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User:Pamelaparizo/sandbox/Neil H. Swanson

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Neil H. Swanson

Neil H. Swanson was a newspaper editor and historical writer, who wrote several historical novels, two of which, Unconquered, and the First Rebel, were made into motion pictures. Unconquered was made into a motion picture in 1947 by Cecil B. DeMille. The First Rebel was the basis for the John Wayne movie Allegheny Uprising in 1939. At the time of his death, he was the Executive Editor of the Baltimore Sun newspapers, having begun in 1931 as an assistant editor[1]. He was also the vice-president of the Sun's publishing company, A.S. Abell Company.

Swanson was born on June 30, 1896 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Swedish immigrants, Hermon and Eda Swanson[2]. His father was a businessman in St. Paul, Minnesota, running first a fuel business, then a coal and wood business. The family later moved to Minnetonka, where his father ran a fruit orchard[3].

For a brief time, he attended the University of Minnesota where he was in a student Officer's Training corp[4]. Swanson served in the US Infantry during World War I, and returned to Minnesota to be the assistant city editor for a Minneapolis, Newspaper. By 1930, he and his wife Katherine had moved to Green Tree, Pennsylvania where he was a managing editor, and then in 1931, they had moved to Baltimore.

His first wife was Katherine Heath, a native of Minneapolis. They had two sons, Neils H. Swanson, Jr. and Robert and two daughters, Jean and Margaret. Swanson and his first wife were divorced and in 1940, Swanson married Hildegarde Sterling of Newport News, VA. by whom he had a daughter Anne.

He once set a goal for himself to write 30 historical novels, many concerning life in pre-Revolutionary America. Although he did not make that goal, he did have several were that best sellers, such as First Rebel, the Judas Tree, and Unconquered.

Bibliography

  • The Phantom Emperor, 1934
  • The First Rebel: America's First Uprising, 1937
  • The Forbidden Ground, 1938
  • The Silent Drum,, 1940
  • The Perilous Fight, 1945
  • Unconquered, 1947
  • The Judas Tree, 1952
  • The Star-Spangled Banner; The Thrilling Story of a Boy who lived the Words of Our National Anthem, 1958



References

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  1. ^ New York Times, February 7, 1983 Obit.
  2. ^ US Federal Census, 1910
  3. ^ Internet Movie Database entry
  4. ^ NARA, WWI Draft Enlistment card
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