Scope and Contents
This collection has a photostat of a return of the 2nd Division of Volunteers for April 1848, commanded by Brig. Gen. Thomas Marshall. On legal-size paper are six typed pages by Leonard Swett requesting a pension for his Mexican War service. George C. Chalou, Military Archives Division, sent a letter to Kay Carpenter, Tacoma, Washington, on May 8, 1973, which gives information about Mr. Swett's army service. There are a few additional xerox copies of papers submitted with the request for a pension.
Conditions Governing Use
Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library, Indianapolis, IN. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to Rare Books and Manuscripts.
Biographical Note
Leonard Swett was born August 11, 1825, in Turner, Androscoggin County, Maine, to John Swett (1789-1889) and Remember Berry (1794-1883). On March 1, 1848, Leonard mustered into the 5th Indiana Regiment of volunteers at Newport, Kentucky. He went by ship from New Orleans to Vera Cruz, where he became sick. On May 1, 1848, he was confined in a hospital at Vera Cruz, where he remained for a month. About June 1, "peace having been made," Leonard crossed the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans. He was discharged at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, about June 15, 1848. On July 11, 1854, he married Laura R. Quigg (1829-1886) in Bradford, New Hampshire. They had a son, Leonard Herbert Swett, born November 11, 1858, in Bloomington, Illinois. After Laura's death on March 5, 1886, in Chicago, Leonard married Marie Decker on July 14, 1887. Marie was born about 1826. Mr. Swett applied for a pension on May 23, 1888. He died June 8, 1889 in Chicago.