Swain née Morrison was born on May 25, 1820, in Bath, New Hampshire. After completing her education she took up teaching in Vermont at the age of 16. In 1846 she married James Swain and the couple settled in Fort Dodge, Iowa, in 1858.[1] In Fort Dodge she organized French, English, music, botany, and art classes specifically for young women.[2] She went on to organize Fort Dodge's first women's suffrage meeting the following year.[1]
In the early 1870s the couple built a large Victorian house in Fort Dodge. The house was grander than their income allowed and they rented out rooms to boarders and also made the house available for events. By 1879 they sold the house to Webb Vincent. In 1977 the Swain-Vincent House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Vincent House.[3]
Swain was appointed as a correspondent of the Entomological Commission of the U.S. Department of Agriculture which led her, in 1877, to write a report documenting the devastation of crops brought on by the Colorado grasshopper. She subsequently became a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and became the first woman to present a paper at their national convention.[1]
