John Swinburne (New York)

John Swinburne
John Swinburne
Mayor of Albany, New York
	In office; 1883–1884
Preceded by	Michael Nicholas Nolan
Succeeded by	Anthony Bleecker Banks
Member of the U.S.HouseofRepresentatives ; from New York's 19th district
	In office; 1885–1887
Preceded by	Abraham X. Parker
Succeeded by	Nicholas Thomas Kane
Personal details
Born	May 30, 1820; Lewis County, New York, U.S.
Died	March 28, 1889 (aged 68); Albany, New York, U.S.
Resting place	Albany Rural Cemetery
Political party	Republican

Last updated April 12, 2019

John Swinburne (May 30, 1820 – March 28, 1889) was an American physician and Republican congressman from New York who served as a medical officer from 1861 to 1864, during the Civil War and as a member of American Ambulance Corps at the Siege of Paris in 1870–71. In his last decade, 1880s, he was briefly mayor of Albany and represented New York's 19th congressional district for one term.

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they compose the legislature of the United States.

New York is a state in the Northeastern United States. New York was one of the original thirteen colonies that formed the United States. With an estimated 19.54 million residents in 2018, it is the fourth most populous state. To distinguish the state from the city with the same name, it is sometimes called New York State.

Education and service in Civil War and Franco-Prussian War

Born into a farming family in the unincorporated community of Deer River in Lewis County, Swinburne lost his father at the age of twelve and had to work to support himself as well as assume responsibility for his mother and sisters. He sought summertime work on farms and, during wintertime, attended the county's public schools and academies in nearby towns of Denmark and Lowville, as well as Fairfield in neighboring Herkimer County. Graduating from Albany Medical College, first in his 1846 class, he began a practice as physician and surgeon.^[1]

Lewis County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 27,087, making it the fourth-least populous county in New York. Its county seat is Lowville. The county is named after Morgan Lewis, the Governor of New York when the county was established.

Denmark is a town in Lewis County, New York, United States named after the Kingdom of Denmark, situated in Northern Europe. The population was 2,860 at the 2010 census.

Fairfield Academy was an academy that existed for nearly one hundred years in the Town of Fairfield, Herkimer County, New York.

In 1861, at the start of the Civil War, he was appointed by commander of New York National Guard, Brigadier General John F. Rathbone, to serve as chief medical officer at Albany depot. In June 1862, following Battle of Savage's Station, as Army of the Potomac, along with its physicians, retreated, Swinburne remained to care for the thousands of wounded prisoners, both Union and Confederate. Respecting his principled stand, Confederate commander Stonewall Jackson gave him a pass, with an accompanying personal note, permitting visits to Union prisoners. In 1864, Governor Horatio Seymour nominated him to the post of Health Officer of the Port of New York and, in 1867, he was renominated by Governor Reuben Fenton, serving a total of six years, until 1870. During his administration, despite the state legislature's reluctance to assign funding, he supervised the construction of then-state-of-the-art quarantine facilities on islands which were named Swinburne and Hoffman.^[1]

The Battle of Savage's Station took place on June 29, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, as the fourth of the Seven Days Battles of the American Civil War. The main body of the Union Army of the Potomac began a general withdrawal toward the James River. Confederate Brig. Gen. John B. Magruder pursued along the railroad and the Williamsburg Road and struck Maj. Gen. Edwin Vose Sumner's II Corps with three brigades near Savage's Station, while Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's divisions were stalled north of the Chickahominy River. Union forces continued to withdraw across White Oak Swamp, abandoning supplies and more than 2,500 wounded soldiers in a field hospital.

The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in May 1865 following the surrender of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in April.

During the American Civil War, the Union Army referred to the United States Army, the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. Also known as the Federal Army, it proved essential to the preservation of the United States of America as a working, viable republic.

While on a trip to Europe in July 1870, following retirement from the port, he arrived in France at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. In September, as the Siege of Paris began, he was importuned by the city's American community to form, at their expense, the Parisian equivalent of the Civil War U.S. Ambulance Corps. For the next six months, through the fall of Paris to the Prussian Army on January 28, 1871, until his departure on March 18, the first day of the revolutionary Paris Commune, the ambulance corps operated on a wide-ranging scale throughout the city, obtaining results beyond the over-stretched capacities of the local physicians. In recognition of his efforts, the newly formed Third Republic awarded him the decoration of Chevalier [Knight] in Legion of Honor, the country's highest distinction. He was also decorated by the Red Cross of Geneva.^[1]

France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total population of 67.3 million. France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and later the Third French Republic, and the German states of the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871, the conflict was caused by Prussian ambitions to extend German unification and French fears of the shift in the European balance of power that would result if the Prussians succeeded. Some historians argue that the Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck deliberately provoked the French into declaring war on Prussia in order to draw the independent southern German states—Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse-Darmstadt—into an alliance with the North German Confederation dominated by Prussia, while others contend that Bismarck did not plan anything and merely exploited the circumstances as they unfolded. None, however, dispute the fact that Bismarck must have recognized the potential for new German alliances, given the situation as a whole.

