Governor's Papers -- David L. Swain (4 January 1801 -- 29 August 1868), SR.331

David L. Swain (4 January 1801-29 August 1868) was born in Buncombe County, the youngest child of George Swain and the former Caroline Lane Lowry. Following a preparatory education at the Newton Academy in Asheville, he briefly attended the University of North Carolina and then began the study of law in Raleigh under Chief Justice John Louis Taylor. Receiving his law license, he returned to Buncombe County in 1823 to begin his practice, having made lasting friendships with several men of prominence in the state's capital.

Soon establishing himself as a successful attorney in Asheville and on the western circuit, Swain was elected in 1824 to represent Buncombe County in the state House of Commons. Four times during the next five years he was reelected to the House, becoming recognized in that body as an advocate for western interests, internal improvements, and progressive government. Although noncommittal with respect to party affiliation, he was associated with an emerging coalition of National Republicans and others opposed to Andrew Jackson and to the statewide political dominance of eastern Democrats.

On 1 December 1832, the General Assembly elected Swain to his first term as governor, even though he had not been regarded as a leading contender for the office. Still without party affiliation, his support came from the disparate coalition opposed to Jackson and to the leading Democratic candidate for governor, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr. In each of the next two years he was reelected governor, openly associating himself with the newly formed Whig Party and with the forces of progress and reform.

From the very outset Swain played a far more active role as governor than his predecessors, even though the constitutional powers of the office remained tightly constrained. Repeatedly and forcefully, he advocated sweeping reforms in the areas of education, banking, taxation, and internal improvements, carrying his message beyond the halls of the legislature to every area of the state. By 1834, however, he began to focus increasingly on the necessity of constitutional reforms, convinced that virtually all other progressive measures hinged upon the defeat of the eastern establishment and the more equitable distribution of political power in the state.

Working with other advocates of constitutional reform, Swain was successful in ushering through the General Assembly a bill calling for a constitutional convention, which met in Raleigh in July 1835 to begin its deliberations. Swain himself sat as a delegate from Buncombe County and served as chairman pro tempore. To him, more than anyone else, belongs the credit for the accomplishments of that meeting, including crucial reforms in the methods of representation and the election of governors by popular vote. One of Swain's last official acts as governor was the issuance of a proclamation that these and other constitutional reforms had been ratified. With the political impediments to progress finally broken down, railroad construction, public education, and other progressive measures could now become realities under Whig leadership.

Just prior to the expiration of his third term as governor, Swain was elected president of the University of North Carolina by its board of trustees. Though lacking in academic credentials, he soon won the respect of both students and faculty for his administrative ability, engaging personality, and unquestioned integrity. Moreover, he redoubled, as University president, his avid and persistent search for documentary materials relating to the state's history, forming the North Carolina Historical Society and laying the foundation for the University's present manuscript collection. By 1860 and the eve of the Civil War, the University had become the largest institution of higher learning in the South, with curriculum, physical plant, and enrollment all having grown under Swain's leadership.

Though severe hardships were experienced during the Civil War, Swain nevertheless managed to keep the University open and to hold commencement exercises each year. As Sherman's triumphant army approached Raleigh in the spring of 1865, Swain played a leading role in surrendering the state capital and in securing assurance that the University would not be harmed. He remained as University president until July 1868, when he and his entire faculty were removed by the newly installed board of trustees.

Swain passed away on 29 August 1868, as a result of a buggy accident. Initially buried at his Chapel Hill home, he was later reinterred in Raleigh's Oakwood Cemetery.

Swain's wife was the former Eleanor White, daughter of the former secretary of state William White and granddaughter of Revolutionary governor Richard Caswell. Their union produced children, two of whom died as infants.

REFERENCES:

Cheney, John L., Jr., ed. NORTH CAROLINA GOVERNMENT, 1585-1979: A

NARRATIVE AND STATISTICAL HISTORY. Raleigh: North Carolina Dept. of

the Secretary of State, 1981.

Coon, Charles L. THE BEGINNINGS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORTH CAROLINA:

A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY, 1790-1840. Raleigh: Edwards and Broughton

Printing Co., 1908.

Malone, Dumas, ed. DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. Vol. 18. New

York: Scribner, 1936.

Powell, William S., ed. DICTIONARY OF NORTH CAROLINA BIOGRAPHY. Vol. 5.

Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994.

Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF THE

GOVERNORS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1789-1978. Vol. 3. Westport, Conn.:

Meckler Books, 1978.

Wallace, Carolyn A. "David Lowry Swain: The First Whig Governor of

North Carolina." In the James Sprunt Studies in History and

Political Science, Vol. 39. Chapel Hill: University of North

Carolina Press, 1957. Pp. 62-81.

%7EAdditional Manuscript Sources: David L. Swain Papers, North Carolina

State Archives; David Lowry Swain Papers, Southern Historical

Collection, University of North Carolina At Chapel Hill.

1. Letters and Papers, 1832-1835

2. Letter Book, 1832-1835

Swain, David Lowry (1801-1868)

North Carolina. Office of the Governor

Governors

Transfered out (from us)