Roland Davis Swoope was born at Curwensville, Clearfield county, Pa., August 26, 1856, and is the eldest son of the late Hon. Henry Bucher Swoope and Susanna Patton (Irvin) Swoope.

On the paternal side he is a lineal descendant of Colonel Jacob Mytinger*, who served in the War of the Revolution, as second in command if "VonHeer's Battalion of Light Dragoons" which regiment was the personal escort of General George Washington, between whom and Colonel Mytinger a warm personal friendship existed. Colonel Mytinger was also one of the charter members of the "Society of the Cincinnati."

On his maternal side, the subject of this sketch is a lineal descendant of Colonel John Patton, who was also actively engaged in the struggle for National Independence, as colonel of the Sixteenth Regiment of Pennsylvania Troops, and for a time had charge of the defenses of Philadelphia. Colonel Patton was one of that noble band of patriots in Philadelphia, who raised, on their own personal responsibility, two hundred and sixty thousand pounds to aid the Revolutionary army in the greatest crisis of that memorable struggle. Colonel Patton was also a member of the "Society of the Cincinnati."

Hon. Henry Bucher Swoope, the father of the subject of our sketch, was one of the most brilliant and distinguished lawyers of Pennsylvania, also famous as a political speaker and as one of the leaders of the Republican party of his State. His mother Susanna Patton (Irvin) Swoope was a daughter of William Irvin, one of the pioneer lumbermen and business men of Clearfield county. Roland Davis Swoope spent his boyhood days in Clearfield, where he attended the public schools and the old Clearfield Academy.

In 1869 his father, having been appointed by President Grant, United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the family removed to Pittsburg, Pa., where they continued to reside until the death of Hon. H. B. Swoope, in February, 1874, when they returned to Curwensville.

In addition to the Clearfield Academy, Mr. Swoope also attended the High School, Pottstown, Pa., Ayers Latin School at Pittsburg, Pa., Phillips Academy at Andover, Mass.†, and the Western University of Pennsylvania in Pittsburg. While a student at Andover he founded and was the first member of the "K. O. A." Society, a famous school fraternity, membership in which is the highest ambition of every Phillips Andover student. This society numbers among its alumni, many of the most distinguished men in the country.

In 1876 he entered the law office of Murray & Gordon in Clearfield, PA., a firm, at the time, composed of Hon. Thomas H. Murray, who had pursued his legal studies in the office of Hon. H. Bucher Swoope, and Hon. Cyrus Gordon, afterwards president judge of the courts of Clearfield county. In order to support himself, while reading law, Mr. Swoope engaged in the insurance business, building up a successful business which he disposed of after his admission to the bar, and devoted himself to his profession. After passing a successful examination, he was admitted to the bar of Clearfield county in 1878. He is also a member of the bar of the United States courts, and of the Supreme and Superior Courts of Pennsylvania.

He has always taken an interest in public affairs and served as chairman of the Republican County Committee for several years, being first elected chairman in 1888, which was the year of the presidential campaign when Benjamin Harrison was elected president over Grover Cleveland. So efficient was the organization and work of the Republican party under Mr. Swoope's chairmanship, that he reduced an adverse plurality of 1,501, which the Democratic candidate had received in the previous gubernatorial election, to 869 and in recognition of his efforts he received a medal of honor and a resolution of thanks from the Republican State Committee. Mr. Swoope has also taken an active part in many political campaigns as a stump speaker for his party, not only in his own county but throughout the state.

As a lawyer, Mr. Swoope has a large and successful practice and has been engaged in many important and interesting cases. He argued the case of Jackson vs. the Pennsylvania Railroad Company before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and though opposed by John G. Johnson, Esq., the leader of the Philadelphia bar, and other eminent counsel, Mr. Swoope succeeded in having affirmed a verdict against the railroad company for treble damages for discrimination in failing to furnish coal cars to his client, thus sustaining the constitutionality of the Act of Assembly of 1883, gving the right to recover treble damages in such cases.

Among other important cases in which he has been concerned, was that of the Central Trust Company of New York vs. the Clearfield Creek Coal Company, an action to foreclose a mortgage by a minority in number and amount of the holders of the bonds secured by said mortgage, although the mortgage contained a provision that it could only be enforced upon the written request of a majority in number and amount, of the holders of the bonds. This case raised a novel legal question in Pennsylvania, but after a vigorous contest, the plaintiffs were successful in obtaining a decree of foreclosure of the mortgage and a judgment for $540,000.00 against the coal company, thus establishing, for the first time in the courts of this state, the right of a minority of the bond-holders secured by a corporation mortgage, to compel a foreclosure. As a lawyer, Mr. Swoope has always refused to represent liquor license applications, and has been active in the cause of temperance, having been one of the officers of the Constitutional Prohibition Amendment Association of Clearfield county, when that question was submitted to the voters of Pennsylvania, and, although the amendment was defeated in the state, it carried Clearfield county by a large majority.

Mr. Swoope is also largely interested in the development of the coal business of Clearfield county. In connection with other owners of coal property near Madera in Bigler Township he was active in securing in 1901 the construction of railroad extensions. He and his associates built part of the necessary railroad branches from the Moshannon Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad to reach their lands at their own expense and thus opened up the “Bucher” Mine on the “B” Vein of coal. This proved to be a very successful operation and developed into a coal territory from which the largest shipments are now made and operated in Clearfield county. In the conduct of the numerous coal operations in which he is interested Mr. Swoope has always insisted on recognizing organized labor. Mr. Swoope is a stockholder and one of the directors of the Curwensville National Bank [Organized by John Patton (1823) in 1864] and is also interested in other financial institutions.

Mr. Swoope was one of the founders of the Curwensville "Mountaineer," which is recognized as among the leading Republican country newspapers of the state. He is fond of literary pursuits. He is the owner of a fine library and has prepared and delivered many lectures and patriotic addresses.

Mr. Swoope is an official member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Curwensville, Pa., he is also a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the Union League of Philadelphia; the American Academy of Political and Social Science; the Historical Society of Clearfield county; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,‡ the Clearfield-Curwensville Country Club and other organizations.
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R. D. Swoope is identified as one of the directors at the organization of the Curwensville Cemetery Company (Oak Hill Cemetery), 28 November 1893.672
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On April 28 1903, a four page weekly newspaper under the title of “The Moun-
taineer” was established in Curwensville by Roland D. Swoope, Esq. and S. Arnold
Helmbold. Five years later Mr. Helmbold sold his interest in this paper to Roland D.
Swoope, Jr., who has since [in 1911] been its editor and publisher. Since its beginning the “Mountaineer” has been devoted to the cause of Republicanism, and is recognized as one of the foremost county papers in the state.1876
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January 11, 1924 -- Swoope Homestead, Ridge Avenue presented to Curwensville School District as a home for Superintendent of Curwensville Public Schools in memory of Roland Davis Swoope by the Swoope family: Mrs. R. D. Swoope, Henry B. Swoope, and Miss Mary A. Swoope. A tablet bearing this data placed on native stone at entrance.904
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*First Lieutenant John Jacob Mytinger.1877

†Phillips Academy is the same school that Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush attended. The prep school is one of the oldest incorporated boarding schools in the United States.983

‡Roland D. Swoope is listed among the trustees of the original I.O.O.F. Association of Rebekah Lodge No. 347 of Curwensville, PA, organized in 1908, at this source.1878