USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Oxford > History of the town of Oxford, Connecticut > Part 22
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2. Oxford gets northern section formerly part of Waterbury, 1803. Part of the northern section of the old Society of Oxford, as laid out in 1741, was in the town of Waterbury, and so continued after the incor- poration of the town of Oxford in 1798, until October of 1803, when the Assembly transferred the section to the town of Oxford.
3. Oxford gets northern section formerly part of Southbury, 1809. Similar action was taken by the Assembly in October of 1809, regard- ing that part of the old Society of Oxford lying in the town of Southbury. 4. Oxford loses section east of the Naugatuck River to Bethany, 1839. Oxford continued to have the section east of the Naugatuck as part of its territory from 1798 until 1839, when the inhabitants of that region petitioned to have it transferred to the town of Bethany, because the "distance of Oxford is over a very mountainous region and greater than to Bethany."
5. Oxford gets section north of Four Mile Brook, 1844. It will be re- membered that when the Parish of Oxford was formed in 1741, its southern boundary was along Four Mile Brook, but that the Town of
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Oxford as formed in 1798, only extended south as far as Five Mile Brook. This condition continued until 1844. At this time, Derby was a Whig town, while Oxford was Democratic. Eight Mile Brook was the dividing line between the towns of Oxford and Derby, and in conse- quence, the people south of the brook went to Derby to vote, while those north of the brook voted in Oxford. In those days the lines of demarcation were not always closely observed and some took their choice of a voting place, and went to the nearest. Henry Lum, a ster- ling old Democrat, familiarly known as "Uncle Harry", determined to engineer a change in the Oxford Town Line. So he arranged for the in- troduction of a bill in the Connecticut Assembly, allowing Oxford to annex from Derby, all of the Punkups Section, south of the Brook and part of the Squantuck section. The bill was passed May 1, 1844, the boundaries of the annexed section being roughly as follows :-
Starting from the south side of Loughlin Road and following along the south side of Little Punkup Road and Punkup Road to where the latter crosses Five Mile Brook, thence along Five Mile Brook to Rock House Hill Road. Thence Southeast down Rock House Hill Road to the bridge over Four Mile Brook, thence in a straight line southwest to the Housatonic River.
6. Oxford loses section to the new town of Naugatuck, 1844. Naugatuck was originally part of Waterbury, the southern part of which was first known as "Judd's Meadows" and later as Salem Society. In 1803, Salem and Columbia Societies petitioned the General Assembly for the privileges of a township. Oxford opposed this, but on May 16th of that year appointed Abel Wheeler and Joseph Lum a committee to treat with the proposed new "Town of Salem and Columbia Societies" and agree on a dividing line between Oxford and the new town. (The Columbia parish became the town of Prospect in 1827). Apparently, no further action was taken until 1844, when the General Assembly passed a resolution, incorporating a "distinct town by the name of Naugatuck", formed from parts of Bethany, Oxford and Waterhury. Naugatuck adjoins the northeast section of Oxford, and the part of Oxford given up to it was a tract of land lying west of the Naugatuck River, the west boundary of which was a line starting from the River at a point just south of Spruce Brook and running in a generally north- west direction to the northern line of Oxford. The eastern boundary of Oxford then became the Naugatuck River as far north as a point just below Spruce Brook and from thence the line above described. On Apr. 27, 1844, the Oxford Town Meeting voted to appoint a commit- tee instructed to assent to the petition of Wm. De Forest and others that the Town of Oxford give up to the petitioners a portion of terri- tory for the proposed new town, the dwelling house of Larmon Lewis and Mrs. Sarah Lewis, his mother, and also the dwelling house lately occupied by Lewis M. Hoadley, Esq.
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7. Oxford loses section to the new town of Seymour, 1854. In 1850, the village of Humphreysville separated from Derby, and incorporated as a town, named after Thomas H. Seymour, the newly elected gover- nor of Connecticut. In 1853, the Assembly resolved that the boundary line between Oxford and Seymour should be that fixed in the perambu- lation made May 4th, 1853. Then in 1854, the Assembly passed a resolution annexing to Seymour a part of Oxford lying in the southeast part of the town, and south of a line which was approximately as fol- lows; starting at the house of Mrs. Sabra Lindley on the west bank of Little River opposite Mountain Road and running from thence to a point on "Diamond Rock" (just south of Rimmon Hill), thence to and across the Naugatuck River to a point just South of Rock Rimmon. It is interesting to note that it was agreed that the selectmen of Derby and Seymour would apportion the funds of these towns etc., and if they could not agree, then the apportionment was to be made by Samuel Meigs, Esq. of Oxford. He was selected for this duty, because being a citizen of neither Derby nor Seymour, he would be neutral in his judgment. As he was born in 1791, he was 59 years old in 1850 and was in general mercantile business in Quaker Farms, having succeeded in 1822, to the operation of the store there, which had been founded by his father-in-law, David Tomlinson, and which did a very extensive business. Samuel Meigs was therefore, probably the leading business man of Oxford.
