Henry was raised in Chest Township, Cambria County, Pa., In 1894, he was a farmer there, but he was soon thereafter in the brewery business. In 1858, Andrew Geis and Julius Stich established a brewery in Carrolltown, Pa. The brewery changed hands over the years. Geis bought out Stich, Geis died, and it was sold to Francis Barbrich. Stich bought it back and later sold it to Frederic Eger, who sold it to Celestine Farabaugh. Celestine then passed it on to Henry, his brother-in-law, "in whose hands it was destroyed by fire." It was one of Carrolltown's largest conflagerations. Beer aging vaults are believed to remain underneath a portion of the property, upon which was later erected the Bearer Hotel.
The transfer of the brewery to Henry followed a notice of Sheriff’s sale of property interests held by both Celestine and his father Edward, after which an assignee in January of 1897 sold the interests to Henry for the sums of $2020 and $3480, respectively. The fire occurred on October 12, 1900, and the complete destruction of the brewery and ice plant resulted in a loss estimated to be $15-16,000, for which an insurance policy covered $10,000. A Stich descendant, who recreated the period beer production process, believes the fire likely occurred when gear sparks from the ice machine ignited flammable dust that resulted from the process of grinding the malts. Such fires were common until vaccum lines were invented for the ice machines to safeguard against the sparks.
Henry tand Helen lived on the Patton and Flinton Road in Chest Township. Henry inherited the 230 acre “Proudfoot Farm” there from his father. “Mr. Swope was one of the heaviest land holders in this section of the county, leasing considerable coal to the Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Corporations.” Henry died of lobar pneumonia.

1861 Tax List, Chest Township, Cambria County, Pa. SWOPE, H L: 400 acres, 60 cleared; 3 horses; 2 cows?

Helena (aka Lena) was raised in Allegheny Township, Cambria County, Pa. She owned a farm on the road between St. Lawrence and Patton, Pa., that was previously owned by a Richard Proutfoute. She continued to manage the family farm in Chest Township after the death of her husband Henry. She died of typhoid fever.