No. 13053 Reuben Swan
Photograph contained in an album at the Dorchester Historical Society of about 150 photos kept by Nathaniel R. Perkins, MD, who examined thousands of men who were going into the war, 1914-1918. Given by Mrs N. R. Perkins in accordance with instructions from her late husband, Dr. Nathaniel P. Perkins of 1122 Adams St, Dorchester. Index catalog has entries for the individuals.
Reuben Swan Washington St May 1917 passed examination for Plattsburg Training Camp but was not called. In April 1918 applied for admission to Engineers Corp was told he could join a regiment at Annapolis if he had not been selected by board. Within 24 hours was selected by board sent to Camp Devens April 26, 1918 went overseas July 6, 1918, E Co 301st Infantry 76 Division
Reuben Swan. Written by Julie Wolf.
Reuben Swan was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, on November 24, 1891, the second child of Willie Gardner Swan and Mabel Durell Swan. He had three siblings: his older sister, Mary, died of diphtheria in 1889, not yet 2; a younger brother, Durelle; and a younger sister, Florence. From birth, Reuben and his family lived at 1099 Washington Street in Dorchester, the home of his grandfather, Reuben Swan, and his step-grandmother, Hannah (Hattie). The Swans (several of whom shared the name Reuben) were a prominent family with long roots in Dorchester, and in Massachusetts itself. The family’s original immigrant ancestor, Reuben’s fifth great-grandfather John Swan, arrived in Watertown from England sometime before 1640. Reuben’s great-grandfather, also Reuben, was the first Swan to settle in Dorchester. Born in West Cambridge in 1778, he relocated to Dorchester Lower Falls after his marriage in 1804 and became a grain dealer. According to a genealogy of Massachusetts families, John Quincy Adams was one of his most loyal customers. The business must have stayed in the family through the generations, because the 1910 census lists Reuben’s father Willie G.’s occupation as “grain dealer.” Another relative, Reuben’s great-granduncle William Henry Swan, was a selectman in Dorchester during the 1800s.
Reuben studied civil engineering at Tufts College. While there, he participated in the Chess Club and as a senior was elected to head the wrestling team. In 1915, he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering.
A civil engineer at Brookline Town Hall since college graduation, Reuben registered for the World War I draft on June 5, 1917. Unmarried and still living at 1099 Washington Street, he was of medium height and build, with blue eyes and brown hair. On April 23, 1918, he was initiated into the Macedonian Lodge of Masons in Milton, and just three days later, he enlisted. On July 6, 1918, Private Reuben Swan shipped out of New York aboard the Cedric with Company E of “Boston’s Own” 301st Infantry, 76th Division. He served with this company, primarily New Englanders, until August 28, 1918. Once in France, the 76th was converted to a depot division, at which point the newly arrived troops were trained and released as replacements for those on the front. Until February 28, 1919, Reuben was with the Provisional Company Headquarters Detachment 3d Depot Division. He served in France for just over a year as part of the American Expeditionary Forces and returned home from Marseille on July 16, 1919, honorably discharged on July 23 at Camp Devens, Massachusetts.
While Reuben was serving overseas, his mother, Mabel, age 59, died of gallstones and acute pancreatitis on April 14, 1919; we do not know if he was informed. Back at home in Dorchester, Reuben became an instructor of civil engineering at Tufts. When the 1920 census was recorded on January 8, Reuben and his widowed father, Willie, were still living at 1099 Washington Street. On October 2 of that year, Willie remarried, moving with his new wife, Mary Tucker, to 1079 Adams Street in Dorchester. Reuben continued to share the address.
On December 9, 1920, tragedy struck. The reasons or circumstances are unknown to us, but Reuben, on a month-long leave of absence from Tufts, was hospitalized at Wellesley’s Channing Sanitarium. It was there that he died by suicide, of a “Hemorrhage from cutting of throat.” His remains were cremated at the Massachusetts Crematory in Forest Hills, and his funeral service was held at his father’s home. Reuben Swan, age 29, was buried in the Dorchester South Burying Ground, in the family plot that contains some 40 Swan relations. His father would be buried beside him upon his death in 1940.
Sources:
Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2004.
Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006.
Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
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“Camp Devens: Home of New England’s Own.” Soldiers’ Mail: Letters Home from a Yankee Doughboy 1916-1919.
Cutter, William Richard, and William Frederick Adams. Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of the State of Massachusetts, vol. 3 (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1910), 1398-1402.
Dr. Perkins WWI Photo Collection, Photo Record: Reuben Swan.
FamilySearch.org. Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920, database with images.
FindAGrave.com. Swan. Dorchester South Burying Ground.
Hutnik, Joseph J. We Ripened Fast: The Unofficial History of the Seventy-Sixth Infantry Division, Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Otto Lembeck, 1946.
Lerwill, Leonard L., Department of the Army, Pamphlet No. 20-211, The Personnel Replacement System in the United States Army (Washington, D.C.: Department of the Army, 1954).
“Order of Battle.” New River Notes.
“Swan.” Boston Globe, December 13, 1920: 12.
“Swan to Head Wrestling Team.” Boston Globe, November 15, 1914: 15.
“Tufts College Professors Organize a Round Table Society.” Boston Globe, March 12, 1914: 12.
“Tufts Engineering Instructor Dies.” Boston Globe, December 12, 1920: 21.
“Tufts’ New President Awards 222 Degrees at Commencement.” Boston Globe, June 16, 1915: 2.