Swift, William Cole Nye, 1815-1892

William C.N. Swift (b. 1815) was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. He attended Brown University but did not graduate. He worked as a bookkeeper in Benjamin Rodman's counting room until 1835, when he joined his father in the live oak trade firm of E. and R. Swift and Co. Swift traveled to Ossabaw Island, Georgia to supervise the gathering of live oak. He continued his travels throughout the South surveying land and purchasing live oak lots. He was a passenger on the steamship Pulaski when she sank in 1838. In 1843, Swift bought a whaling ship and started the agency of Aiken and Swift shortly thereafter. On June 15, 1847, he married Eliza Perry. He was a delegate for Massachusetts at the Democratic National Conventions in 1860 and 1864.

From the description of William C.N. Swift correspondence, 1839. (Georgia Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 144570293

William Cole Nye Swift (1815-1892) and Obed Nye Swift (1804-1863), partners in Swift Brothers, involved in lumber trade and transport of lumber for shipbuilding in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

From the description of William Cole Nye Swift and Obed Nye Swift letters, 1838-1839, 1848. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 38476217