Friendly Faces
This is the only known picture of one of the town's early pastors, the Reverend Isaac Butterfield, in the 1850s. He also served the West Baptist in the city of Oswego. Just over 40 pastors have served the congregation since its founding.
In May 1935, the men of the Oswego Center United Methodist Church gathered in the church hall for this formal picture. From left to right are (first row) George Johnson, Rev. Walter Suits, Rev. Erwin Bennet, Fred Sabin, Ernest Jenkins, Myron Babcock, arthur todd, Nelson Thompson, and Henry Jeffrey; (second row) Cecil Johnson, Floyd Wood, Clifford Peterson, Stanley Graham, Peter Vercrouse, Melvin West, Henry Babcock, Leroy Johnson, John Freemantle, William, Wood, and Cleve McLaughlin; (third row) Earl Frye, Albert Laurent, Roy Naracon, Raymond Laurent, Bert Bareham, Frank Hollenback, Orville Johnson, Reuel Todd, Wesley Johnson, Charles Leadley, and Walter Phillips; (fourth row) Clarence Mitchell, Clifford Pelton, Kenneth Mitchelson, Ed Metcalf, Pete Cooper, Fred Mitchelson, Mr. Bigelow, Brace Stevens, Asa Laurent, Mr. Mitchell, Dick Babock, Herb Tanner, and William McLaughlin.
Attorney Spencer Brownell was supervisor from 1916 to 1924. He and his wife, Carrie, owned and operated a large and prosperous fruit farm in Fruit Valley. There were orchards of apples, pears, and sour and sweet cherries and fields of strawberries. The farm is still producing today under new owners. During Brownell's administration, there were 3,791 registered automobiles in Oswego County. An abandoned road in the town is named after him.
Oswego was the home of many farms, and 4-H clubs were popular. Her is a club in the 1930s meeting on what is now the West Lake Road. From left to right are (first row) Robert Dowie, Jack Hallinan, Anna McCracken, Charlotte Morrison, Ethel Adams, Thelma Platt, Eunice McCracken, Gladys Groat, Henry Weisen, and Richard Simmons; (second row) James Glerum, camp mother Celia Simmons, Louise Bradway, Anna Glerum, Julia Plpace, Jane McCracken, Betty Dickinson, Mildred Place, Marian McMillan, chaperone Reta Ireland, and Moran Simmons; (third row) Charles Groat, Robert Wheeler, George Weisen, Clare Groat, unidentified, Catherine Barker, Arlene Place, camp director Lilly Place, Mason Place, Raymond Ireland, Harold Matthews, Bruce Ireland, Lyle Place, and Manford Place.
A familiar face for everyone in town was that of printer, husband, and father Nelson G. Thompson, the longest serving town clerk. Here, at his home in Oswego Center in the early 1920s, he is pictured with his daughter Nancy, with her doll and her sled.
In the early 1880s, a young David Hall McConnell left his father's farm on what is now the West Lake Road to make his way in the business world. McConnell was the founder of Avon Products Inc., earlier known as California Perfume Company. This is an early image of McConnell's from around 1886, the year of Avon's founding.
"Uncle" Joe McCoy, as he was affectionately known in town, was one of the first sttlers. He resided in Southwest Oswego. He and his wife, Nancy, sold the property for the Baptist chruch in the community for $24 in 1852. The lot was at the summit of the hill on the corner of Route 104 and County Road 20. Joseph and Nancy's daughter Sarah married into the Maxon Lewis family, another prominent family in Southwest Oswego. Uncle Joe later left the area and moved west. His relative John McCoy owned the famous Raulston Inn in Southwest Oswego. Pres. Martin Van Buren, who had close ties in Oswego, was an overnight guest.