John Franklin Swift (February 28, 1829 – March 10, 1891) was an American politician and author. Swift was a Republican member of the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...

. He represented the 8th district (County of San Francisco) in 1863 and 1873-75. In 1875, he ran as an independent for congress, but lost to

William A. Piper William Adam Piper (May 21, 1826, Pennsylvania – August 5, 1899, San Francisco) was an American politician and a businessperson. He was a one-term member of the United States House of Representatives from California from 1875 to 1877. ...

. He later represented the 13th District from 1877 to 1880. In 1886, he ran for

Governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...

, but lost to Democrat

Washington Montgomery Bartlett Washington Montgomery Bartlett (February 29, 1824 – September 12, 1887) was an American politician who served as the 16th governor of California from January 1887 until his death in September of that year, as well as the 20th mayor of San Fr ...

. Along with

Newton Booth Newton Booth (December 30, 1825July 14, 1892) was an American entrepreneur and politician. Early life Born to Hannah (née Pitts) of North Carolina and Beebe Booth

, Swift formed an Independent Republican party whose platform was dominated by an anti-monopoly plank. Swift served as the United States Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

from 1889 to 1891.

Biography

Swift was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and died in Tokyo, Japan, but spent most of his career in San Francisco, California. Swift was admitted to the California bar in 1857. He worked for the U.S. Land Office from 1865-1866. He was appointed to serve as a regent for the University of California from 1872-88. In 1888, Swift was the delegate-at-large to the Republican National Convention. In 1867 Swift travelled on the USS ''Quaker City'' to the Holy City, the trip that

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

made famous in his book '' Innocents Abroad''. Swift's version of this journey is captured in his book ''Going to Jericho; or, Sketches of Travel in Spain and the East.'' As a legislator, Swift wrote provisions in the California State Constitution which gave the county board of supervisors the authority to control water rates. In June, 1880, as a member of the treaty commission to China headed by James Burrill Angell, U.S. Chief Chinese Negotiator, Swift traveled with fellow commission member

William Henry Trescot William Henry Trescot (November 10, 1822May 4, 1898) was a Charleston lawyer, historian, and diplomat born in Charleston, South Carolina, on November 10, 1822. He graduated at College of Charleston in 1840, studied law at Harvard University, a ...

and Angell to Peking (now Beijing), China. The result was the Angell Treaty of 1880 which limited the Burlingame Treaty of 1868. The Angell Treaty regulated and limited the immigration of Chinese laborers to the United States but did not prohibit it outright. It separated U.S. trade interests from the immigration issue, and made a legal opening for an exclusion law. In Chae Chan Ping v. the United States, Swift and LA District Attorney

Stephen M. White Stephen Mallory White (January 19, 1853February 21, 1901) was an American attorney and politician from California. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he was most notable for his service as a United States Senate, U.S. Senator from 189 ...

on behalf of California succeeded in moving the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of the Chinese Exclusion Act, 1888.

Publications

He is considered one of the writers of the

Sagebrush School The Sagebrush School was the literary movement written primarily by men of Nevada. The sagebrush shrub is prevalent in the state. It was a broad-based movement as it included various literary genres such as drama, essays, fiction, history, humor, ...

with

Joseph T. Goodman Joseph Thompson Goodman (September 18, 1838–October 1, 1917) was an American journalist, writer, and epigrapher. During the Comstock silver boom in Virginia City, Nevada, he was owner and editor of the ''Territorial Enterprise'', one of the large ...

, Fred H. Hart,

Henry Rust Mighels Henry Rust Mighels (November 5, 1830 – May 27, 1879) was a US journalist and politician. A writer of the Sagebrush School, he was the editor and publisher of Carson City, Nevada's ''Nevada Appeal''. He was born in Norway, Maine. He served ...

, Dan DeQuille,

Samuel Post Davis Samuel Post Davis (April 4, 1850 – March 17, 1918) was an American journalist, politician, and historian. Though primarily a journalist, Davis also wrote poetry, plays, short stories, and humorous sketches. A humorist, he was one of the wri ...

, John Franklin Swift, Charles Carroll Goodwin, Joseph Wasson,

Rollin M. Daggett Rollin Mallory Daggett (February 22, 1831 – November 12, 1901) was a 19th-century American politician, minister, and diplomat. Daggett served a single term as a United States representative from Nevada from 1879 to 1881. Biography Daggett w ...

. and others. Bret Hart commented that "of the three humorous writers: Twain, Miller, and Swift, the last was the greatest genius. * ''Going to Jericho; or, Sketches of Travel in Spain and the East (1868)'' * ''Grant And Wilson: Speech Of The Hon. John F. Swift,Delivered At Platt's Hall, July 9, 1872'' * ''Robert Greathouse: An American Novel (1870)'' * ''Robert Greathouse: A Story Of The Nevada Silver Mines (1878)'' * ''The Present and Future of the University'' (1887) * ''California a Republican state: Address to the Republicans of California'' (1888)

Personal

Swift's father was Nathan Williamson Swift and his mother was Sarah "Sallie" Campbell. Swift was married to suffragist and clubwoman Mary A. Wood (1841–1927), daughter of Emily Morrell and William Wood.Retrieved June 30, 2011: www.spiddyskids.com/relationship.php?generations=15&altprimarypersonID=I7979&savedpersonID=I17979&secondpersonID=I7977&tree=entire&primarypersonID=I7977

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swift, John Franklin 1829 births 1891 deaths American humorists Republican Party members of the California State Assembly Sagebrush School 19th-century American diplomats 19th-century American politicians