History of Bucks County, Pa Volume 3 by William H. Davis
Names and Page # Index

FRANCIS R. SWALLOW. Well known and valued in Bucks county is Francis R. Swallow, one of the summer residents of Lumberville. Mr. Swallow is a son of Charles R. Swallow, who was born about 1812, near Ringold, New Jersey, and was reared in Hunterdon county. He settled on a farm near Rosemont, where for many years he followed agricultural pursuits. About 1851 he moved to Lumberville and engaged in mercantile business, which he carried on for several years. About 1865 he removed to Lambertville, New Jersey, where for a number of years he conducted a mercantile business, which he finally sold and became a commercial salesman for a wholesale shoe house, a position which he continued to hold during the active years of his life. He married Eliza Robinson and five of the ten children born to them are now living: Harriet, who lives in Philadelphia; Emma, who is also a resident of that city; Hannah, who is the wife of A. H. Horton, of Philadelphia; Francis R., mentioned at length hereinafter; and Winfield, who lives in Philadelphia.

Francis R. Swallow, son of Charles R. and Eliza (Robinson) Swallow, was born September 29, 1846, in Rosemont, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and from his early boyhood was in the store with his father. At twelve years of age he went to Lahaska, where he found employment in the store of William Balderston, a worthy member of the Society of Friends, with whom he remained until the second year of the civil war. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company B, One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Regiment for nine months’ service. Two months after the expiration of his term he re-enlisted in Company B, One Hundred and Ninety-Sixth Regiment for three months’ service, and after the expiration of this his second term was employed for some months in Philadelphia. In March, 1864, he again enlisted, this time in Company I, Two Hundred and Thirteenth Regiment for one year, serving until the close of the war. After Mr. Swallow’s retirement from military service he went to Philadelphia and for nineteen years was employed by the old Carpenter Ice Company. In 1886, in partnership with Thomas C. Jenkins, he organized the Washington Ice Company, with offices at 13 Brown street, and a shipping wharf at the Brown street shipping market wharf. From a small beginning the business increased to large proportions, the company running thirty-five wagons, the first wagons and teams ever used in that business in Philadelphia. In 1899 they sold out advantageously to the trust, and for five years Mr. Swallow and his partner served as officers of the company. In the autumn of 1903 Mr. Swallow again engaged in the ice business, confining himself strictly to the wholesale trade, with offices at Broad and Cumberland streets, Philadelphia. The title of the present company, of which Mr. Swallow is sole owner, is "The Washington Ice Company." The business is carried on principally by car-load lots and wagons are run as far from the city as Bristol. Mr. Swallow is also interested in the New Knickerbocker Ice Company. He is a member of Birney Post, No. 63, G. A. R., of Philadelphia, and also belongs to Gothic Lodge, No. 519, F. and A. M. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Swallow married in 1876 Mary A. Diddleback, of Philadelphia, and nine children have been born to them, five of whom are living: Mamie E., who is the wife of Charles Krupp, of Philadelphia; Frank W., who is a student in Jefferson Medical College; Isabelle May; Florence H., and Lilliam Hazle. The four last-named are at home with their parents. In 1899 Mr. Swallow purchased the old Fretz residence in Lumberville, which he has since used as a country home, his city residence being at 2042 Mount Vernon street, Philadelphia.