sentences:  Born into a farming family in the unincorporated community of Deer River in Lewis County, Swinburne lost his father at the age of twelve and had to work to support himself as well as assume responsibility for his mother and sisters.He sought summertime work on farms and, during wintertime, attended the county's public schools and academies in nearby towns of Denmark and Lowville, as well as Fairfield in neighboring Herkimer County.Graduating from Albany Medical College, first in his 1846 class, he began a practice as physician and surgeon.