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Dictionary of Miramichi Biography

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SWIM, ROBERT (1826-1898)

SWIM, ROBERT, lumberman and general merchant; b. c1826, s/o Henry Swim Sr and Agnes (Doak) Dawson; brother of William Swim; m. 1st, 1851, Elizabeth Hill, of Boiestown, and 2nd, 1891, Frances J. Ross, formerly of Fredericton, d. Doaktown, 19 Mar 1898.

Robert Swim was an ambitious farmer and lumberman at Doaktown who had become the largest lumber operator in Blissfield parish by the 1870s. When his son Henry Swim came of age he was admitted into partnership in the growing lumber and mercantile business, which was then known as Swim & Son. In 1888 this firm was the principal commercial concern in Doaktown, with a new steam sawmill and shingle mill, as well as a large dry-goods and grocery store.

During the same period, Swim became a prominent public figure in the parish. In 1868 he was appointed as one of the original almshouse commissioners. In 1871 he was a census enumerator (and showed himself, unfortunately, to be less literate than most other public men). In 1878 he made a bid for a seat in the House of Assembly. In the campaign he stood for the construction of a Miramichi valley railway, the abolition of the Legislative Council, a reduction in the number of government departments, and the severe curtailment of public expenditures in the category of 'contingencies'. He was unsuccessful in the election and did not come forward again politically. He was later an investor in joint stock companies such as the World Publishing Co., of which he was an incorporator in 1882, and the Northern and Western Railway Co., of which he was a director in 1883.

The last decade of Swim's life was marked by a succession of personal calamities. In 1889 his first wife died at age fifty-eight. In 1890 Swim & Son's big Doaktown store was destroyed by fire. It was insured, but the insurance could not be collected, according to the revelations of "Nemo," under the heading "Doaktown Methods," in the Miramichi Advance of 12 June 1890. The store was rebuilt in any event, and in 1891 Swim was remarried. In 1892, however, Harvie Doak won a lawsuit that he had brought against him for slander, which required him to pay a substantial fine and court costs, and in April 1893 his second wife died, at age forty-two.

In June 1893 it was reported that Swim had sold his interest in Swim & Son to his nephew Francis D. Swim and a Fredericton partner of his. It is unclear, however, what was owned by Swim & Son and what by Swim personally. He kept a substantial "stock in trade," at least, which was later part of his estate. In 1894 he erected a new furniture factory at Doaktown in his own name, but his health soon declined, and a year or more before his death he was stricken and bedridden. He was survived by his son Henry Swim and several other adult children from his marriage to Elizabeth Hill, as well as by a young daughter from his marriage to Frances J. Ross.

Sources

[m] official records [d] Advance 24 Mar 1898 / Advance 12 Jul 1888, 12 Jun 1890, 24 Mar 1892, 22 Jun 1893, 18 Jan 1894, 14 Jul 1898; Advocate 23 Jan 1868, 11 Oct 1876, 5 Jun 1878, 25 May 1887, 6 Nov 1889, 28 May 1890, 8 Dec 1897; Gleaner 23 Jan 1868; tombstone; World 22 Mar 1882, 4 Aug 1883


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