Harold L. Swan

Forty years of useful community service was ended suddenly Saturday noon when Harold L. Swan, editor of The Mazomanie Sickle, was fatally burned in an accident at the Sickle Printing office. Mr. Swan was discovered in the midst of flames beside the linotype by his youngest son, Berton, shortly after the accident happened. Death came within a short time after he was rescued from the fire.

Harold Ludwig Swan was born to Hans H. and Randina Swan at Christiana, (now known as Oslo) Norway, November 29, 1869. When he was two years old, he came with his parents to the United States, the family locating at Stoughton, Wisconsin, at which place Mr. Swan spent nearly all of his early life.

It was at Stoughton that Mr. Swan began his career as a printer and newspaper man, a career which he followed for more than half a century. He first worked as a member of the staff of the Courier, a pioneer newspaper of Stoughton. Besides his employment at Stoughton, Mr. Swan spent some time at Madison, and for three years was co-publisher of the Gauken, a Norwegian paper, at Stoughton.

Having attained young manhood, Mr. Swan forty years ago came to Mazomanie to publish The Sickle, which business he had purchased from the then editor, F. E. Johns. Since that time he continually has resided in this village and during that period has either produced, or supervised the production of more than two thousand issues of The Sickle.

Mr. Swan did not come to Mazomanie alone, however. Two years before he entered business for himself, he was married on February 5, 1891, at Stoughton, to Miss Bertha Johnson, who came here soon after Mr. Swan arrived and who has constantly been his companion and confidant. She remains to carry on his work.

To this union were born five children, one of whom passed away in infancy. The surviving children are one daughter, Mrs. Idelle Huntington of Mazomanie, and three sons, Harold J. Swan of Missoula, Mont.; Julian M. Swan of Madison and Berton L. Swan of Mazomanie. Other surviving relatives include three brothers, Axel, Henry and Alfred Swan, all of Stoughton, and four sisters, Mrs. Thea Hanson, Mrs. Marie Engbretsen, Mrs. Lettie Pedersen, all of Stoughton, and mrs. Helga Selden of Canton, Ohio; and three grandchildren, Bertha Jane Huntington of Mazomanie, and Harold and Richard Swan of Missoula, Mont.

Private funeral services for Mr. Swan, for the benefit of the relatives, were held at the home at 1:30 P. M. Tuesday, with impressive services following at the Community church at 2:00 o'clock. A funeral cortege of more than forty cars, including ten cars carrying members of the Masonic lodge, accompanied the body from Mazomanie to the Riverside cemetery at Stoughton, where burial was made. Services were in charge of Rev. George F. Shepherd of the Community church, Mazomanie, and Rev. John N. Davidson and Rev. H. S. Crouse of Madison. Rev. Mr. Davidson is the pastor who united Mr. and Mrs. Swan in marriage forty-two years ago. At the graveside, the impressive Masonic ritual was conducted. The business places of Mazomanie were closed during the funeral time, out of respect to Mr. Swan. Rev. A. W. Shepherd of Chatham, Canada, father of Rev. George F. Shepherd, pronounced the benediction at the grave.

Active pallbearers were Arthur Tebo, George Pugh, Dr. L. C. Scheel, Glenn Carter, Elmer Moorhead and William Stadelman. Honorary pallbearers were business men of Mazomanie who were here when Mr. Swan came and who have advanced in years along with him. They were Charles H. Butz, Julius Butz, W. C. P. Weinschenk, Thomas Powers, J. P. Hudson, E. L. Case, W. S. F. Smith, Robert Vogel, W. A. Haseltine, James King, John King, Sr., Phillip Hamm and P. E. Reeves.

Mr. Swan, during his long residence in Mazomanie, participated liberally in public life of the village. He served for nine years as village clerk, for eleven years as village treasurer and as a member of the village council for a few years. He was treasurer at the time of his death. He was prominent in civic affairs, and frequently his gift for song was called upon until ill health in his declining years curtailed his activities.

For twenty-seven years Mr. Swan carried on his work with difficulty, suffering from arthritis which seriously affected his physical well-being. He carried on, however, continually cheerful and continually adding friends to his already large list. He attained the distinction of becoming one of the oldest newspaper editors in Wisconsin, in point of service, and enjoyed an unusually large circle of friends and acquantances, all of whom regret his passing, coming from afar to be present at the final rite.

We wish to express our heartfelt appreciation to those many friends who devoted so much effort to ease our sorrows and bring us comfort follwing the death of our husband and father; to express our thanks for the many beautiful floral offerings in his memory; to express our thanks to the many who paid tribute to him at the services both here and at the graveside, and to thank the Masons for their part in the service.

Mrs. Harold L. Swan,
Mrs. Idelle Huntington,
Harold J. Swan,
Julian M. Swan,
Berton L. Swan

--Mazomanie Sickle, Mazomanie, Wisconsin, Vol. LX, No. 25, Thursday, August 24, 1933.