J. H. Swan, Jr.

Personal & Family History: James Harry Swan, Jr. was born into a prominent Bristol family heavily involved in the city's civic development at the turn of the 20th century. His father, "Judge" J. Harry Swan, Sr., served as a Justice of the Peace for Sullivan County. His parents were instrumental community leaders and founding members of the Anderson Street United Methodist Church in 1893. The family resided in Bristol's developing West End, with their home and business addresses frequently recorded at 1113 and 1116 Anderson Street.

Masonic Record: He served as the Worshipful Master of King Lodge No. 461, in 1910. Fraternal leadership was a family tradition, as his father preceded him in the East, serving three consecutive terms as Worshipful Master from 1895 to 1897. Both of their portraits remain on display at the King Masonic Temple on 5th Street. Historical city directories from 1910 also highlight his name alongside local York Rite bodies meeting at the temple, including the E. H. Gill Royal Arch Chapter No. 50. (E. H. Gill No. 50 was chartered under the Grand Chapter of Virginia,)

Professional Life: Around the time he served as Worshipful Master, the 1910 Bristol city directory listed his professional association with Wm. G. Sheen & Co., a prominent general insurance agency in the city. He also operated alongside his father in a well-known local painting and wallpaper contracting business, operating as "J. H. Swan & Son". Their business, which featured a storefront on 6th Street, supplied wallpaper and painters' materials to the community and employed several local tradesmen throughout the 1910s and 1920s.