The U.S. Ambulance Corps was a unit of the Union Army during the American Civil War. The Ambulance Corps was initially formed as a unit only within the Army of the Potomac, due to the effort of several Army officials, notably Dr. Jonathan Letterman, medical director of the Army of the Potomac, and William Hammond, the US Surgeon-General. Until August 1862, the lack of trained ambulance drivers meant that the wounded had to wait a long time to receive medical care. This changed at the Battle of Antietam in September 1862 when his new system allowed the wounded men to be transferred quickly so there could be fewer deaths. The corps also meant that ambulances had a more centralized organization.

As physician, mayor and congressman

Returning from Europe, Swinburne settled in Albany and established a medical practice, including the free Swiburne Dispensary in which tens of thousands of indigent patients were treated at his expense. He also accepted, in 1876, the chair of Professor of Fractures and Clinical Surgery with Albany Medical College and became a pioneering expert in providing forensic testimony at trials involving medical evidence.^[2] Due to his unorthodox innovative methods in the treatment of bone disease, his colleagues at the College, in a secret, nighttime meeting, abolished his chair, thus when he arrived the following morning to deliver a scheduled lecture, the doors of the auditorium were locked. His charitable work was also resented by a number of local doctors who made repeated legal attempts to shut down the free clinic. Students at the College, however, rallied around him and demanded the publication of his lectures.^[3]

In the charter election of April 1882, as the Republican candidate for Mayor of Albany, he received what appeared to be a majority, but a recount gave his Democratic opponent, Michael N. Nolan, who was both the incumbent mayor and a member of Congress, a 118-vote win. The resulting litigation, which lasted for fourteen months of the two-year term, ultimately forced Nolan's resignation on June 24, 1883 and the swearing-in of John Swinburne as mayor.^[4] Mayor Swinburne held the office just over ten months, until the expiration of his term on May 6, 1884. In April, he was denied re-election by a similar discrepancy of 241 votes, which handed the mayoralty to the Democratic candidate, A. Bleecker Banks.^[5] Republicans then offered him the 19th district's congressional seat and, in November, he prevailed over Democrat Thomas J. Van Alstyne, the incumbent from 16th congressional district who had been redistricted into the 19th.^[6]

The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major political parties in the United States; the other is its historic rival, the Democratic Party.

The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest active political party.

Michael Nicholas Nolan was a U.S. Representative from New York State and Mayor of Albany, New York, the state capital.

Following the election, an ultimately unsuccessful movement^[7] started to nominate him for Governor of New York in the gubernatorial contest of November 1885.^[8] In the interim, he served in the Forty-ninth Congress from March 4, 1885 to March 3, 1887 but, in November 1886, was again controversially defeated by Democrat Nicholas T. Kane with a challenged margin of 81 votes.^[9] Upon Kane's death in September, six months after taking office, Swinburne was urged to run in the special election to replace him, but declined any further participation in politics.

In the two years remaining, John Swinburne returned to his medical practice and the treatment of the indigent. Suffering from stomach cancer, he died at home in Albany eight weeks before his 69th birthday and was interred in Albany Rural Cemetery.^[10]

