John P, Swasey
John Philip Swasey(1839-1928) a U.S. Representative, was born in Canton on September 4, 1839. He attended the Canton public schools, Dearborn Academy, Hebron Academy, Maine State Seminary, and Tufts College, Medford, Massachusetts.
During the Civil War, Swasey enlisted in the Union Army and was appointed first lieutenant of Company K, Seventeenth Regiment, Maine Volunteer Infantry. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1863 and commenced practice in Canton.
He became town clerk and treasurer of Canton in 1866 and 1867, was county attorney of Oxford County from 1868 to 1870; and served as assessor of internal revenue in 1869 and 1870.
A member of the Maine House of Representatives in 1874, he also served in the Maine State Senate in 1875 and 1876. Swasey was a member of Governor Robie’s council in 1883 and 1884.
He was elected on November 3, 1908, as a Republican to the Sixtieth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Charles E. Littlefield and at the same time was elected to the Sixty-first Congress and served from November 3, 1908, to March 3, 1911. Swasey was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1910. He resumed the practice of his profession at Canton where he died May 27, 1928, with interment in Pine Grove Cemetery.
Additional resources
John Philip Swasey Congressional Biography: https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=S001098 (accessed January 12, 2021)