USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Oxford > History of the town of Oxford, Connecticut > Part 21
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1901, "Sewage is by surface drains too frequently discharging into the street in violation of the law, and often into nearby streams. Cesspools are a necessity, but their contents should frequently go to the cultivated fields. The paper mill on Eight Mile Brook is again running and cattle will drink roadside water in preference to that of the stream."
1902, "Sewage is largely by surface drains. Some of our farmers utilize the waste by tanks mounted on wheels, thereby giving irrigation to nearby fields."
1904. This year, the Health Officer, Dr. Barnes appeared to be a little more optomistic about health conditions. He reports "The sanitary condition of the town is annually improving as is evidenced by the home with its more cleanly surroundings. The lawn mower has become a necessity, weeks and decay are less abundant, the out-buildings are more odorless, everything in fact denoting that an intelligent and health-loving power is directing affairs, and by example inducing others to increased sanitation." He reports however that fully one-half of the school children
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have not been vaccinated against small-pox and remarks that "Frequent travel and scooting tramps afford a constant liability to small-pox, and vaccination should be regarded as a public necessity, for every unvaccinated person is liable to be a menace to his neighbor's life."
1905 Dr. Barnes, the health officer reports the health of the town to have been unusually good during the year. He still was having trouble with some people who avoided having a placard on an infected house, "thereby becoming a menace and expense to their community."
1906 Dr. Barnes reports that Connecticut has formed a State Board of Health and given to each county, municipality, and town- ship to whom are assigned plenary powers for promoting the sanitary and hygienic condition of the State.
1907 "The condition of the Eight Mile Brook below the paper mill is positively bad."
With 1907, the colorful reports of Dr. Barnes came to an end be- cause of his death in July of that year.
His successor, Glover Cable, not a physician, says "there is one stream which is said to be polluted by the refuse from a paper mill."
1909, Mr. Cable reported "the condition of Eight Mile Brook has been very bad owing to the extreme drouth during the past summer. We visited the Diamond Match Co. in August and made suggestions which were promptly attended to."
1915, "Ice from Eight Mile Brook has been condemned."
1916, Report of one case of infantile paralysis, a very mild case.
1919, Nelson Cable succeeded Glover Cable.
1920, Cyrus Shelton succeeded Nelson Cable.
1927, one case of infantile paralysis.
1943 Health Officer Oscar Rogol, M.D. reported "At Camp Palmer a number of cases of poliomyelitis were discovered. They were confined only in the camp to which children came from out of town. The camp was closed. No cases of town residents were reported."
1945, Plans are being perfected to have a periodic health ex- amination of the school children each year.
1947 "The school buildings require major repairs. Most have woodburning stoves which give insufficient heat, and there is no running water to take care of sanitation needs. The drinking water supply is a major problem, most of the water being brought into the buildings from outside. This year, school-rooms have been overcrowded because of the greatly increased registration. It seem to me that the solution to the whole problem is a consoli- dated school. This is highly recommended by the Health Officer."
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The Centralized School became a reality November 22, 1948 when it was occupied by the children, since when health matters have be- come more or less routine.
The Health Officer's reports from 1947 to 1960 are concerned largely with the care of the health of the children in the town schools. In 1947, he pointed out that the little old one and two room local schools have wood burning stoves which give insufficient heat, and have no running water to take care of sanitation needs, and in one school which had a pump the water never passed state laboratory tests.
Nevertheless, the continuation of the immunization program in the schools has placed Oxford high on the list of towns in the State having the greatest percentage of children immunized.
In 1949, he notes that this program is being continued and that the two summer camps in the town were inspected regularly, emphasis being placed on possible contagion, especially poliomyelitis.
He also notes that with the opening of the Consolidated School most of the problems in the school have been solved.
In 1950 he calls attention to the overcrowding in the new school and the necessity for enlargement of the school.
In 1952 he mentions two serious sanitation problems, one a piggery, the other a dump, making clear the necessity for a town sanitary code.
