Quincy, in the County of Adams, to Monmouth, Warren County. MANY CITIZENS.” A while later, on July 22, 1853, the railroad was coming closer to Monmouth, “We learn from the contractors that the Rail Road west of us is progressing very rapidly, and that, with good luck and prompt payments on the part of the stockholders, we may hear the shrill whistle of the engine during the coming winter. A further installment of 10 per cent has been called for payable by the first of August. Let each shareholder see to it that the amount of his indebtedness is promptly paid. Several, we understand, have paid up the full amount of their several shares. Were all to do so, the contractors would have the means in their own hands to push the work as fast as they might choose,”[54] was the article printed in the local section of the Monmouth Atlas.

Ephraim Swinney was elected in the office of mayor in the 1854 election. His administration was as follows; William Rodgers, Hiram Norcross, William Billings, and William Cowan all as aldermen, B. F. Cowan as clerk, William Smith as treasurer, Reuben Grames as marshal, E. A. Paine as supervisor and James Clark as Sexton.[55]

Under the heading “Railroad Iron” in the Monmouth Atlas of November 17^th 1854 was an article about the coming end to the construction of the railroad through Monmouth. “The railroad iron which was expected some days since has arrived, and will be carried out and laid on the track. This will put our road through to Monmouth; and by that time the whole road between Monmouth and Galesburg will be finished, which will make the connection between Chicago and this place complete.”[56] The December 15^th issue of the Monmouth Atlas printed the following, “Hurrah for the Iron Horse! We’ve had a glimpse of Her! On Tuesday last we distinctly heard the whistle of the locomotive; some five or six miles west of town. Having a curiosity to see his ‘horseship,’ we passed up to the roof of a high building, where several persons had already stationed themselves. Here we had a view of the iron monster and at that distance, to the naked eye, appeared something larger than a bumble bee with a feather in the cap. We do not make this description as an invidious one, by any means-but simply that at so great a distance and moving towards Monmouth it was with difficulty that the locomotive could be distinguished from other objects around it. We are glad to know that its approach towards one city is even visible. A few days more, and we hope to see it within the limits of the town.” And the next article in the same paper stated, “The Railroad Completed to Galesburg. The Central Military Tract Railroad is now completed to Galesburg, at which place the first train of passenger cars arrived on Monday last. We hope the track will now be laid through to this place in double quick time.”[57]

An ordinance was passed under the Swinney administration in February of 1855 that placed a health department in Monmouth and Dr. John Young was chosen to be the health inspector. The ordinance stated that the “Board of Health would consist of a Health Officer, who shall be a physician in good standing in his profession and two citizens.”[58] The last city council meeting that Swinney attended as mayor was on April 14^th, 1855 where he was paid $4.50 for his services as mayor and also when the council agreed that meetings were to be held on the first of each month unless there was a reason to meet more often.[59]

In the 1860 census Ephraim Swinney, age 43, was still living in Monmouth and Michael Casey of Ireland was living with him and working as a day laborer. It is unclear what relation, if any that Michael Casey had with Swinney, but Swinney’s father was from Ireland, as was M. Casey. Also living with E. S. Swinney at the time were; Mary Berry, his wife, age 36, Mary E., his daughter at the age of 15, Miletus L., another daughter at the age of 14, Annette, the age of 11, Daniel J., his first son aged 9, John, the age of 7, and Lucy J., the age of 4 at the time. Thos Scott, a 22 year old male was also living with Ephraim as a clerk. Swinney was worth $3,000 in real estate and $500 in personal estate and was still a county clerk.[60] Three years after the census was taken, in 1863, there was an assassination attempt on E. S. Swinney’s life. Jeremiah Bivens, of the 1^st Iowa cavalry, failed to kill E. Swinney and was arrested on the charge of assault with attempt to kill. He was taken before Justice Porter. Bivens fired two shots but failed to injure Swinney with either.[61]

By 1870 his real estate had grown to a value of $5,000 and a personal estate had dropped to $300, but he was still living in the East Ward of Monmouth with most of his family and a new male by the name of Saul J., the age of 19.[62] Ephraim Swinney died at the age of 81, on September 25^th, of 1898 and was buried in the city cemetery.[63]