Representative Jacob Swoope

Jacob Swoope (October 9, 1766 – March 26, 1832) was an early nineteenth‑century German‑speaking miller and Federalist politician who represented Virginia’s southern Shenandoah Valley in the United States House of Representatives during the 1809–1811 session. Born in Philadelphia in the Province of Pennsylvania around 1766, he received an education appropriate to his social and economic standing, which prepared him for both commercial activity and public life in the early Republic.

In 1789 Swoope moved from Pennsylvania to Staunton, in Augusta County, Virginia, a developing community in the southern Shenandoah Valley. There he established himself as a miller and became a prominent local figure. He held several local offices in Staunton before the town adopted a new charter in 1801. Under that charter he was elected the first mayor of Staunton, marking the beginning of formal municipal governance under the new framework. He was reelected mayor in 1804, reflecting the confidence of local citizens in his leadership and administrative abilities during a period of growth and institutional consolidation in the town.

Swoope’s economic and household arrangements were closely tied to the system of slavery that underpinned much of Virginia’s economy. He generally operated his business or household using enslaved labor. The 1810 federal census recorded his Staunton household as consisting of 21 people, including 13 enslaved individuals. A decade later, the 1820 census showed a much smaller household of only four white persons. In the last federal census taken during his lifetime, his household again reflected his reliance on slavery, listing Swoope himself and seven enslaved people.

Swoope’s prominence in local affairs and his alignment with the Federalist Party led to his election to national office. In 1808 he was elected as a Federalist to the United States House of Representatives, defeating Democratic‑Republican Daniel Smith. He served a single term in the Eleventh Congress from 1809 to 1811, representing the interests of constituents in Virginia’s southern Shenandoah Valley. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, as the young nation confronted rising tensions with Great Britain and internal debates over commerce, national defense, and the scope of federal power. As a member of the Federalist Party representing Virginia, Swoope contributed to the legislative process during his one term in office, participating in the democratic governance of the early Republic.

In his personal life, Swoope married Mary Elizabeth McDowell (1772–1816). The couple had at least four sons and one daughter who reached adulthood. Their firstborn son, George Washington Swoope (1796–1869), inherited the family estate known as Wheatland (often referred to as Wheatlands) after his father’s death and later played a role in the development of the Virginia Central Railroad. Three younger sons—Jacob Swoope Jr. (1800–1841), John Swoope (1804–1861), and the Reverend Edgar Swoope (1805–1867)—became early settlers of Lawrence County, Alabama, extending the family’s presence into the expanding American South. Their elder daughter, Sarah Swoope (born 1793), married Joseph Brown; the couple moved to the outskirts of what is now St. Louis, Missouri, and had at least three sons and three daughters who reached adulthood, including Dr. Benjamin Brown and Dr. William Brown, both of whom graduated from the Philadelphia Medical College in 1841 and 1845, respectively.

Swoope’s estate and its surrounding community became a notable landmark in the region. An area near Staunton settled around 1813 came to be known as “Swoope,” taking its name from his mansion, Wheatlands. After Jacob Swoope’s death, his son George Washington Swoope resided there and assisted in building the Virginia Central Railroad, which enhanced the area’s commercial significance. During the American Civil War, Confederate General Fitzhugh Lee used Wheatlands as his winter quarters in 1864–1865. Accounts differ as to whether Union or Confederate forces were responsible for burning the surrounding mill and outbuildings, but the destruction underscored the strategic importance of the site. Following the war, the flour mill was rebuilt, and the community of Swoope became the only depot between Staunton and Craigsville. The mill operated two shifts per day and marketed flour under the brands “Golden Grains” and “Millrose” in several states, until it burned again in 1954 and was not rebuilt.

Over the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the community that bore Swoope’s name developed modest local infrastructure, including a post office, a small school, a cannery, and a cider mill. It was served by two daily passenger trains as well as freight trains running to Covington and Clifton Forge, which transported dairy products, lumber, and other farm goods from the surrounding countryside. These later developments, though occurring after his lifetime, reflected the enduring influence of Jacob Swoope’s presence and property in the region.

Jacob Swoope died in Staunton, Virginia, on March 26, 1832. He was interred in the churchyard of Trinity Episcopal Church in Staunton. His career as a miller, municipal leader, and Federalist congressman, together with the subsequent history of Wheatlands and the community of Swoope, left a lasting imprint on the civic and economic life of the southern Shenandoah Valley.