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==Early and family life==
==Early and family life==


Born near [[Edom, Virginia|Edom]] in [[Rockingham County, Virginia|Rockingham County]], the youngest of at least ten children of the former Mary Elizabeth Horn (1847–1917) and her husband John Perry Swank (1833–1918). In the 18th century, [[Mennonite]] Swank (a/k/a Shank or Schwenk) ancestors had emigrated from Switzerland and various German states and established farms in then-developing Rockingham County, and for centuries had intermarried with other long-established Germanic families in the [[Shenandoah Valley]] including the Horns.<ref>Robert L. Brock, 47 Pioneer Families of Rockingham County, Virginia (Baltimore, Maryland: Gateway Press Inc. 1997) pp. 223, 305-306</ref> According to one source, his long-lived grandfather, Jacob Shank (b.1819-), had not adopted the nonviolent aspects of the early Mennonites, but enlisted in Company H of the [[33rd Virginia Infantry]] and been wounded at the [[First Battle of Bull Run]], then late in the war became a private in the 3rd Battalion of Virginia Reserves before being furloughed in August 1864.<ref>Thomas M. Spratt, Rockingham County Men in Gray in two Volumes (Athens, Georgia Iberian Publishing Company 1995) pp.363</ref> Although named only in postwar rosters, his farm laborer father, who clearly married his mother in 1863, may have served as a private in the [[7th Virginia Cavalry]] late in the conflict.<ref>Spratt p. 403</ref><ref> {{cite book |last=Armstrong |first=Richard L. |title=7th Virginia Cavalry |publisher=H.E. Howard, Inc.|date=1892 |location=[[Lynchburg, Virginia]] |page=233 |isbn=1-56190-040-0 }}</ref>
Born near [[Edom, Virginia|Edom]] in [[Rockingham County, Virginia|Rockingham County]], the youngest of at least ten children of the former Mary Elizabeth Horn (1847–1917) and her husband John Perry Swank (1833–1918). In the 18th century, [[Mennonite]] Swank (a/k/a Shank or Schwenk) ancestors had emigrated from Switzerland and various German states and established farms in then-developing Rockingham County, and for centuries had intermarried with other long-established Germanic families in the [[Shenandoah Valley]] including the Horns.<ref>Robert L. Brock, 47 Pioneer Families of Rockingham County, Virginia (Baltimore, Maryland: Gateway Press Inc. 1997) pp. 223, 305-306</ref> His paternal grandfather, John Swank had married Mary Acker.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wayland|first=John W. |title=Men of Mark and Representative Citizens of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, Virginia|publisher=Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.|date=1999 |location=[[Baltimore, Maryland]] |page=338 |isbn=0-8063-4834-8 }}</ref> Although named only in postwar rosters, his farm laborer father, who clearly married his mother in 1863, may have renounced the Mennonites' pacifist teachings and served as a private in the [[7th Virginia Cavalry]] late in the conflict.<ref>Thomas M. Spratt, Rockingham County Men in Gray in two Volumes (Athens, Georgia Iberian Publishing Company 1995) p. 403 However, Spratt earlier in the book, at p. 363 seems to indicate John Perry's father as Jacob Shank (b. 1819 and who was a private in the [[First Battle of Bull Run]], then late in the war became a private in the 3rd Battalion of Virginia Reserves before being furloughed in August 1864</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Armstrong |first=Richard L. |title=7th Virginia Cavalry |publisher=H.E. Howard, Inc.|date=1892 |location=[[Lynchburg, Virginia]] |page=233 |isbn=1-56190-040-0 }}</ref>
⚫
Virginia's public schools were established after the conflict, and Ward Swank attended the Rockingham County public schools, graduating from Harrisonburg High Shcool in 1908. He then traveled to Charlottesville to attend the [[University of Virginia]], from which he received a bachelor's degree in 1911, and also participated in the Phi Kaappa Psi fraternity and the Imp society. He graduated from the [[University of Virginia Law School]] in 1913.<ref>Dodson p. 320</ref>


