This site was once occupied by the home of Mary Jewell, a leading citizen of Oshkosh in the late 19th century. The following is a brief excerpt of a Oshkosh Public Museum article on the Sawyer family
In 1864 Edgar Sawyer married Mary Eleanor Jewell, daughter of Henry C. and Mary Russell Jewell, uniting two prominent Oshkosh families. The wedding took place in the Jewell home at the corner of Oshkosh Avenue and Eagle Street; today the corner is known as Mary Jewell Park. Mary was born in Canaan, New York, on July 3, 1842, and like her husband, came to Wisconsin with her parents when she was very young. Her father, Henry Jewell, was a prominent citizen, at one time mayor of Oshkosh and a member of the state legislature.
Mary Sawyer was a woman of rare intellectual ability and achievements. In an era when women’s clubs began to flourish, she was among the first to recognize their importance. She was a charter member of the Leisure Hour Art Club, formed in 1886 for the purpose of studying art, and was influential in organizing the Twentieth Century Club, which still exists today, and served as its first president. Later she was elected president of the Wisconsin Federation of Women’s Clubs, another organization that still exists today.
congratulations to ZaErrrka for the FTF, and to historynuts for STF</>