Harley
Van Swearingen
(1864-1934)
Harley Van Swearingen was born on Jan. 7, 1864 in Tarlton, Pickaway County, OH, the son of John S. and Eliza J. (Miner) Swearingen.
In
the 1870s, when Harley was a boy, he moved with his parents and siblings to
Missouri, residing in Carlton and Butler, Bates County, MO. He later moved to
Nevada, Vernon County, MO.
Harley was a carpentry and construction contractor for 45 years. The Nevada Daily Mail said he "was an active worker in the I.O.O.F lodge."
In 1891, Harley married Dora (?). They apparently had no children. Dora's fate is not known.
Harley's mother lived with him after being widowed in 1901, and died at his home in March 1903.
Harley married his second wife Hattie (?) Goodman (1865- ? ), a native of Arkansas, in 1904. She brought a daughter to the marriage, Bessie Goodman.
The federal census of 1910 shows the Swearingens living at 804 Main Street in Nevada, with Harley working as a carpenter. Stepdaughter Bessie, age 21, made her home under their roof that year.
A streetscape of
Nevada is seen here circa 1915, looking east on Cherry Street, with the
Union Railroad Depot visible in the distance.
The 1920 census shows the Swearingens on Main Street in Nevada. Harley's occupation is listed as contractor.
Harley and Hattie divorced sometime in the 1920s. By 1930, he lived alone in Nevada, and the census shows him as "divorced."
On Nov. 7, 1931, Harley married his third wife, Ella Van Dyke ( ? - ? ), in Kansas City.
Harley died of uremic poisoning and acute myocardial failure on Aug. 18, 1934, at the age of 70.
Ella died on Aug. 17, 1938. They are buried together -- but in unmarked graves -- at Newton Burial Park in Nevada.
Copyright © 2000, 2002 Mark A. Miner