Harry Kels Swan
Kels Swan was a lifelong resident of South Bound Brook, New Jersey. Kels earned a Bachelor's Degree in Education as well as Master's in Education from Rutgers University. He was a member of three fraternities: Kappa Delta Pi, Delta Xi, and the scholarly Phi Beta Kappa. Mr. Swan was the Historian and Curator at the Washington Crossing State Park Visitors Center in Titusville, New Jersey. Kels had been a large part of the center and museum since the nation's Bicentennial celebration in 1976.
Kels served as Historian and Curator for the Liberty Village in Flemington; Historian for the American Legacy Association in Clinton; and Bound Brook. He served as the President of the Daniel Morgan Memorial Foundation in Clinton; and as a member of the Somerset County Cultural and Heritage Commission as well as the South Bound Brook Historical Society.
Mr. Swan was the author of Borough of South Bound Brook, Somerset County, New Jersey (1964), as well as Raritan's Revolutionary Rebel: Frederick Freylinghuysen (1967), and countless articles for various publications. Kels was the recipient of the Humanitarian Achievement Award, 1981, from American Legacy Association; the Heritage Award, 1982, from the Rarity Valley Sons of the American Revolution; and the American History Award, 1984, from the AMVETS organization.
Kels' knowledge of the American Revolution and his ability to recite — as if from memory — precise details from that historic conflict were legendary among those who came in contact with him. And they serve, also to underscore the educational charter of the foundation Kels founded in 1989, and named for his ancestor, Dr. Samuel Swan — an early congressman from New Jersey who authored the legislation pay benefits to the veterans and widows from the revolutionary war. That early legislation led years later what we know today as the Veterans Administration.
Kels served as Historian and Curator for the Liberty Village in Flemington; Historian for the American Legacy Association in Clinton; and Bound Brook. He served as the President of the Daniel Morgan Memorial Foundation in Clinton; and as a member of the Somerset County Cultural and Heritage Commission as well as the South Bound Brook Historical Society.
Mr. Swan was the author of Borough of South Bound Brook, Somerset County, New Jersey (1964), as well as Raritan's Revolutionary Rebel: Frederick Freylinghuysen (1967), and countless articles for various publications. Kels was the recipient of the Humanitarian Achievement Award, 1981, from American Legacy Association; the Heritage Award, 1982, from the Rarity Valley Sons of the American Revolution; and the American History Award, 1984, from the AMVETS organization.
Kels' knowledge of the American Revolution and his ability to recite — as if from memory — precise details from that historic conflict were legendary among those who came in contact with him. And they serve, also to underscore the educational charter of the foundation Kels founded in 1989, and named for his ancestor, Dr. Samuel Swan — an early congressman from New Jersey who authored the legislation pay benefits to the veterans and widows from the revolutionary war. That early legislation led years later what we know today as the Veterans Administration.
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