Fletcher B. Swank (April 24, 1875 – March 16, 1950) was an American politician and a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from Oklahoma.

Biography

Born near Bloomfield, Iowa, Swank was the son of Wallace and Melinda Wells Swank. He moved with his parents to Beef Creek, Indian Territory, in 1888, and attended an academy in

Noble, Oklahoma Noble is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, United States, and is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area. The population was 6,481 at the 2010 census. Noble is Cleveland County's third-largest city behind Norman and Moore. History On ...

, and

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

. He married Ada Blake on December 30, 1914; and the couple had two children, Fletcher B. and James Wallace.

Career

Swank taught school at Stella, and in 1902 he was elected Cleveland County school superintendent, serving from 1903 to 1907. Swank became Private secretary to Congressman Scott Ferris in 1907 and 1908. He attended the law department of

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in 1907 and 1908, and was graduated from

Cumberland University Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was founded in 1842. The campus's current historic buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896. History 1842-1861 The university was founded by the Cumberlan ...

, Lebanon, Tennessee, in 1909. Admitted to the bar in 1909, he commenced practice in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, b ...

. He served as judge of the county court of

Cleveland County, Oklahoma Cleveland County is a county in the central part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 295,528 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the third-most populous county in Oklahoma. Its county seat is Norman. The county was named fo ...

from 1911 to 1915, and as judge of the fourteenth judicial district of Oklahoma from 1915 to September 1920, when he resigned. Swank was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the Sixty-seventh and to the three succeeding Congresses serving from March 4, 1921 to March 3, 1929. An unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1928 to the Seventy-first Congress, He was elected to the Seventy-second and Seventy-third Congresses, and served from March 4, 1931 to January 3, 1935. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1934, losing to Josh Lee. He ran again in 1936, 1937 and 1938, but with no success, He then returned to Norman and resumed his law practice.

Death

Swank died in Norman, Cleveland County, Oklahoma, on March 16, 1950 (age 74 years, 326 days). He is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

at Odd Fellows Cemetery, Norman, Oklahoma.

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Swank, Fletcher B. 1875 births 1950 deaths People from Bloomfield, Iowa University of Oklahoma alumni Georgetown University Law Center alumni People from Norman, Oklahoma Cumberland University alumni Oklahoma lawyers Burials in Oklahoma Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Oklahoma