John Swinburne (New York)
| John Swinburne | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Mayor of Albany, New York | |
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In office 1883–1884 |
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| Preceded by | Michael Nicholas Nolan |
| Succeeded by | Anthony Bleecker Banks |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 19th district |
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In office 1885–1887 |
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| Preceded by | Abraham X. Parker |
| Succeeded by | Nicholas Thomas Kane |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 30, 1820 Lewis County, New York, U.S. |
| Died | March 28, 1889 (aged 68) Albany, New York, U.S. |
| Resting place | Albany Rural Cemetery |
| Political party | Republican |
John Swinburne (May 30, 1820 – March 28, 1889) was an American physician and Republican congressman from New York who served as a medical officer from 1861 to 1864, during the Civil War and as a member of American Ambulance Corps at the Siege of Paris in 1870–71. In his last decade, 1880s, he was briefly mayor of Albany and represented New York's 19th congressional district for one term.
Born into a farming family in the unincorporated community of Deer River in Lewis County, Swinburne lost his father at the age of twelve and had to work to support himself as well as assume responsibility for his mother and sisters. He sought summertime work on farms and, during wintertime, attended the county's public schools and academies in nearby towns of Denmark and Lowville, as well as Fairfield in neighboring Herkimer County. Graduating from Albany Medical College, first in his 1846 class, he began a practice as physician and surgeon.
In 1861, at the start of the Civil War, he was appointed by commander of New York National Guard, Brigadier General John F. Rathbone, to serve as chief medical officer at Albany depot. In June 1862, following Battle of Savage's Station, as Army of the Potomac, along with its physicians, retreated, Swinburne remained to care for the thousands of wounded prisoners, both Union and Confederate. Respecting his principled stand, Confederate commander Stonewall Jackson gave him a pass, with an accompanying personal note, permitting visits to Union prisoners. In 1864, Governor Horatio Seymour nominated him to the post of Health Officer of the Port of New York and, in 1867, he was renominated by Governor Reuben Fenton, serving a total of six years, until 1870. During his administration, despite the state legislature's reluctance to assign funding, he supervised the construction of then-state-of-the-art quarantine facilities on islands which were named Swinburne and Hoffman.
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