A series of unfortunate events in the life of Homer W. Swain. Homer was born to James & Catherine (Trader) Swain in 1885. He grew up in Wood County, West Virginia and worked as a fireman according to a census in 1910. He was one of eight siblings and had a strong connection to the each of them. In 1927, Homer was accused and convicted of assault to a minor and was sentenced to hang by the neck until dead. According to newspaper records, his family never believed he would be capable of such an atrocity and fought to have the case heard again by the Governor Gore. Homer was quoted by his Doctor as saying "I have little hope for commutation of sentence." The Governor eventually chose to not interfere with the courts and let the sentence carry out on February 3, 1928. The day of the execution, Homer was accompanied to the scaffold by the prison chaplain and was described as being of a cool manner and exhibited no outward signs nervousness. According to one of his sisters, he proclaimed his innocence in the beginning but lost the will to live and the stress of it all had aged him physically beyond his years. A Doctor of the state by the name of Dr. L.W. Guthrie of Huntington, state alienist, had made two examinations of Mr. Swain and found him sane and responsible. Swains council, R.E. Bills, George Shedan, J. Howard Holt fought for commutation but were unsuccessful as the sentence was carried out. Homer Swains sister, Hazel, had visited him in prison and he continued to proclaim his innocence until the end stating "Babe (Hazel's nickname), I would never do something like that!" Homer was buried in a unmarked grave to prevent vandalism and desecration of the remains. After some research I was able to contact a relative, daughter in-law of Hazel Swain. She advised that her mother in-law spoke little of the case but advised her of the above. She also informed me that her own sister ended up getting a job at a local hospital. After some time another woman was hired whom happened to be the young girl who was allegedly assaulted. Not knowing who she was working with, the young woman confided to her about the case from the years prior and told her that Homer Swain in fact was innocent of the crime and that it was her own father whom had caused the assault resulting in her hospitalization but was unable to speak up as her father placed the blame on Homer Swain. I do not know what is true and what is false, but having researched this, it makes you really think......(Written by Adam Wilcox)