⚫
Swank attended officer candidate school during World War I, then sat on the local draft board, and later became active in the [[American Legion]].<ref>Floyd Wilmer Coffman, Rockingham County Virginia in the World War 1917-1918 (Athens, Georgia, Iberian Publishing Co. reprint, originally Harrisonburg American Legion Post 1931) pp. 36, 48</ref><ref>Wayland p. 339</ref> As 1918 ended, Shank married Elsie R. Miller (1894–1991) of [[Stephens City, Virginia|Stephens City]] in [[Frederick County, Virginia|Frederick County]] at the Shenandoah Valley's northern end, and who had graduated from the State Normal School (teacher's college) in Harrisonburg in 1917.<ref>Wayland p. 339</ref><ref>Dodson p. 320</ref> She outlived him by decades, and bore two daughters during the marriage, Carolyn Miller (b. 1925) and Janice Newton (b. 1930).<ref>Wayland p. 339</ref>
⚫
Virginia's public schools were established after the conflict, and Ward Swank attended the Rockingham County public schools, then the [[University of Virginia]], from which he received a bachelor's degree in 1911, and its [[University of Virginia Law School|Law School]], from which he received a degree in 1913.<ref>Dodson p. 320</ref> Too young to become a lawyer, he received a special dispensation.

⚫
Swank served in World War I (as well as on the local draft board), and later became active in the [[American Legion]].<ref>Floyd Wilmer Coffman, Rockingham County Virginia in the World War 1917-1918 (Athens, Georgia, Iberian Publishing Co. reprint, originally Harrisonburg American Legion Post 1931) pp. 36, 48</ref> As 1918 ended, Shank married Elsie R. Miller (1894–1991) of [[Stephens City, Virginia|Stephens City]] in [[Frederick County, Virginia|Frederick County]] at the Shenandoah Valley's northern end.<ref>Dodson p. 320</ref> She outlived him by decades, although the couple had no surviving children.


==Career==
==Career==

Revision as of 23:43, 23 April 2024

Ward Swank
Member of the Virginia Senate for Rockingham, Page and Warren Counties and Harrisonburg
In office
January 9, 1924 – January 12, 1932
Preceded bynot applicable
Succeeded byAubrey G. Weaver
Member of the Virginia Senate for Rockingham and Harrisonburg
In office
February 28, 1923 – January 8, 1924
Preceded byJohn Paul
Succeeded bynot applicable
Mayor of Harrisonburg
In office
1932–1936
In office
1938–1940
Personal details
Born
Ward Clinton Swank

(1885-11-10)November 10, 1885
Edom, Virginia, US
DiedJune 2, 1949(1949-06-02) (aged 63)
Virginia, US
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseElsie Miller
EducationUniversity of Virginia (B.A. 1911)
University of Virginia School of Law (LLB 1913)
ProfessionLawyer, soldier and politician

Ward Clinton Swank (November 10, 1885 – June 2, 1949) was a Virginia lawyer and politician who served for a decade in the Virginia Senate, then for nearly a decade as mayor of Harrisonburg, Virginia during the Great Depression.[1]

Early and family life

Born near Edom in Rockingham County, the youngest of at least ten children of the former Mary Elizabeth Horn (1847–1917) and her husband John Perry Swank (1833–1918). In the 18th century, Mennonite Swank (a/k/a Shank or Schwenk) ancestors had emigrated from Switzerland and various German states and established farms in then-developing Rockingham County, and for centuries had intermarried with other long-established Germanic families in the Shenandoah Valley including the Horns.[2] His paternal grandfather, John Swank had married Mary Acker.[3] Although named only in postwar rosters, his farm laborer father, who clearly married his mother in 1863, may have renounced the Mennonites' pacifist teachings and served as a private in the 7th Virginia Cavalry late in the conflict.[4][5] Virginia's public schools were established after the conflict, and Ward Swank attended the Rockingham County public schools, graduating from Harrisonburg High Shcool in 1908. He then traveled to Charlottesville to attend the University of Virginia, from which he received a bachelor's degree in 1911, and also participated in the Phi Kaappa Psi fraternity and the Imp society. He graduated from the University of Virginia Law School in 1913.[6]