8. Oxford loses a section to the new town of Beacon Falls, 1871. Early in 1871, John Wolfe and others "petitioned the Assembly for the creation of a new town, Beacon Falls, out of portions of Bethany, Naugatuck, Seymour and Oxford." On June 1, 1871, the "Seymour Record" reported that "last week the representatives of Oxford to- gether with the selectmen (of Seymour) appeared before the legisla- tive committee and testified that in their judgment it would in no way be injurious to Oxford to lose that portion of it, which is asked for." The Assembly approved this action June 30, 1871, and by this action, Oxford lost all of the section bounded on the west by the present Ox- ford line (about one half mile east of Chestnut Tree Hill Road) and on the east by the Naugatuck River and the Town of Naugatuck.
"The first town meeting of Beacon Falls was held July 3, 1871. A picnic in the Grove was held July 4th with the following guests from Oxford; Mr. & Mrs. Alfred Harger and daughter, John Harger, Wm. H. Davis and daughter, B. Nichols and wife, Clark Botsford, Wm. R. Tomlinson, John Wheeler, H. C. Chatfield, O. Chatfield, B. Tucker, Burritt Davis, H. Sutton, and Atwater Treat."
From the foregoing, it is seen that the eastern boundary of Oxford went through several changes, which are summarized as follows:
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1741 - Parish of Oxford's eastern boundary was the Naugatuck River.
1798 - Incorporated Town of Oxford's eastern boundary was the Woodbridge Line.
1839 - Oxford gave up to the town of Bethany the southern portion of the territory east of the Naugatuck River, thus making Oxford's eastern boundary the Naugatuck River.
1844 - Oxford gave up to the new town of Naugatuck a tract of land ly- ing west of the Naugatuck River, the west boundary of which was a line starting from the River at a point just south of Spruce Brook and running in a generally northwest direction to the northern line of Oxford, making the eastern boundary of Oxford the Naugatuck River up to a short distance below Spruce Brook and from thence the line above described.
1871 - Oxford gave up to the new town of Beacon Falls all of Oxford territory lying east of its present boundary.
At the present time, the Town of Oxford comprises 18,565.58 acres.
BOUNDARIES OF THE OLD PARISH OF OXFORD, AND THOSE OF ORIGINAL TOWN OF OXFORD
The Parish of Oxford as organized in 1741 was considerably greater in extent than the Town of Oxford as incorporated in 1798, particularly in the location of the Eastern boundary. To show this more clearly we give below the boundaries in parallel columns:
SOCIETY OF OXFORD PARISH 1741 TOWN OF OXFORD 1798 Beginning at the great (Housatonic) river at the line between Woodberry and Derby Thence southerly by the river to the mouth of four mile brook
Thence along sd brook to the bridge between the dwelling houses of Abel Gunn and John Holbrook.
Thence by the highway between land called Camps Mortgage and land called Quakers Farm Purchase to the Little River. Thence along Little River to Naugatuck River Thence northerly by western shore of sd river (Naugatuck) to dividing line between Derby & Waterbury.
Beginning at mouth of Kettletown Brook; thence Southerly on Ousatonic River to Heap of stones north of house of Noah Tomlinson; then n.e. to the bend in five mile brook at the foot of the hill
Thence by sd brook to the bridge over sd brook in Woodbury Old Road
Thence to S.E. corner of dwell- ing house of Timothy Johnson Thence due east to Naugatuck River
Thence across sd river to Eastern Shore
thence up said river on east side there of to mouth of brook at lower end of old Rimmon plain.
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Thence westerly on dividing line between Waterbury & Derby to the eight mile brook.
Thence along said brook to dividing line between Woodberry and Derby, Thence westerly on this line to the great river and bounds first men- tioned.
Thence to end of hill on northerly side of sd brook at lower end of Rock Rimmon
Thence on ridge of sd rock to the upper end of said rock
Thence a due east course to Woodbridge line. Thence on dividing line between Woodbridge and Derby till it meets Waterbury Line.
Thence on dividing line between Waterbury and Derby or Oxford till it meets Southbury. Thence on dividing line between South- bury and Derby or Oxford to 1st mentioned bound.
