The son of Wilson Ransom and Sarah Ann (Skinner) Swinney, William Landon Swinney (1861-1927) was born in Liberty County, Texas. After his father returned from fighting with the Confederate Army during the Civil War, the family moved to Florence in 1867. While teaching school in Llano, Bell, and Burnet counties, Swinney met Mary Adeline "Addie" Adams. The couple married in June 1882 and eventually had 12 children. Swinney worked in the grocery business and as a traveling salesman before moving the family to Lockney to farm. In 1903, the family returned west and Swinney began preaching for the Church of Christ, first at Weatherford, then Abilene and Fort Worth, where he also entered the real estate business. In 1911, Swinney began working in the marble industry at San Saba. In the 1920s, he continued to minister across the state and founded an orphan's home in the town of Canadian.
Comprising a photocopy of a typed memoir, the William Landon Swinney Papers, 1927, chronicle the lives of Swinney, his father Wilson Ransom Swinney, and other family members. The manuscript describes the history of the Swinney family in the United States, beginning with his grandfather's emigration from Ireland to Georgia in 1790, and includes detailed sketches of his father's siblings. The narrative of the memoir concerns Swinney's childhood and education, his various vocations, his Church of Christ ministry and orphanage, and life on the Texas frontier. The memoir also contains transcripts of a will, which includes slaves; a 1923 sermon by Swinney; a petition supporting his ministry; his son Oram Swinney's World War I service record; and several letters.
This collection is open for research use.
William Landon Swinney Papers, 1927, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s