Swank attended officer candidate school during World War I, then sat on the local draft board, and later became active in the American Legion.[7][8] As 1918 ended, Shank married Elsie R. Miller (1894–1991) of Stephens City in Frederick County at the Shenandoah Valley's northern end, and who had graduated from the State Normal School (teacher's college) in Harrisonburg in 1917.[9][10] She outlived him by decades, and bore two daughters during the marriage, Carolyn Miller (b. 1925) and Janice Newton (b. 1930).[11]

Career

Beginning in 1916, when Harrisonburg (the county seat for Rockingham County, which surrounds it) received its charter as an independent city in Virginia, Swank served as clerk of the Harrisonburg City Council, and grew to know John Paul, the city attorney after 1919. After Swank completed his military service and was admitted to the Virginia bar, he practiced in Harrisonburg, surrounding Rockingham County, as well as in adjoining areas. He was also active in the Masons, Elks, Phi Kappa Psi and Presbyterian Church (although his grandfather was an early Lutheran settler in the area).[12]

A Democrat as had been his father (one of his brothers was named after Samuel J. Tilden), Swank became chairman of the Rockingham County Democratic organization, and in 1922 ran for the Virginia Senate after Republican state senator John Paul resigned to run for the U.S. House of Representatives (although successful after an election contest, Paul failed to win re-election, and in 1929 would become U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, then in the waning days of the Republican Hoover administration through Massive Resistance, the judge for that district).

Although Swank's senatorial district grew geographically following reapportionment after the 1920 census which added Clarke and Warren counties to the north, Swank won re-election and continued to win re-election until 1932,[13] when he instead ran (successfully) for Mayor of Harrisonburg. Fellow Democrat and Warren County lawyer Aubrey G. Weaver succeeded him as state senator, and the city continued to support Democrats until 1944. Swank also won re-election as mayor several times, and cooperated with federal authorities in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a fellow Democrat, to arrange for public works projects to benefit the unemployed of Harrisonburg and the surrounding area. He served from 1932 to 1936 and again after 1938.[14]

Death

Swank died in 1949.

References

  1. ^ Dodson, E. Griffith (1939). The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1919–1939: Register. Richmond: Virginia State Library. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  2. ^ Robert L. Brock, 47 Pioneer Families of Rockingham County, Virginia (Baltimore, Maryland: Gateway Press Inc. 1997) pp. 223, 305-306
  3. ^ Wayland, John W. (1999). Men of Mark and Representative Citizens of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, Virginia. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. p. 338. ISBN 0-8063-4834-8.
  4. ^ Thomas M. Spratt, Rockingham County Men in Gray in two Volumes (Athens, Georgia Iberian Publishing Company 1995) p. 403 However, Spratt earlier in the book, at p. 363 seems to indicate John Perry's father as Jacob Shank (b. 1819 and who was a private in the First Battle of Bull Run, then late in the war became a private in the 3rd Battalion of Virginia Reserves before being furloughed in August 1864
  5. ^ Armstrong, Richard L. (1892). 7th Virginia Cavalry. Lynchburg, Virginia: H.E. Howard, Inc. p. 233. ISBN 1-56190-040-0.
  6. ^ Dodson p. 320
  7. ^ Floyd Wilmer Coffman, Rockingham County Virginia in the World War 1917-1918 (Athens, Georgia, Iberian Publishing Co. reprint, originally Harrisonburg American Legion Post 1931) pp. 36, 48
  8. ^ Wayland p. 339
  9. ^ Wayland p. 339
  10. ^ Dodson p. 320
  11. ^ Wayland p. 339
  12. ^ Dodson p. 320
  13. ^ Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 625, 630, 636, 641, 646
  14. ^ Dodson p. 320
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