Swift, Reuben James

Reuben James Swift, born in Watertown, Codington County, South Dakota, was an influential interior California journalist and local civic leader. He spent his youth in Wisconsin and later moved to North Dakota, where he worked at the printing trade in Leeds for sixteen years before residing in Spokane, Washington, for five years. Seeking new opportunities, he relocated to California in July 1909 and chose the town of Kerman as the ideal setting to establish his future career.

Upon settling in Fresno County, Reuben became the president, manager, and editor of the Kerman News Company, successfully guiding the Kerman News to over five hundred subscribers. He married Florence Remington, a native of Missouri, in Fresno on February 4, 1911, and together they had one child named Dorothy. Beyond his journalism career, he served as secretary for both the Commercial Association and the Civic Center, actively supporting the local Methodist Episcopal Church and driving civic growth until his contributions became a vital part of Kerman’s development.