Mr. Swindell began his agricultural career as a farm manager
for Wilkinson Farms in Pantego County in1917. In 1918
he was drafted and served in the 56th Pioneer Infantry
Division. When he returned from WW1, he kept a watchful
eye on several farmers who attempted to tame the muckland.
Determined to succeed, Mr. Swindell struck out on his
own during the Great Depression to farm the richest soil
in the area.
Potatoes
became the staple of the Upton Farm for more than 20 years
and enabled him to broaden his farming vision. He brought
more swampland and began a drainage operation for the
waterlogged land. Again, he was successful and the Blacklands
region was proving a conquerable challenge.
Educated
in a two-room schoolhouse in Hyde County, Mr. Swindell
took pride in his relationship with N.C. State University
and the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service. He volunteered
his farm again and again for agricultural experiments
or test plots. He had tremendous power of persuasion in
dealing with bankers, lawyers, college professors and
government leaders.
Mr.
Swindell was not only a leader in agriculture; he was
also a leader in his community. After WWII, the Blacklands
area began to grow and Mr. Swindell intensified his commitment
to the region and its people. He was a charter member
of the Belhaven-Pantego Rotary Club in 1948; was a founding
father of the Pungo District Hospital in 1949, where he
served as vice chairman until 1976; helped form the Pamlico
Soil and Water Conservation District served as a County
Commissioner from 1948 to 1958 and served as an elder
and deacon in the Pantego Christian Church. He was also
active in the Southeastern Potato Association.
Mr.
Swindell became one of the first commissioners of the
reactivated Albemarle Drainage District and sold bonds
to clean out the canals for use again. As land in the
swamp was reclaimed for use, he carefully matured the
land and planted his first corn crops in 1960. From then,
until his death, Mr. Swindell worked on his farm, fulfilling
his dream of conquering the Great Dismal Swamp.
