William H. Swineford was born on November 13, 1839, in Ashland County, Ohio, to Emanuel and Margaret Swineford. His father was a farmer who owned $8,000 of real estate and $1,000 of personal property by 1860. Swineford grew up and attended school in Montgomery, Ohio, and by 1860, he was working as a laborer.

 

He enlisted in the Union army on November 22, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company H of the 42^nd Wisconsin Infantry five days later. The regiment took part in the siege of Vicksburg. He supported emancipation, insisting that “it is right to take their slaves as well as any other property.” Nonetheless, he argued in March 1864 that there was “a little too much n----r equality preached now days for me.” He explained that he favored “giving them their rights but when they begin to class them with white men and give them more privileges…I feel like kicking out the traces a little.” He mustered out on December 2, 1864.

 

Swineford returned to Montgomery after leaving the army, and he married Hannah Plank around 1866. They had at least three children: Elmore, born around 1867; Albert, born around 1868; and Mary, born around 1872. He worked as a farm laborer, and by 1870, he owned $300 of personal property. He applied for a federal pension in May 1880 and eventually secured one. He died of nephritis in Ashland, Ohio, on January 1, 1923.

SOURCES