BOUNDARIES OF OXFORD TODAY
Area: 32.8 square miles Bounded on the North by Towns of Southbury
Middlebury Naugatuck
East by -
Naugatuck Beacon Falls Seymour
South by
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Seymour Housatonic River
West by
Housatonic River Southbury
Population Trends
The population of Oxford, as given in the Connecticut State Manual is as follows, -
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Year
Population
Year
Population
Year Population
1800
1410
1860
1269
1920
998
1810
1453
1870
1338
1930
1141
1820
1683
1880
1120
1940
1375
1830
1763
1890
902
1950
2037
1840
1626
1900
952
1960
3306
1850
1564
19 10
1020
On the curve shown in Chapter 16, the peak point in 1830 reflects the growth of the local industries, in Oxford and the low point in 1890 is the result of the extinction of those industries.
The curve shows also the population of Seymour, the growth of which started with the completion of the railroad to Waterbury in 1849, coinciding with the elimination of Oxford's local industries.
Between 1940 and 1960, Oxford changed gradually from a predomi- nately farming community to a "regional suburb" of Seymour, Bridge- port, Stratford, New Haven and other surrounding towns.
CHAPTER 40
INDUSTRY IN OXFORD TODAY
Oxford today, while still essentially rural, is no longer predomi- nately a farming community, nor is it an industrial one. An examina- tion of the chart of the population of Oxford given in Chapter 16 shows an extraordinary increase from about 1000 persons in 1920 to over 2000 in 1950, and it is now estimated to be 3306. With very few exceptions the newcomers have not been farmers, but families, one or more of whose members work in some factory or business as far south and west as Bridgeport, and east and north to Waterbury, The same thing has happened in many other towns throughout the United States, and a new phrase, "regional suburb" has been coined to express their status. This presents many problems in government, finances, schools, and churches. At the present time there are no sizable in- dustries in Oxford, with the exception of the Stephen B. Church Co. drillers of deep driven wells and furnishers of water systems for towns.
Stephen Betts Church, founder of the company was born August 15, 1866, son of John and Sarah M. Whiting Church. When he came to manhood, the farmers were turning to the use of power in their farm- ing operations to save hand labor. As early as 1886, Mr. Church pro- vided and installed horse driven forks which lifted hay from wagon to haymow. Later he became interested in the early gasoline engines, exhibiting the first to be shown at the Danbury Fair. He soon was selling them in quantities, with a store in Boston and salesmen travel- ing throughout New England.
Mr. Church soon sensed the need of the farmers for running water, and began the building and erection of wells operated by windpower, which pumped water from wells, springs or brooks to tanks on towers, thereby providing the necessary pressure. But as these windmills were decidedly limited both in capacity and steady power, he began drilling deep driven wells (often spoken of as "artesian wells"). Soon he was installing the present residential water supply systems con- sisting of a driven well pumped by an electric motor pump into a closed tank inside the house, thus providing air pressure to force the water into kitchens, bathrooms, and barns.
By about 1923, demand came from factories for water in quantities not procurable from driven wells, and geologists pointed out that there were glacial deposits of sand and gravel in some places in New Eng- land which contained large quantities of water.
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The Church Co. devised special equipment for testing for the presence of underground water and a method of sinking large caissons and constructing "gravel packed wells". These were packed with gravel inside of a circular screen made of highly corrosion resistant metal to filter out the sand. This type of well has also been furnished by the Church Co. to towns and cities for municipal water supplies, at a cost far below that of dams and storage reservoirs. It has come to form a large part of the business of the Church Co., serving factories, office buildings, and municipalities. In 1919, Mr. Church was visited by a young man who was selling farm machinery. This was Mr. Hubert E. Stoddard, who within a month entered the employ of the Church Co. as Engineer.
In July 1951, Mr. Church died and the control of the company passed to Mr. Stoddard who incorporated the business in 1952. Mr. Stoddard is retired and Mr. Wm S. Duncan is President and General Manager. Much new equipment has been obtained, and special well development processes have been worked out, resulting in substantial water sup- plies for entire communities, some of them with several hundred houses. Further geological studies have revealed new sources of water supply, some of them at depths of from 500 to 800 feet. This water is very cold and is highly desirable for large air-conditioning installations as well as for municipal supplies.
A few years ago, a water company in Fairfield county proposed building a dam across Eight Mile Brook in Quaker Farms to create a reservoir of water, which would have flooded a large portion of that district. Much opposition to this scheme arose in Oxford, Middlebury, and Waterbury, some four hundred people appearing at the hearing be- fore the Legislature Committee in Hartford. On the recommendation of the Church Co., test work was done for the water company on the Fairfield side of the Housatonic River. This resulted in the installa- tion of several large diameter wells from which yields of over seven million gallons per day were obtained.