In 1953 the title "Health Officer" was changed to "Director of Health."
A marked advance occurred in 1954 with the opening of the new Dump on Riggs St. which is open only at specified times at which the dump is supervised.
"In the building boom, dwellings have been oftentimes constructed without regard to proper drainage. This should not be allowed to con- tinue and to prevent it a town ordinance should be enacted prohibiting construction until the sewage facilities have been approved by a duly authorized official.
During 1955, about 85 per cent of the Oxford School children in the five to nine year group received two innoculations of the Salk polio- myelitis vaccine. The next year, nearly all of the pupils of the con- solidated school were given the third innoculation. Also adults up to forty years of age were given the opportunity of receiving two innocu- lations.
In 1957, an ordinance was adopted by the town "Covering Sewage Disposal for Dwellings" as previously recommended by the Director of Health. During the year over half the school population was ill with the Asian Influenza, and vaccine was not available early enough, but fortunately most cases were mild.
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AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR SEWAGE DISPOSAL IN THE TOWN OF OXFORD
SEPTIC TANKS shall be provided where no public sewers are avail- able. No tank shall be located within 15 feet of a house. These tanks may be of concrete, tile or metal. They shall be constructed with watertight walls and bottom, with inlets and outlets baffled or sub- merged for a depth of at least 12 inches below the surface of liquid in the tank but shall not be so deep as to stir up the bottom contents. They shall be made with removable covers so as to provide access to the tank for purposes of cleaning. No septic tank shall have a liquid capacity of less than 500 gallons.
In all of the following specifications, one family is considered as 5 persons. Where it is known that a larger number of persons are to be provided for in one family, proportional increases in the sizes of the system shall be made. Similar considerations apply to house for more than one family.
NO DRAINAGE FROM A SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM shall be dis- charged into a street gutter or watercourse or on to the surface of the ground without the approval of the local health officer.
PRIVIES shall be constructed with adequate storage space for ex- creta, with self-closing seat covers and fly-tight vault, and with screen vent from the vault to the atmosphere.
NO SEPTIC TANK, CESSPOOL, TILE FIELD, LEACHING TRENCH, OR PRIVY VAULT shall be constructed within 75 feet of a well or spring without the approval of the local health officer.
SINK DRAINAGE SYSTEMS where no water flush toilet fixtures are used shall be constructed with at least one-third the capacity specified for usual house sewerage systems.
THIS ORDINANCE PASSED AT THE ANNUAL TOWN MEETING OF OCTOBER 1, 1956.
There were two cases of poliomyletis in Oxford in 1959 and the Director of Health again emphasized the necessity of three innocula- tions of the Salk vaccine with a booster innoculation once a year there- after.
In the same year a part time Public Health Nursing Service was instituted in Oxford.
CHAPTER 34
CEMETERIES
In earliest times, the dead of Oxford were presumably carried to Derby for burial, but in 1741 the Oxford church was established, and in 1742 the church Meeting voted to lay out a piece of land for a bury- ing place. This is undoubtedly the present cemetery of the Oxford Congregational Church which is situated on the eastern slope of Governors Hill, just west of Little River, and it appears to be the old- est cemetery within the present confines of the town of Oxford.
The cemetery of St. Peter's Episcopal Church is also located on the eastern slope of Governors Hill, just west of, and adjoining the cemetery of the Oxford Congregational Church.
In Quaker Farms there are two cemeteries, the oldest of which is the "Old South Burying Grounds", now known as "Hillside Cemetery" Its earliest inscription is that of Mrs. Hannah Russell, wife of Timothy Russell of Oxford, She died May 26, 1773, aged 76 years. The ceme- tery is situated on Capt. Wooster Road a short distance east of Quaker Farms Road. This cemetery was in general use by the Quaker Farms families until David Tomlinson started another, the "North Burying Grounds," now known as "Brookside Cemetery". It is situated on the east side of Edmonds Road, close by Eight Mile Brook, from which it takes its name, about one quarter of a mile north of the point where Edmonds Road branches off from Quaker Farms Road.
