Fred Schwend

Fredrick W. Schwend (born January 10, 1867; died November 17, 1956 in Tuscaloosa) was a musician and firefighter.

Schwend was the son of Johann Georg Schwend, a native of Schwäbisch Hall in Germany's Baden-Württemberg, and his wife, the former Emma Regina Houser, who had married in Montgomery in 1860. He sang tenor, played zither, and sometimes led his own band. He often performed for the Birmingham Turn Verein and the Concordia Club.

Schwend served as with the Jefferson Volunteers and was activated as private in Company G of the 1st Alabama Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish-American War.

He and his brothers, Charles, George and Frank all served together as firefighters in the Birmingham Fire Department. They began during the days of volunteer fire companies. By 1938 he was a full-time member of Birmingham Fire Station No. 4.

Schwend lived alone as a lodger at 213 9th Street North from at least 1909 to 1934. He never married. He frequently wrote letters to the editors of local newspapers complaining of disrespect shown to soldiers, to train engineers, to working girls, to the poor, and to old-time religion, and calling for more expeditious criminal trials and executions, for white supremacy, and for the removal of Black automobile drivers from the streets.

In retirement, Schwend moved to Poinciana Drive in Homewood. He was in the care of the Tuscaloosa Veterans Hospital when he died in 1958. He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery. Trinity Methodist pastor Calvin Pinkard and North Alabama Conference bishop Clare Purcell officiated.

References

• "Frederick W. Schwend" (November 19, 1956) The Birmingham News, p. 44