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NOAH H. SWAYNE
was born in Frederick County, Virginia, on December 7,
1804. At an early age he studied medicine under a physician
in Alexandria, Virginia, but he eventually abandoned medicine
to read law with an attorney in Warrenton, Virginia. He
was admitted to the bar in 1823. Because of his opposition
to slavery, in 1824 Swayne moved to the free state of
Ohio. The following year he established a practice in
Coshocton and was soon elected Prosecuting Attorney of
Coschocton County. In 1829, he was elected to the State
Legislature. In 1830, President Andrew Jackson appointed
Swayne United States Attorney for Ohio. He moved to Columbus
to discharge his new duties and retained the position
under President Martin Van Buren until 1841. Swayne was
elected to the Columbus City Council in 1834, and in 1836
served another term in the State Legislature as a representative
of Franklin County. On January 21, 1862, President Abraham
Lincoln nominated Swayne to the Supreme Court of the United
States. The Senate confirmed the appointment on January
24, 1862. Swayne retired from the Supreme Court on January
25, 1881, after serving for eighteen years. He died on
June 8, 1884, at the age of seventy-nine. |
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