Isaac Swayze (1751 – February 11, 1828) was a soldier and political figure in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...

He was born in Morris County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in 1751 into a family of

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immigrants. During the

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, according to legend, he served as a secret agent for the

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, was arrested, sentenced to death and escaped by exchanging clothes with his wife during a prison visit. In 1783, he was arrested by the British authorities at New York, having been suspected of committed a robbery, and later released, on condition that he leave town. In 1784, he settled at St. Davids on the Niagara peninsula. He is famous for being the pioneer

nurseryman A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general p ...

of the Niagara District, having carried trees on his back from New York State to his new homestead at Beaverdams. Swayze created the

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

known as the Swayze Pomme Gris. In 1792, he was elected to the

1st Parliament of Upper Canada The 1st Parliament of Upper Canada was opened 17 September 1792. Elections in Upper Canada had been held in August 1792. All sessions were held at Navy Hall in Newark, later Niagara-on-the-Lake. This parliament was dissolved 1 July 1796. T ...

representing the 3rd riding of

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

. In 1795, he led a protest against the wording used on deeds that some people believed would prevent the sale of their own land. He was charged with sedition and fined. He was elected again in Lincoln County in 1800 after a campaign where he was accused of being a

horse thief Horse theft is the crime of stealing horses. A person engaged in stealing horses is known as a horse thief. Historically, punishments were often severe for horse theft, with several cultures pronouncing the sentence of death upon actual or presu ...

by his competitors, including Silvester Tiffany, who published his accusations in his newspaper, the '' Niagara Herald''. At this time, Swayze generally supported policies favouring the common folk rather than the rich elite. He was elected again in 1804 and 1816. He was a captain of troops during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

. His house and barn were destroyed during the conflict. He was a vocal opponent of the reformer Robert Gourlay and helped bring charges of

seditious libel Sedition and seditious libel were criminal offences under English common law, and are still criminal offences in Canada. Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection ...

against Bartemas Ferguson, then editor of the '' Niagara Spectator'', for publishing an article written by Gourlay. He died near Niagara ( Niagara-on-the-Lake) in 1828.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swayze, Isaac 1751 births 1828 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada People from Niagara-on-the-Lake People from Morris County, New Jersey