Miami University - Recensio Yearbook (Oxford, OH)

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Miami University-- authorized in the John Cleves Symmes pur- chase act signed by George Washington 1n 1792.

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Sub-Contents Pictorial M iami Faculty Seniors Juniors Underclassmen Two-Year Curricula, Srhaul of Education

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iioxford Townw ALTHOUGH the history of Oxford indirectly goes back to the Ordinance of 1787 and the John Cleves Symmes purchase of 1792, it was in 1803 that the. direct origins of Oxford begin. It was in that year that Jeremiah Morrow, Jacob White, and William Ludlow were appointed commissioners to lo- cate and register lands whereon a state academy might be built. In the summer of 1803 these men rode through the tangled underbrush and woodland which then covered this region, until they came to the cabin of Joel Collins on Bull Run Creek. It was he who pointed out to them the finest of the surrounding land and on the hrst of September, 1803, was laid out Miami College Township, now OX- ford township. In 1810 the state legislature of Ohio passed an act empowering the trustees charged with establish- ing a college on this land, the right to lay off a town on the Miami College lands, and that at this town should be fixed the site of Miami University. The first lots of Oxford were sold in Hamilton in 1810 at approximately $5.00 an acre. The trees which covered the town site were cut down and from them was built the first house. It was own- ed by Samuel McCullogh and stood on the site of the present 9T0 fraternity house. The town grew, but in 1820 there were only iia postoffice, three stores, a tavern, and a few cabins, and the population of the entire township was but 1,658. The name gOXfordii quite obviously connotes the educational kinship of the town. Even dur- ing the years when Miami was closed, Oxford College and Western College lent an academic count- enance to the town. Oxford College was founded in 1830 and Western College in 1850. In the years before the Civil War, Oxford progressed with the increasing prestige of Miami. But previous to 1858, when the railroad came to Oxford amid general celebration, the town was still in a pioneer civilization. Stage coaches were the vehicles of transportation, taverns were still the principal buildings and ilsectionalismii was at its height. Lottie Moon, romantic and mercurial char- acter, was then living in Oxford. It was she who jilted Ambrose Burnsides and many years later dur- ing the war was brought before the then General Burnsides for attempting to pass through the lines. Although she was reputed a Southern spy, General Burnsides sent her through the enemy lines under a flag of truce-but with the reservation that if he caught her again she would be shot. Lottiels sister Jennie was also a southerner and a madcap. One can still see on the window of the building which houses Barkelyis drug store the writing, iiHurrah for Jeff Davisii written there by Jennie with her diamond engagement ring. But the Northerners were e'strong too and it is said that the basement of Schweetingis jewelry store was used as a station in the itUnderground Railway? About 600 men from Oxford were in the Civil War, including 32 Miami men organized under Professor McFarland who became a lieutenant-colonel. Following the war and the closing of Miami, , from 1873-1885 Oxford grew apace. Electric lights were installed in 1889, a water system in 1894, saloons went out in 1904, and the first streets were paved in 1916. Today Oxford, for all its modernity in mechanistic culture, still shows on every side the charm and grace of a town that time has given a fine heritage in a rich past. Page 14