Henry Spencer Swift Jr.

Henry Spencer Swift Jr. (1838 - April 19, 1863) was an early settler of Edgerton, Wisconsin and Officer in the Union Army in the American Civil War. Swift was the first person from Edgerton to be killed in the American Civil War.

Early life Henry Spencer Swift Jr. was born in 1838 in Waits River, Vermont, the exact date of Swift's birth is unknown. Swift was the first child of Henry Spencer Swift Sr. and Diana C. Holden, the niece of Henry Dearborn. The Swift family first moved to Edgerton, Wisconsin in 1854 and were some of the first citizens to plat the city. In total Swift Sr. and Diana had 14 children, only 10 of which survived their infancy. The 33rd Wisconsin fought in the Western theater of the American Civil War primarily in Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. Lieutenant Swift was Killed in action on April 19, 1863, during the early stages of the Vicksburg Campaign in a skirmish with the 9th Arkansas Infantry Regiment across the Coldwater River and 2nd Missouri Cavalry Regiment at Perry's Ferry, about four miles south of Coldwater, Mississippi. Swift and Mary had one child together.

Legacy Both Henry Street and Swift Street in Edgerton, Wisconsin, were named in honor of Henry Spencer Swift and his father. Likewise, the local Grand Army of the Republic post; H. S. Swift Post 137 was named in honor of Swift, as it was common for GAR posts of the time to name their post in honor of a locally killed comrade.