Elizabeth Clark Eaton Boswell was born in North Dakota on February 24, 1887 to Charles Stone Eaton and Elizabeth Clark Eaton. Her family moved to Geneva in 1918 and lived in the Clark family home at 859 South Main Street. Elizabeth taught English to newly-arrived immigrants, sponsored and placed war refugees, and worked as a social worker prior to her marriage to Foster Partridge Boswell in 1922. Elizabeth was considered a skilled artist, completing many watercolors of Geneva. She was very involved in the Geneva Historical Society and was involved in furnishing Rose Hill Mansion.

Foster Boswell was born in Rochester on February 14, 1879 to Charles Partridge and Harriet Oliver Boswell. He attended Hobart College, graduating in 1901, and received his master’s and PhD at Harvard by 1904. He studied abroad in Germany before returning to the United States. In 1908 he returned to Hobart as a professor of Psychology and Mathematics, in 1912 he became professor of Psychology and Education for 11 years, and in 1924 he was professor of Psychology and Philosophy until his retirement in 1949. He joined the military in 1916 and served stateside until 1918.