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References

1 2 3 The National Cyclopædia of American Biography, volume VII. New York: James T. White & Company (1897) p. 33 {birthdate is given as May 20, 1820}
↑ A Typical American, or, Incidents in the life of Dr. John Swinburne, of Albany, the eminent patriot, surgeon, and philanthropist. Citizens' Association (Albany, N.Y. 1888). Biography of John Swinburne, Chapter XIX, pp. 303–321: "SWINBURNE'S DISPENSARY. Establishing a Free Dispensary.— Opposed to Deforming the Poor.— A Conscientious Instructor.— Showing up Malpractice.— War among the Doctors.— A High-handed Proceeding.— Esteemed by Students.— A Committee's Investigations.— A Name that gave Tone."
↑ A Typical American, or, Incidents in the life of Dr. John Swinburne, of Albany, the eminent patriot, surgeon, and philanthropist. Citizens' Association (Albany, N.Y. 1888). Biography of John Swinburne, Chapter XX, pp. 322–338: "SCIENCE DEVOTED TO HUMANITY. An Unkept Promise.— What the Dispensary has done.— Great Advance in Science.— Treating Tens of Thousands.— Remarkable and Interesting Cases.— Helping Nature.— An Unequalled Man and Record."
↑ "THE MAYOR OF ALBANY RESIGNS. ANXIETY TO EVADE A SUIT THE CAUSE—MANY COMPLICATIONS PROBABLE." The New York Times, June 23, 1883
↑ "THE ALBANY CITY ELECTION. BRIBERY BY THE DEMOCRATS AND FRAUD IN THE COUNTING." The New York Times, April 9, 1884
↑ "THE COUNTY MAJORITIES. ALBANY, Nov. 5.--Albany County gives Cleveland 18,140; Blaine, 17,509. The entire Republican county ticket is elected. Swinburne, for Congress, has 2,500 majority. The Assemblymen are three Democrats, one Republican..." The New York Times, November 6, 1884
↑ "IN THE FIELD FOR GOVERNOR." (The New York Times, November 27, 1884)
↑ "TALKING OF CANDIDATES. REPUBLICAN DELEGATES ARRIVING AT SARATOGA. CANDIDATES AND WORKERS LOOKING OVER THE FIELD AND DISCUSSING EACH OTHER'S CHANCES OF SUCCESS" The New York Times, September 20, 1885
↑ "THE DEFEAT OF DR. SWINBURNE. ACCOMPLISHED BY REPEATING AND OTHER FRAUDS." The New York Times, November 4, 1886
↑ "OBITUARY. DR. JOHN SWINBURNE." The New York Times, March 29, 1889 {year of birth is given as 1821}

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Michael Nicholas Nolan	Mayor of Albany, New York 1883–1884	Succeeded by Anthony Bleecker Banks
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Abraham X. Parker	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 19th congressional district 1885–1887	Succeeded by Nicholas Thomas Kane

This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov .

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[b1-1] 1 2 3 The National Cyclopædia of American Biography, volume VII. New York: James T. White & Company (1897) p. 33 {birthdate is given as May 20, 1820}

[2] A Typical American, or, Incidents in the life of Dr. John Swinburne, of Albany, the eminent patriot, surgeon, and philanthropist. Citizens' Association (Albany, N.Y. 1888). Biography of John Swinburne, Chapter XIX, pp. 303–321: "SWINBURNE'S DISPENSARY. Establishing a Free Dispensary.— Opposed to Deforming the Poor.— A Conscientious Instructor.— Showing up Malpractice.— War among the Doctors.— A High-handed Proceeding.— Esteemed by Students.— A Committee's Investigations.— A Name that gave Tone."

[3] A Typical American, or, Incidents in the life of Dr. John Swinburne, of Albany, the eminent patriot, surgeon, and philanthropist. Citizens' Association (Albany, N.Y. 1888). Biography of John Swinburne, Chapter XX, pp. 322–338: "SCIENCE DEVOTED TO HUMANITY. An Unkept Promise.— What the Dispensary has done.— Great Advance in Science.— Treating Tens of Thousands.— Remarkable and Interesting Cases.— Helping Nature.— An Unequalled Man and Record."

[4] "THE MAYOR OF ALBANY RESIGNS. ANXIETY TO EVADE A SUIT THE CAUSE—MANY COMPLICATIONS PROBABLE." The New York Times, June 23, 1883

[5] "THE ALBANY CITY ELECTION. BRIBERY BY THE DEMOCRATS AND FRAUD IN THE COUNTING." The New York Times, April 9, 1884

[6] "THE COUNTY MAJORITIES. ALBANY, Nov. 5.--Albany County gives Cleveland 18,140; Blaine, 17,509. The entire Republican county ticket is elected. Swinburne, for Congress, has 2,500 majority. The Assemblymen are three Democrats, one Republican..." The New York Times, November 6, 1884

[7] "IN THE FIELD FOR GOVERNOR." (The New York Times, November 27, 1884)

[8] "TALKING OF CANDIDATES. REPUBLICAN DELEGATES ARRIVING AT SARATOGA. CANDIDATES AND WORKERS LOOKING OVER THE FIELD AND DISCUSSING EACH OTHER'S CHANCES OF SUCCESS" The New York Times, September 20, 1885

[9] "THE DEFEAT OF DR. SWINBURNE. ACCOMPLISHED BY REPEATING AND OTHER FRAUDS." The New York Times, November 4, 1886

[10] "OBITUARY. DR. JOHN SWINBURNE." The New York Times, March 29, 1889 {year of birth is given as 1821}