Two prominent early residents of Quaker Farms are buried in these cemeteries, the one, Zachariah Hawkins in the South Burying Grounds in 1806, and the other, David Tomlinson in the North Burying Grounds in 1822. An elderly citizen, when asked some years ago, how there came to be two burying grounds so close together, replied that "He guessed that old David Tomlinson didn't want to be buried in no Hawkins cemetery".
By the end of the Nineteenth Century, the two Quaker Farms Ceme- teries had become somewhat neglected, which caused great concern to an active member of Christ Church, Quaker Farms, Mr. Benjamin Nichols. While apparently the church did not own either of the ceme- tery properties, nevertheless Mr. Nichols seems to have felt that it was the duty of the church to take care of them, so in his will, he made a bequest for that purpose to "The Trustees of Donations and Bequests of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut". Mr. Nichol's daughter, Mrs. Henry P. Wirth, (Nancy Nichols) got the people of Christ Church
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working together in 1898 and put the cemeteries in good order, and at her instance the "Quaker Farms Cemetery Association" was formed on May 10th of that year. The Association took over the management of the two cemeteries, and by now has become the de facto owner of the properties, although the income from the Nichols Fund continues to be paid to Christ Church by the Trustees of Donations and Bequests. In turn, the church passes an annual resolution making the Association its agent for the year, for "cemetery matters".
The third cemetery in the western part of the town is that now known as "Riverside Cemetery", situated on the west side of Freeman Road, between it and Lake Zoar, just north of the corner of Freeman Road and Coppermine Road. It was originally located on the east bank of the Housatonic River about one quarter mile north-west of its present location. It was then known as "Zoar Bridge cemetery" and it came into use Sep. 14, 1805 with the death of Andrew Gibson Scott. When Stevenson Dam was completed in 1920, it became necessary to flood the cemetery and some time before that, probably about 1918, the gravestones and the contents of the graves were moved to "Riverside Cemetery". The cemetery is now under the care of the Riverside Methodist Episcopal Church.
The cemetery known as "Southford Cemetery" is really located in Oxford, being at the southeast corner of Oxford Road and Hawley Road. It has been used by many Oxford families including the Lums, Davis, Rowlands and others. It is now in the care of the "Southford Cemetery Association."
"Jacks Hill Cemetery" is located on the west side of Heidkamp Road a short distance north of Jacks Hill Road where the latter bends sharply eastward from a generally northerly course. Members of the Perkins, Wheeler, Buckingham, Robinson and other families are buried there. It is now badly in need of care.
CHAPTER 35
THE OXFORD PUBLIC LIBRARY
The first library in the town was known as the Oxford "Circulating Library." It was instituted by St. Peter's Episcopal Church, when the Rev. S. R. Bailey was its rector. It was projected December 5th, 1883, and was established the following year by the St. Peter's Womens' Guild. Not long after this, it passed under the management of Mr. W. W. Hughes, who continued to serve as voluntary librarian as late as 1892 and "succeeded in making the library an object of public support" with one hundred and fifty persons interested as members that year, and the library then contained 700 volumes kept at the residence of Mr. Hughes on the west side of Little River just north of Lounsbury Road and facing the Town Green. His place was known as the Oxford Valley Fruit Farm and his home is said to have been the headquarters for literary, musical and other entertainments in Oxford. His second wife was Miss Emily McEwen of Oxford. As he was born in 1823, he was 69 years old in 1892. How much longer he ran the library is not on record, but he lived until 1904, aged 81.
What happened to the library between Mr. Hughes' death in 1904 to the year 1925 does not appear to be on record, but in about the latter year, the library was re-activated, chiefly through the efforts of the Rev. Henry S. Douglas, Mrs. Irving Sanford (Kate) and Mrs. Hubert E. Stoddard, and along with them the School Supervisor, I. B. Dunfield. There were about 200 very old books in the library at that time, stored in the Congregational parish house.
