Gustavus Swan (also known as Gustave) (July 15, 1787 – February 6, 1860) was a lawyer and banker from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

who was appointed to fill a vacancy on the

Ohio Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, ...

in 1829-1830.

Biography

Swan was born in Sharon, New Hampshire in 1787 to John and Sarah Swan. He attended local schools and private academies in the area, trading bookkeeping for tuition and board. He worked as an assistant in a bank while studying law at night. In 1810, he moved to

.The Supreme Court of Ohio and The Ohio Judicial System - Gustavus Swan
/ref> Swan lived in Marietta for a year and worked in a law office before being

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1811. He moved to Franklinton, in hopes it would become the state capital. In 1814, he moved to

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

. He also served in the Fourth Brigade of the Second Division of the Ohio Militia during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. Swan was elected to the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

in 1812 and 1817 for one year terms. In between, he had a law practice, doing title work on claims in the

Virginia Military District The Virginia Military District was an approximately 4.2 million acre (17,000 km2) area of land in what is now the state of Ohio that was reserved by Virginia to use as payment in lieu of cash for its veterans of the American Revolutionary ...

. He also was Franklin County prosecuting attorney 1821-1823. On October 1, 1823,

Ohio Governor The governor of Ohio is the head of government of Ohio and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state's Ohio National Guard, military forces. The officeholder has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either approve or veto bill (proposed law ...

Jeremiah Morrow Jeremiah Morrow (October 6, 1771March 22, 1852) was a Democratic-Republican Party politician from Ohio. He served as the ninth governor of Ohio, and was the last Democratic-Republican to hold that office. He also served as a United States Senat ...

appointed Swan as president judge of the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

for the sixth circuit, to fill a vacancy caused by the death of the sitting judge. He was appointed to a full seven-year term in February 1824 by the legislature. Swan resigned from the sixth circuit on July 9, 1829, when Governor

Allen Trimble Allen Trimble (November 24, 1783 – February 3, 1870) was a Federalist and National Republican politician from Ohio. He served as the eighth and tenth governor of Ohio, first concurrently as Senate Speaker, later elected twice in his own right. ...

appointed him to fill the vacancy on the

caused by the death of

Charles Robert Sherman Charles Robert Sherman (c. September 26, 1788 – June 24, 1829) was an American lawyer and public servant. Of his 11 children, four became prominent public figures during and after the Civil War. Life and career Sherman was born in Norwalk ...

. He served until February 1830, when the legislature appointed a permanent replacement. He then continued in private practice in Columbus until 1844, when he retired from law. May 21, 1840, Governor

Wilson Shannon Wilson Shannon (February 24, 1802 – August 30, 1877) was an American attorney and Democratic Party politician from Ohio. He served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives and was the 14th and 16th governor of Ohio. He was the first Ohi ...

appointed Swan a

Canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

Fund Commissioner. He was re-appointed in 1842. From 1823 to 1842, Swan served as president of the Franklin Bank of Columbus. In 1845, the General Assembly appointed him to the Board of Control of the Bank of Ohio. He was appointed the first president of the State Bank of Ohio and held that position until 1854. Swan married Amelia Aldrich in Hillsboro, New Hampshire in 1819. They had four children. Swan died in Columbus February 6, 1860.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swan, Gustavus 1787 births 1860 deaths Members of the Ohio House of Representatives Justices of the Supreme Court of Ohio Politicians from Columbus, Ohio County district attorneys in Ohio American militiamen in the War of 1812 Lawyers from Columbus, Ohio 19th-century Ohio state court judges 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly