Select Sawyer Miscellany



Here are some Sawyer stories and accounts over the years:


Sawyers from Cawston in Norfolk

The English family name of Sawyer emerged in the county of Norfolk where they were recorded as a family of antiquity seated with the manor of Cawston and estates in that shire.  They branched to Cambridge, to Kettering in Northampton, and to Heywood in Berkshire.  John Sawyer was high sheriff of Berkshire.  Sir Edmund Sawyer married into the Whitmores of Apley.  Admiral Sir Henry Sawyer was a distinguished naval commander.  A member of the family was chef to Charles II. 

Thomas Sawyer, New England Immigrant

Thomas Sawyer, the ancestor of many of the Sawyers in New England, was born in England in 1616.  He came to Rowley, Massachusetts and then to Lancaster in 1647 where he followed his trade of blacksmith. Thomas married Mary Prescott, the daughter of John Prescott, and they had thirteen children.  He died in 1706 at the grand old age of ninety.

Their eldest son Thomas was a sawyer by trade.  In 1705, aged 56 and working with his son Elias and a friend at his sawmill, the three of them were captured by Indians and taken to French Canada. 

As the French had no sawmills, Thomas recognized his opportunity and offered to trade his knowledge of mills and sawing for his freedom.  Although the Indians felt that they were being cheated of a good subject for torture (having already tied him to the stake), a priest who desired his release brandished a key.  He threatened to unlock purgatory and thrust all Indians into eternal fire if they did not untie the prisoner.  He was set free, built the first sawmill in Canada, and was allowed to return home.


Mary Had A Little Lamb

The following were the first twelve lines of Mary Had A Little Lamb, as written by John Roulstone and presented to Mary E. Sawyer:
"Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow,
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.

It followed her to school one day;
That was against the rule;
It made the children laugh and play
To see the lamb at school.

And so the teacher turned it out;
But still it lingered near,
And waited patiently about
Til Mary did appear."


The Sawyer Home at Oshkosh

Edgar and Mary Sawyer lived in a fine Second Empire style home on Algoma Boulevard.  At that time Algoma Boulevard was called "the Gold Coast" due to the number of prominent well-off families that lived there.  This house was then demolished in 1907 to make way for a newer and grander modern house.

The new house, now part of a museum, was designed by the Oshkosh architect William Waters in a style said to be "Gothic and Old English."  Built of Indiana brown brick and Bedford limestone, it had a slate roof. Included was an elevator that serviced all four floors and both gas and electrical service.  The Sawyers had contracted with the prestigious New York firm of Louis C. Tiffany to design and furnish the interior.  One of the most recognizable Tiffany features of the house was the iridiscent stained glass windows on the landing.

The family moved into their new home in 1909.  Sadly Mary passed away from heart failure the following year.  Afterwards Edgar maintained the house with a full staff of servants but seldom lived there.  He donated the house to the city of Oshkosh in 1922.




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