Howard Llewellyn Swisher

Howard Llewellyn Swisher (September 21, 1870 – August 27, 1945) was an American businessperson, real estate developer, orchardist, editor, writer, and historian. As a prominent businessman, he established several companies responsible for the development of businesses and real estate in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Swisher was born in 1870 near Levels, West Virginia. He became a schoolteacher there at the age of 18, then graduated from Fairmont State Normal School (present-day Fairmont State University) and West Virginia University. He then remained in Morgantown, where he established a bookstore and stationery shop. Following the success of his bookstore, Swisher organized the Main Street Building Company, the Howard L. Swisher Company, and the Morgantown Building Association, each of which constructed a large number of residences in the city. He was also the inaugural secretary-treasurer of the West Virginia Real Estate Dealers' Association.

Swisher was secretary of the Royalty Oil Company, which owned mining rights for approximately of prospective oil lands throughout the United States. He also held prominent leadership and management roles in the Valley Wood Working Company, the Monongahela Valley Posting and Distributing Plant, the Federal Savings and Trust Company, and the West Virginia Tri-Products Company. In Hampshire County, Swisher maintained fruit growing interests and served as the president of the South Branch Merchandising Company. He was an active member of the West Virginia Democratic Party and was selected as a delegate from West Virginia to the 1936 Democratic National Convention.

In 1897, Swisher co-authored History of Hampshire County, West Virginia: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present with West Virginia historian Hu Maxwell. The book was the first comprehensive history of Hampshire County ever compiled. He composed a collection of poetry and short stories, Briar Blossoms, in 1899, and was the editor of The Ghourki, a literary journal of poetry, short stories, and aphorisms. In 1908, Swisher published Book of Harangues, a selection of passages from The Ghourki.

Family background

Howard Llewellyn Swisher was born on September 21, 1870, on a farm near the unincorporated community of Levels, West Virginia. He was the son of David Warner Swisher and his wife, Mary Katherine Bonnifield Swisher. David moved to Preston County in present-day West Virginia in 1838, and a few years later, he purchased land near present-day Levels in Hampshire County and relocated there. In 1846, David married his wife, Mary Katherine Bonnifield, He began his post-secondary education at Fairmont State Normal School (present-day Fairmont State University) in Fairmont, which he graduated from in 1892. While enrolled there, Swisher became affiliated with the Mu Mu chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He then returned to West Virginia and attended West Virginia University in Morgantown. In 1897, after three years of studies, Swisher graduated from the university with a Bachelor of Arts degree. The association was formed in cooperation with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture and other state agencies for the promotion and development of the states's agricultural resources, real estate, and investments. Swisher maintained fruit growing interests on South Branch Mountain (known as Jersey Mountain) in Hampshire County, and served as the president of the South Branch Merchandising Company. Swisher was the editor of The Ghourki, a literary journal of poetry, short stories, and aphorisms. In 1908, Swisher published Book of Harangues, a selection of passages from The Ghourki.

Politics

Swisher was an active member of the West Virginia Democratic Party. and was selected as an alternate delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1912 and 1924.

Personal life In August 1897, Swisher married Mary Dering of Morgantown, daughter of Edward A. Dering and his wife, Cordelia Walker Dering of Morgantown. Swisher was interred on August 30, 1945, at Oak Grove Cemetery in Morgantown's Chancery Hill Historic District.

Selected works History of Hampshire County, West Virginia: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present. 1897. Co-authored with Hu Maxwell. Briar Blossoms: Being a Collection of a Few Verses and Some Prose. 1899. Book of Harangues. 1908.