Swindle McSue was an 18th century foe of the McDuck family. He first appeared in “The Horseradish Story” (September, 1953).
During the 18th century the McDuck family had turned to sea. Captain Hugh “Seafoam” McDuck had acquired considerable wealth through the Atlantic trade, transporting goods with his ship, the Golden Goose. In 1753, one Chisel McSue hired Hugh to transport a case of horseradish from Great Britain to Jamaica. He accepted and signed a contract. Not wearing his glasses at the time, Hugh failed to notice the exact terms of said contract. The Golden Goose never completed this journy. She sank far from any coast, sabotaged by Swindle.
Hugh and his crew managed to escape the sinking of their ship and made their way home. In Hugh’s case only to discover that he had no home anymore. The terms of the contract determined that if he failed to transport the horseradish, his entire estate would be given to Swindle for compensation. Hugh had to escape with only the clothes on his back, a silver watch and his golden denture. According to the “Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck” by Don Rosa, the event had the effect of reducing the social status of the McDucks from wealthy traders to impoverished workers until 1897. They only regained their wealth when Scrooge McDuck earned his fortune in the Klondike Gold Rush.
In 1953, Chisel McSue, a descendant of Swindle, made the terms of the 1753 contract to have not been fulfilled. The few artifacts Hugh had kept on his person meaning that not the entire estate had been passed to Swindle. He used that as a legal pretext for claiming the entire estate of the last of the McDucks, Scrooge. Having long lost possession of any heirlooms left by Hugh, Scrooge reasoned that the only way to fulfil the contract was to deliver the horseradish. He located the remains of the Golden Goose, transported the case to the surface and from there to Jamaica. With Chisel right on his tail in the process. Fulfilling the contract, Scrooge ended the threat Swindle and his descendants posed to his family.
Due to the long-lasting effects of his plans against the McDucks, Swindle could be the worst enemy the family ever faced. Although his skills were limited to “legal” thefts.