The Roy S. Sanford Co.
In 1953 the Roy S. Sanford Co., bought from Mr. Stoddard of the Stephen B. Church Co. the main house of the latter, with grounds im- mediately surrounding it. They do research work for the United States Government and for many of the large corporations of the United States, employing about twenty engineers.
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ELECTRIC POWER COMES TO THE FARM
Before the coming of electric power to Oxford, dairy farming, in the present sense of the word, did not exist. Older residents say that in their boyhood, milk was virtually unsalable as such, and was there- fore made into butter and cheese and stored either in an ice house or spring house. Once every two weeks or so, the farmer would hitch up his team and journey to a neighboring town and peddle his produce in the streets thereof. The skim milk was, of course, fed to the pigs, which once a year became a salable product.
Money, altogether was a very scarce article, and the fortunes of Oxford were at a very low ebb. The population of the town had fallen from its peak of one thousand seven hundred sixty three persons in 1830 at the height of the local industries to an all time minimum of nine hundred two in 1890. There was but a slight increase until be- tween 1920 and 1930, when it began to spurt.
In the year 1918 there came about what might be termed a revolu- tion in Oxford, namely the extension of the Connecticut Light and Power Co's electric power lines into both Oxford Center and Quaker Farms; so giving the farmer the electric milk chiller. And about the same time the motor truck came into general use, the combination of the two things making it possible to ship milk safely to a distance.
Later, the Connecticut Milk Producers Association was formed, providing transportation and marketing facilities, and modern dairy farming was born.
The Connecticut Light and Power Co.
In the chapter on Bridges, we have already given a description of the Hydro-Electric power station of the Connecticut Light and Power Company on the Housatonic River at Stevenson. The power house it- self, being at the Stevenson end of the dam, cannot, strictly speaking, be considered as one of the industries of the Town of Oxford. But as one half of the dam and one half of the reservoir ( Zoar Lake), and all of the new floodgates, are in Oxford, we give it this mention and repeat the main data for convenience.
Dam. Located at River Mile 19.3 Concrete gravity type. Maximum Base width, 81 feet. Maximum height to crest elevation 122 feet. Length 1213 feet. Output capability 28,750 kilowatt hours.
Pond. Length at crest elevation, 10 miles.
Power Plant. 3 Turbo-generators, 7000 K.W. each. 1 Turbo-generator, 7750 K.W. Annual output 95, 650,000 kilowatt hours.
Work started, during summer of 1917.
First unit in operation Nov. 24, 1919.
CHAPTER 41
THE OXFORD FIRE DEPARTMENT
On December 17, 1940, 18 to 20 people gathered together in the Oxford Hotel to talk about forming a Fire Department for the town. On May 9, 1941, official recognition was given this department and the Selectmen of the town appointed Frank Allen as the first Fire Chief for one year.
The charter members were:
Le Roy Barry Joseph Kluzinsky
Louis Tomlinson
Edwin Cassidy Charles Kirk
Bert Tucker
Raymond Godshall Joseph Magda Alvin Treat
Cecil Cropper
Earle Oleson Carleton Treat
Croft Fray
Joseph O'Donavan Robert Treat
Gilbert Ives
Clark Pope
Cyrus Shelton
John Kryszkiewicz
Charles Pope
William Wheeler
Andrew Kluzinsky
They met twice a month and for almost a year drilled with the Seymour Fire Department. Any male citizen, 18 years or more could belong to this group.
The first Fire House was the Riverside Fire House and a little later the Center Fire House and the Quaker Fire House were estab- lished. The first piece of equipment was a booster pumping unit. The town voted the money for this apparatus on February 11, 1942.
The first serious fire for the new department to handle occurred at the home of Randall Minor, situated then across the road from the present Town Clerk's Office, in December, 1941. The only equipment was a fire extinguisher and pails for nearby water. The new Fire Department distinguished itself by keeping the fire under control until all the furniture was moved out of the house, but the house was a com- plete loss. The town, because of this catastrophe, was awakened to the need for the town to be protected against the possibility of fire damage. There were soon three volunteer fire companies, one for each section of the town, and fire equipment was gradually furnished.
At first badges were worn to label these fire fighters, later hel- mets, boots, coats, etc. were added.
The officers were Fire Chief and two Assistants to cover the whole town. Each Company had its own officers, Captain, Lieutenant, Secre- tary, and Treasurer.
