El
Dorado County
Biographies
CHARLES S. SWIFT
In
the early days, Charles S. Swift was widely known as one of the leading
freighters in northern California, doing heavy hauling over the mountain roads
to the mines, and using mule teams for transportation power. In later years, he has been known for his
extensive activities in ranching and stock raising,
and he now makes his home at Latrobe, El Dorado County. His birth occurred on the Swift Ranch in
Sacramento County, California, September 5, 1861, and he is a son of Rufus E.
and Elizabeth A. (Burke) Swift. Rufus E.
Swift crossed the plains in 1853, it requiring six months and ten days to
complete the journey. The mother came
from Ohio by way of the Horn, and landed in San Francisco when she was in her
seventeenth year of age. She and Rufus
E. Swift were married at Amador City, where he was superintendent of the Old
Keystone Mine. He later bought
squatter’s rights, and on this land he farmed.
This property became known as the Swift Ranch, but the title was later
despoiled by the government, and eventually the place, after much expense had
been put upon it by the Swift family, passed into other hands. Rufus E. Swift and his wife have been
deceased for many years.
Charles
S. Swift attended the common schools of Sacramento, and then studied two terms at
the old Placerville Academy. He also attended the Stockton Business College for
two terms. After this he engaged in
carrying freight over the mountain trails, and his experiences in this work
were many and exciting. He contracted
for heavy hauling to the mining districts, and oft times the task of driving
his mule teams over the mountain passes was nearly impossible. In 1911, he traded his mules for the Moreing
ranch of seventeen hundred acres at Latrobe, and he then cultivated this land
and also raised cattle, until the time of his retirement. He now rents the ranch, but continues to
handle horses and is very active in business affairs.
Mr.
Swift is a Republican in his political affiliation. He has been a member of the Native Sons of
the Golden West since 1886, and is a past president of Ione Parlor, No. 33.
The
marriage of Mr. Swift to Miss Josephine Forni of Georgetown, El Dorado County,
occurred February 5, 1889. They have
become the parents of the following children:
Rufus S., Florence, Lucetta, Charles, Jr., and Lloyd D., and there are
seven grandchildren.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 2 Pages 437-438. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's El Dorado County Biographies