A "Library Association" was formed, of which Mr. Hubert E. Stoddard was the first and only president. Mrs. Eames was the first librarian, without pay for a few years.
In 1925, the School Supervisor stated in his report printed in the Oxford Town Report for 1925, "The Public Library greatly benefited the schools." Mrs. Eames was very helpful in assisting the children. A total of 1119 books were read from the approved list and Library Reading Certificates were awarded to all who read five books or more.
In 1926, the Town made an appropriation of $100.00 to the Town Library, and the School Report said; "The local library has been a splendid help to the schools and the town should support it generously." About this time, Mrs. Eames was paid $50.00 per year as librarian. She was succeeded by Miss Libby Pope, Mrs. Zellars, Mrs. Harrison Miles and Miss Hawkins.
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In 1928, the appropriation was $150.00 and by 1950 it had climbed to $300.00.
About this time the state offered to give the town $200.00 worth of books if it would raise $200.00. The people of the town were canvassed to give one dollar, each thereby becoming a member of the "Library Association".
The Congregational Church gave the association the use of a little side room in the parish house with a low sloping roof, which was raised to give more shelf space. Some money was raised by selling ice cream and cold drinks at school affairs which were held annually on the green. The library remained in the Congregational Church parish house until 1933, when the Town Hall on the Green at Governor's Hill Road was erected and one room was allotted to the Library.
Up to the early autumn of 1951, the library continued as a private affair. Then the Library was turned over to the town, so beginning the first Public Library in Oxford. The First Selectman, Frederick R. Bice, Jr. appointed a Board of Library Directors consisting of Edmund Schade, Mr. Norris Hillseberg, Mrs. Cathryn Beardsley, Mrs. Arthur Hoyt, William Rice and Mrs. Jane Fryncko.
Mr. Hillseberg, who became the first chairman, moved out of town and Mr. Rice resigned. To replace these, Calvin Williams and Mrs. Eleanore Johnquest were voted in by the board. Miss Charlotte Dahinden had served as Librarian of the Private Library and she was appointed by the Board to continue under the same terms. In July, 1952, Mrs. Hoyt became chairman. The sum of $240.75 was turned over to the New Board by the Private Group.
It was felt that larger quarters would be needed and a vote at a Town Meeting assigned the Library to the north room of the Central Fire House and $520.00 was voted for renovation of the new quarters.
In July 1952, Mrs. Hoyt was elected Chairman, Mrs. Johnquest, Secretary, Mr. George Scott was appointed to take the place of Mr. Calvin Williams.
The new Library in that building was begun at an "open house", Oct. 19, 1952. Mrs. Fryncko resigned in May, 1953 and Mr. Charles Lubin took her place. Eleven hundred books were added during these ten months. At present the library contains about 8,000 books.
All six members of the Appointed Board were elected in October 1953. Gabriel Mason was elected to the board in 1957, and Felix Kurzrok in 1958. The present board consists of George Scott, Chair- man; Edmund Schade, Sabina C. Hoyt, Pauline Tomlinson, Cathryn Beardsley, and Rose Rzesutek.
The library is open as frequently as funds permit at present, with the board members taking over one night a week and school children coming during the day.
In February 1958, a group of adults organized, calling themselves "Friends of the Oxford Library." This group has been immeasurably helpful in having story hours, lectures and exhibits at the Library. In
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addition, they have greatly benefited the board by donating services one night a week, the assignments managed by Miss Beatrice Wesley, and in 1960, by Mrs. Mary Hitchcock.
The present appropriation for the Library is $500.00 from the State and $1500.00 from the Town.
