David Lowry Swain

David Lowry Swain

David Lowry Swain (born January 4, 1801 in Buncombe County , North Carolina , † August 27, 1868 in North Carolina) was an American politician and the 26th governor of North Carolina.

Early years

David Swain was the son of a farming family. After attending local schools, he attended the New Academy in Asheville and, for a short time, the University of North Carolina . In 1821 he began a private law degree in Raleigh with John Louis Taylor, the then Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. After graduating and admitted to the bar, he embarked on a legal career.

Political rise

From 1824 to 1830 he was a member of the North Carolina Parliament . For the next two years he served as a superior court judge in North Carolina. He gave up this position in 1832 after he had been elected governor of his country by the members of parliament.

North Carolina Governor

In the elections he had prevailed against Richard Spaight junior , who had been defeated in almost every annual gubernatorial election since 1827. Swain was elected a total of three times and was thus able to take full advantage of the constitutional limit of three consecutive terms of office. His tenure began on December 6, 1832 and ended on December 10, 1835. At the time of his inauguration he was the youngest governor of North Carolina. As a member of the Whig Party , he was in opposition to the democratically led federal policies of President Andrew Jackson . During his tenure he promoted the improvement of the infrastructure. In particular, he was interested in the development and expansion of the railroad in his country. He campaigned for improved criminal law and promoted education policy. Also during his tenure, the North Carolina constitution, passed in 1776, was revised and new additions were made. Among other things, the governor was now elected directly by the people and no longer, as before, by the House of Representatives. Another constitutional amendment stipulated the size of the House of Representatives (120 MPs) and the Senate (50 Senators). This distribution is still valid today. At the end of his term of office, the constitutional amendments were ratified.

Further career

After the end of his tenure, he was from 1835 to 1868 head of the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina. Politically, he stayed in the background for a long time. Nor did he play a significant role during the events leading up to the American Civil War . He only reappeared politically in 1861. At that time he represented the interests of his country at the Convention of the Confederate States. But he refused an election in their Senate. During the war he continued to work at the University of North Carolina. In 1865 he was one of the citizens of Raleigh City who negotiated with General William T. Sherman the surrender of the city to the Union Army. In 1868 the University of North Carolina had financial problems. The House of Representatives and a newly formed board of trustees forced Swain to resign from his post as head of the board of trustees. Later that year, 1868, the former governor died of a traffic accident in his carriage. He was married to Eleanor White, with whom he had four children.

literature

• Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 2, Meckler Books, Westport, Conn. 1978, 4 volumes

Web links

• David Swain in the National Governor Association (English)
• David Lowry Swain in the database of Find a Grave (English)