• Born: 28 Jul 1848, Milwaukee WI
• Died: 1 Aug 1921, Muscatine IA

  General notes:

Jeweler

  Events in his life were:

• He worked in 1867-1921 as a jeweler in Muscatine IA

• He appeared on the 1880 census taken at Muscatine IA, listed as a dealer in watches, clocks, & jewelry.

• He appeared on the 1900 census taken at Muscatine IA, listed as a jeweler.

• Obituary printed in the The Jewelers' Circular on 10 Aug 1921
  Double Tragedy -- Fitch W. Swan, Prominent Jeweler of Muscatine, Iowa, Shoots Geo. H. Volger, Another Jeweler, and Then Commits Suicide
  
  Muscatine, Ia., Aug. 3. -- The double tragedy which occurred in this city on Monday and which resulted in the death of George H. Volger and Fitch W. Swan, has removed from the business world of Muscatine two prominent and well-known jewelers. Mr. Swan, particularly, was considered one of the oldest and most widely known members of the trade in this State, as well as a leading jeweler of Muscatine.
  
  The facts, as determined by the inquiry that followed the deaths of both men, have shown clearly that Swan killed Volger while mentally deranged or laboring under great excitement, and then deliberately took his own life by swallowing poison. Mr. Swan was 71 years old and Mr. Volger 36. Volger was evidently shot by Swan in the back of the latter's establishment, and Swan's suicide occurred in the Rankin undertaking parlors, to which place he went following the shooting.
  
  While the friends of Mr. Swan put the terrible deed down to the fact of a deranged mind, resulting from business reverses and from brooding over a long series of quarrels with Mr. Volger, it is clear that the deed was premeditated, carried out according to plan, and that Swan deliberately took his own life afterward.
  
  First knowledge of the tragedy came when Swan's body was found by Undertaker Rankin, lying on a couch in his establishment, beside which were cyanide crystals, a key to Swan's jewelry store, a sealed letter to S.G. Bronner, chief of police, and an open note to the public. While the letter to the chief of police was not given out, it is known that it was a bitter attack on Volger, and indicated that Swan suffered from intense excitement and anger. The open note found near Swan's body simply said, "I have killed George Volger. His body is in the back of the store."
  
  The chief of police, the mayor, Dr. E.B. Fulliam and D.W. Truxell, who were summoned, immediately went to Swan's store, where Mr. Volger's body was found in the room, lying face downward in a pool of blood. At first it was not known how he had died and the officers were under the impression that he had been induced to drink poison, as there were several bottles on the workbench. Closer examination later, however, disclosed a bullet hole in the back of Volger's skull, undoubtedly from the shot of a 32-calibre revolver.
  
  Investigation also disclosed that following the shooting of Volger, Mr. Swan had evidently locked up his place of business and proceeded to the telegraph office and sent some telegrams. Several residents talked to him before he went to the undertaker's shop where he later committed suicide, but none of them noticed anything unusual in his manner, nor did he indicate in any way by word or action, what he had done or what he intended to do.
  
  It is known that Swan and Volger had had many quarrels as a result of business rivalry, and that Mr. Swan was worked up over the actions of his competitor, but his friends claim that this was not the real cause of the tragedy, but that Swan's mind had been upset by a series of business troubles. He had been disappointed in the result of an investment in oil securities, and had recently been compelled to mortgage his home for $10,000.