CHAPTER 36
TOWN HALL BUILDING
At the instance of the Board of Finance, the Town appointed a Com- mittee of three, to prepare plans, and select a location for a Town Office Building, in 1933. Before that date, the Town Records were said to have been stored in a barn just across Governor's Hill Road from the present Town Hall, or at the residence of whatever Town Clerk was in office at the time.
The Committee consisted of Rev. Henry S. Douglas, Messrs. Thomas Schreiber, and Frederick R. Bice Jr. They recommended that the new building should be located at the north end of the "Lower Green," adjoining the Episcopal Church, and approximately twenty feet from Little River. The Committee consulted with Mr. Alton Clark, "a practical designer and architect" and decided that the build- ing should be 26 feet by 32 feet, one story high, that it should be fire- proof, with walls of fieldstone, and contain a vault, a room for the Town Clerk, to be used also for meetings of Town Committees, and a room for the library.
The Committee's recommendations were followed and $2500.00 was appropriated. The Building was erected in 1933, using in general, unemployed Town labor. The Town Hall was dedicated the same year.
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CHAPTER 37
SELECTMEN'S REPORTS
The early reports of the Selectmen do not appear to have been pre- served. Those, however, from 1875 to 1950 were kept by the late Mr. Atwater C. Treat, and are now in possession of his widow.
In the 1875 report the largest single item of Town Expenses was for Roads, Bridges and Railings, $2024.04.
It may seem strange to people of to-day that the second largest item of Town Expenses was for care of paupers, $650.02, amounting to 18 per cent of the total Expense of $3612.26. The Board of Educa- tion spent only $158.87, this being apparently entirely for expense of visiting schools by seven visitors, as the salaries of school teachers were not paid by the town, but by each school district separately. Another strange item to modern eyes was that of $60.00 paid for sheep killed by dogs. This figure jumped to $753.50 in the next year, 1876, and the Selectmen reported that "the amount paid for sheep killed by dogs has been larger than ever before known, and if some means can- not be found to prevent such wholesale destruction, sheep culture will be destroyed entirely in our farming towns, as neighboring towns are suffering as heavily as we."
It is said that the strange part of these attacks on sheep by dogs, is that the dogs do not eat the sheep, but choke them apparently from a natural antipathy.
In 1876, the distribution of sheep killed was as follows, - John Hawkins, 13 sheep; Orlando C. Osborn, 35; Lewis B. Perkins, 57; David C. Riggs, 22; Benjamin Nichols, 10; John Hawley, 9; George Hawley, 2; Peter Ward, 1; F. L. Davis, 1.
The report of the Selectmen for 1875, is a slim pamphlet of but eight 5" by 8" pages, but their reports soon increased in volume and it is from these reports that the statistics in this history are taken.
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CHAPTER 38
TOWN FINANCES
For many years, whenever the town had need for money more than current income, it borrowed money from individuals, giving them town notes bearing interest at 5%. This system continued until after the formation of the Valley National Bank in Seymour in 1900 (which be- came the Seymour Trust Co., August 14, 1905.) In 1902, the town borrowed $2000. from the bank. Even then, loans from individuals continued, in decreasing amounts, along with loans from the bank in increasing amounts, until 1933, when the Town issued its first bonds bearing interest at 4 1/2%. In the Town Report of 1875, mention is made of "Notes and orders outstanding," but no list of the holders of notes is given. In 1876, continuing until 1880, the total borrowing amounted to $600. one half on note to C. H. Lum, and the other half to Henry Lum. In 1876, the Town in partnership with Monroe undertook to rebuild Zoar Bridge across the Housatonic River, as a steel sus- pension bridge. It cost $13,225.78, each town paying one half of the expense or $6612.89. This amount was increased about $1000, later, for in 1880, the Zoar Bridge Account was funded at 5%, again from individuals, as follows:
Note Aug. 4, 1880 to Francis A. Riggs $1000.00
Note Aug. 4, 1880 to Carrie L. Riggs 175.00
Note Aug. 4, 1880 to Burritt Davis 100.00
Note Aug. 4, 1880 to Lucinda Davis 500.00
Note July 30, 1880 George Lum
1000.00
Note July 30, 1880 Harpin A. Lum 4800.00
Total 7575.00
By 1885, the Zoar Bridge Account had been absorbed into "Town Liabilities" the notes payable to individuals being:
H. A. Lum
$4000.00
George Lum
1000.00
Carrie L. Riggs
175.00
Francis Riggs
500.00
Eliza Tomlinson
1000.00
Other liabilities amounted to $3159.00, making total $9834.00.
