Joshua Swain Jr. (June 2, 1804 – March 23, 1866) was an American politician and judge. Swain was born in 1804 and was the son of Joshua Swain, who served at the

1844 New Jersey constitutional convention The 1844 New Jersey Constitution is the second state constitution for the State of New Jersey and was replaced by the current state constitution adopted in 1947. It was preceded by the 1776 New Jersey Constitution. External links The New Jers ...

. He had a brother, Henry, born in 1806, who was the county loan commissioner. The younger Joshua Swain was commissioned as a captain of the fourth company of the First Battalion on May 22, 1823. In 1829, Swain was listed as the master of a schooner in the

Great Egg Harbor Great Egg Harbor Bay (or Great Egg Harbor) is a bay between Atlantic and Cape May counties along the southern New Jersey coast. The name derives from Dutch explorer Cornelius Jacobsen May's description of the plentiful birds laying eggs, naming th ...

. He was chosen as clerk of the

Board of Chosen Freeholders In New Jersey, a Board of County Commissioners (until 2020 named the Board of Chosen Freeholders) is the elected county-wide government board in each of the state's 21 counties. In the five counties that have an elected county executive, the ...

Cape May County Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on Cape May bound by Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. Adjacent to the Atlantic coastline are fiv ...

in 1831 and served in this capacity for the rest of his life. He served one term as Sheriff of Cape May County in 1834. Swain was elected vice president of the Cape May Agricultural Society in March 1846. He was elected to the

New Jersey Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts fo ...

in 1850 and served until 1852. In 1852, Swain was elected to the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...

and served until 1854. Swain led meetings in 1857 to potentially bring a railroad to Cape May. He hired William G. Cook, an engineer for the Camden-Amboy Railroad, to survey the county looking for a route for the railway. He was also a judge on the Court of Errors and Appeals of New Jersey for six years. Swain died in 1866 in Seaville and is buried at the Calvary Baptist Church Cemetery in Seaville. His son Edward Y. Swain succeeded him as clerk of the Board of Chosen Freeholders. Dr. Edmund Levi Bull Wales was appointed judge of the Court of Errors and Appeals in the wake of Swain's death.Stevens 1897, p. 360

References

1804 births 1866 deaths Members of the New Jersey General Assembly New Jersey state senators 19th-century American judges 19th-century American legislators Politicians from Cape May County, New Jersey Burials in New Jersey New Jersey state court judges 19th-century New Jersey politicians {{NewJersey-politician-stub