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1942
1943
Frank Allen - Chief
Clarence Roberts - Asst. Chief Same Samuel Owens - Asst. Chief
1944
1945
Frank Allen - Chief
Clarence Roberts - Asst. Chief Same
Franklyn Sanford -
1946
1947
Frank Allen - Chief
Frank Allen - Chief
Earle Oleson - Asst. Chief
William Downs "
Earle Oleson - Asst. Chief William Beardsley - Asst. Chief
1948
Same
1950
Same
1952
Charles DeBisschop - Chief
Earle Oleson - Asst. Chief
Merwin Terrill
1954
Same
1956
1957
Earle Oleson - Chief John Duda - Asst. Chief Eugene DuPaul - Asst. Chief
1958
1959
Same
Earle Oleson - Chief Dorrance Perry - Asst. Chief Eugene DuPaul
1960
Earle Oleson - Chief Dorrance Perry - Asst. Chief Joseph Madga
19 49
Earle Oleson - Chief William Beardsley - Asst. Chief Charles DeBisschop
1951
William Beardsley - Chief Earle Oleson - Asst. Chief Charles DeBisschop-Asst. Chief
1953 Same
1955
Charles DeBisschop - Chief Earle Oleson - Asst. Chief John Duda
Same
Honorary membership has been awarded for special services to
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Carl Eckstrom and to Robert Hawkins. These were given the title of Lieutenant. Social membership was given to any townsman who sup- ported the department in an inactive manner.
The early minutes of the Fire Department give interesting side- lights to the Department's growth. For instance, when a motion was made to buy a Fire Bell, the group agreed to buy it, "provided it wasn't stolen property". Another time the Fire Truck couldn't be used because it was snowed in during a storm. Charles Pope, discussing this incident at a meeting assured the Company that the road to the truck "will be kept plowed by the town plow".
Telephone operators were used to spread the news of a fire to the volunteers, next the Round Robin system meant a faster report, with Charles Kirk informing several key men and each of these informing several other active men of the location of the fire. The next advance which the firemen are hoping to be able in the future to use is Plex- tron, a radio alerting system.
The first fire truck, to meet underwriters' specifications was bought in 1946. Three sirens are now in use and increasingly the town votes to accept waterholes in several town locations to add to the needed water supply.
A very necessary help is furnished by the Women's Fire Auxiliary for each Company, in furnishing coffee for the volunteers at fire fight - ing.
The town also now has twelve Fire Policemen appointed by the Selectmen - four for each district. These men enforce all regulations regarding fire protection in public and private buildings and have all the powers of policemen at a fire.
CHAPTER 42
OXFORD LIONS CLUB
In May, 1951, a branch of the International Association of Lions Clubs was formed, in Oxford with Southbury as the sponsoring club. This is a service club which is non-political, non-sectarian. Its mem- bers are invited by invitation only. It is a club devoted to recognizing community needs and developing means of meeting them. At that first meeting Frederick R. Bice, Jr. was elected the club's first President; with Thaddeus Stoddard, first Vice-President; Nicholas Posypanko, Second Vice-President; Edward Dains, Third Vice-President; Franklyn Sanford, Secretary; Nicholas Madorno, Treasurer; Robert Moselle, Tail-Twister; and Evo Gabianelli, Lion Tamer.
It was decided to have meetings on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month. The first membership group consisted of William Fox, Edward Dains, George Flint, Frederick Bice, Franklyn Sanford, and Gerald Boudreau. Their meeting place was one of the inns in Town.
The Southbury Club presented them with a gong and a gavel at an early meeting.
The club consists of several committees such as:
Attendance United Nations
Program
Agriculture Greeter
Entertainment
Civic Improvement Convention Publicity
Community Betterment Lions Information
Health and Welfare
Safety
Membership
Finance
Since the club is primarily concerned with civic service it is inter- esting to note the services already contributed to the Town of Oxford.
Twelve Road Signs cautioning motorists in areas where children play in the streets.
Christmas Gifts to under-privileged children in town.
Improvement of Recreation Field in rear of School.
Instruments for School Band.
One book a month for the Oxford Library
March of Dimes
Aiding Legion in getting an Ambulance, before the Ambulance Asso- ciation was started.
Light a Bike Campaign
Thousand of paper-back covers for Oxford School Books.
Money to Boy and Girl Scouts.
Bases for School Field
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Hospital bed, Invalid's Walker and wheel chair for Residents of Oxford
Cleaning materials for Seymour flood evacuees plus funds to aid flood recovery.
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