David Lowry Swain

David Lowry Swain ( born January 4, 1801 Buncombe County, North Carolina; † August 27, 1868 in North Carolina) was an American politician and 26th Governor of North Carolina.

Early years

David Swain was the son of a farmer's family. After the local schools he attended the New Academy in Asheville and for a short time, the University of North Carolina. In 1821, he began a private law school in Raleigh at John Louis Taylor, the then Chief Justice in North Carolina ( Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court ). After his graduation and admission to the bar he began a legal career.

Political rise

From 1824 to 1830 he was a deputy in the Parliament of North Carolina. He served the next two years as a judge at the High Court ( Superior Court ) in North Carolina. He gave up this position in 1832 after he had been elected by the Members of Parliament to the Governor of his country.

Governor of North Carolina

In the elections he had prevailed against Richard Spaight junior, who was inferior in almost every annual gubernatorial election since 1827. Swain was elected three times and was able to take full advantage of the constitutional limit of three consecutive terms of office. His term began on December 6, 1832 and ended on 10 December 1835. At the time of taking office, he was the youngest by then Governor of North Carolina. As a member of the Whig Party, he was in opposition to the Democrat-led federal policy of President Andrew Jackson. During his tenure, he promoted the improvement of the infrastructure. In particular, he was interested in the development and expansion of the railroad in his country. He advocated for an improved criminal justice and promoted the education policy. Also during his tenure, the 1776 constitution adopted in North Carolina has been revised and provided with new additions. Among other things, now the governor was directly by the people, and no longer, as before, elected by the House of Representatives. Another constitutional amendment established the size of the Chamber of Deputies ( 120 members ) and the Senate (50 senators ). This distribution applies today. At the end of his tenure, the constitutional amendments were ratified.

More career

After the end of his tenure, he was from 1835 to 1868 Head of the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina. Politically, he had a long time in the background. Also, during the events leading up to the American Civil War, he played a significant role. He only came in 1861, again in political phenomenon. At that time, he represented the interests of his country at the Convention of the Confederate States. However, an election in which the Senate he refused. During the war he remained at his post at the University of North Carolina. In 1865 he was one of the citizens of the city of Raleigh, who negotiated the surrender of the town before the Union Army General William T. Sherman. In 1868 there were financial problems at the University of North Carolina. The House of Representatives and a newly composed board of trustees forced Swain's resignation from his post as head of the Board of Trustees. In the course of this year, 1868, the former governor died as a result of a traffic accident with his coach. He was married to Eleanor White, with whom he had four children.