Chapter M: W. Swegle

A successful career has been that of M. W. Swegle, who now follows farming on section 32, township 7 north, range 35 east, in Walla Walla county. He has lived in this county since 1888 and is concentrating his efforts and attention upon the development and improvement of a farm of five hundred and fourteen acres. This is a memorable locality in the history of the state for it is the site of the Whitman massacre--the identical spot on which the atrocities committed by the red men culminated in the murder of the noble Reverend Whitman and his family, those venerable pioneers, who were doing such inestimable work in claiming this region for the purposes of Christian civilization, laying the cornerstone of the foundation for the moral and materially visible development of the entire region.

Mr. Swegle is a western man by birth, training and preference and exemplifies in his life the spirit of enterprise and progress which has been the dominant factor in the upbuilding of the west, leading to its wonderful development. He was born in Salem, Oregon, June 28, 1861, a son of Charles and Lucinda (Robinson) Swegle. The father was a native of New Jersey, while the mother's birth occurred in Ohio. They were married in Illinois, to which state they had removed with their respective parents, and in 1848 they crossed the plains with ox teams to Oregon, settling first in Clackamas county, although soon afterward they removed to Marion county, taking up their abode near Salem. There the father resided until 1880, when he came with his family to Walla Walla county, Washington, and purchased nine hundred acres of land, a part of which is included within the boundaries of the present home place of M. W. Swegle. In the residence where his son now resides the father passed away on the 7th of May, 1888, and in his death the community mourned the loss of an honored pioneer settler and most respected citizen--one who in every relation of life commanded the goodwill and confidence of those with whom he came in contact. His widow survived him for several years and passed away in November, 1895.