By 1900, the total of notes payable to individuals had risen to $17,976.00:
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Mary Davis, guardian Charles A. Davis
$7200.00
4000.00
Mrs. R. B. Limburner
2576.00
Mary N. Davis
1200.00
800.00
Albert Lum
1000.00
Susan J. Lum
500.00
Jane White Florence L. Treat
500.00
200.00
$17,976.00
Note to the Town Deposit Fund
4,169.00
$22,145.00
The increase in borrowings seems to have been caused by the pay- ment, with interest, of old orders issued by the selectmen from time to time, and which accumulated to a total of $7071.30.
In 1903, the Town got its first bank loan (from the Valley National Bank) in amount $2000.00, increasing its total borrowings to $19276.00. In 1904, the borrowings took a decided increase with loans to individuals amounting to $23145.00 plus $2000.00 to the bank. By 1932, the year before the first bond issue, the notes to individuals amounted to $11300.00 and to the bank $29,700.00.
At the annual Town Meeting, October 5, 1931, a motion was passed calling for the establishment and election of a Town Board of Finance at the next Annual Town Meeting. On October 3, 1932, the first Town Board of Finance was elected as follows:
Hubert E. Stoddard 3 yrs. Viola A. Madorno 3 yrs.
Robert I Sanford 2 yrs. John W. Pope 2 yrs.
Edward P. Rowland 1 yr. Michael J. Cassidy 1 yr.
The first detailed report of a Board of Finance was for 1935. In their list of expenditures, the largest item is for Education, $26,718.72, and the total disbursements, $49,858.40. The school ex- penditure is in marked contrast to that for 1900, when the old school district system was still in force, and the total expenditures for schools was $2846.35.
The present (1960) Board consists of:
M. Nicholas Posypanko
Daniel Gill
Edwin H. Koehler
Richard E. Malkin
Howard W. Hine
William A. Bauer
There have been but three Chairmen of the Board since its begin- ning:
Hubert E. Stoddard 1932 to June 30, 1950
C. Arthur Maybury 1950 to December 11, 1959
M. Nicholas Posypanko 1959 to date.
CHAPTER 39
CHANGES IN THE MAP OF OXFORD WITH POPULATION TRENDS
1. Oxford gets section east of the Naugatuck River, 1798. It will be remembered that when the Ecclesiastical Society of Oxford was formed, May 7th, 1741, by action of the General Assembly, the southern boundary was the Little River and the eastern boundary of the southern portion of the new Society was set at the Naugatuck River, so that the southeastern corner was at the junction of Little River and the Nauga- tuck River. When the town of Oxford was incorporated in 1798, Derby gave up an additional section of its territory east of the Naugatuck River. It started at "the mouth of the brook at the lower end of old Rimmon Plain." ( This was either "Rimmon Brook" or "Mud Brook".) The line crossed over the top of Rock Rimmon to its northern end. There it turned abruptly east to the Woodbridge line and along that line generally northward to the southerly line of Salem Society and west along that line to the Naugatuck River. At the same time, how- ever, the eastern part of the southern boundary of the new town of Oxford was set at or near Five Mile Brook, till it reached the bridge over that brook at Rockhouse Hill Road, and from thence by a line running generally easterly to and across the Naugatuck River. From thence it turned north to the mouth of Rimmon or Mud Brook as al- ready described.
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