Born in Oswego

Readers of my blog know I was not born in Oswego, a city I consider to be my hometown, even though I was not born there.  I lived in Oswego full time from a few days after my birth until my matriculation at Penn eighteen years later (not counting five summers at Eagle Cove).  I am almost envious of those tens of thousands who can say they were actually born in Oswego because their connection was from day one.  Most of them were normal people who lived normal lives, nothing special.  However, some were special.

Erik Cole was born in Oswego on November 6, 1978 (currently 39 years-old).  He graduated from Oswego High School in 1996,  having played ice hockey for the Buccaneers (a sport that was not offered in 1963 when I graduated).  The following winter, Erik moved to Des Moines, Iowa to play in the United States Hockey League (for amateur players under twenty years-of-age).  He then matriculated at Clarkson University (Potsdam, New York) where he played ice hockey three seasons for the Golden Knights.

In 2000, Erik signed a professional contract with the Carolina Hurricanes (Raleigh, NC) of the National Hockey League (NHL).  After playing a little over one season in a minor league, he began playing for the Hurricanes.  Erik played 13 seasons in the NHL, mostly with Carolina, scoring 271 goals.  

The highlight of Erik's career was 2006 when, as a Hurricane, he was a member of the NHL championship team.  Thus, the name Erik Cole is written on the world famous Stanley Cup.  He retired from professional ice hockey this past September.

David McConnell was born in Oswego on July 15, 1858.  He attended the Oswego State Normal School (the same as did my mother) with the intention of becoming a math teacher.  Instead, David entered the world of business.   He started out selling books house to house for the Union Publishing Company, making his home in Atlanta, Georgia.  

In order to augment his sales, David added perfumes, which he made himself, to the items he offered his customers.  He believed that if books could be sold house to house, so could perfumes, which he noted women were quite interested in.  David then started the California Perfume Company (CPC), with a laboratory in Suffern, New York.  "Distribution of his products (was) through housewives and other women who could devote only a portion of their time to the work."

Eventually, CPC would become Avon Allied Products, Inc. (Avon), which is today a world-wide cosmetics company.  David served as president, chairman of the board, and principal owner of Avon until his death on January 20, 1937 at the age of eighty-eight.  For five years now, my daughter Rachel has been an executive at Avon.

Dr. Mary Walker was born in Oswego on November 26, 1832 (185 years ago today).  As a young woman, she taught school in nearby Minetto, New York to earn enough money to study at what is now known as the State University of New York Upstate Medical University (where my sister studied).  In 1855, Mary graduated as the sole woman in her class.

In 1861 when the Civil War started, Mary Walker volunteered to join the Union Army as a medical doctor.  In this capacity, she was at the first battle of Bull Run (Virginia) in July of that year.  Mary was a "field surgeon (first woman as such in the Union Army) at the Battle of Fredericksburg (Virginia - December 1862) and (near) the Battle of Chichamauga (Tennessee - September 1863)."  

On April 10, 1864, Mary was captured by Confederate troops and sent to a POW camp in Richmond, Virginia, until she was released as part of a prisoner exchange on August 12 of that same year.  After the war, for her courageous service to the United States of America, Dr. Mary Walker was "recommended for the Medal of Honor by Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and George Henry Thomas.  On November 11, 1865, President Andrew Johnson signed a bill to award her the medal."  She is the only woman in U.S. history to receive the Medal of Honor.  Mary wore it until her death in Oswego on February 21, 1919 at the age of eighty-six.