It is Saturday and the time is noon -- hear the wail of the siren atop the Oxford Center Firehouse. It's a good idea to test a warning system. It's nice to know that help can be called when and if there is an emergency. Think back to the year 1798 and how emergencies were handled in those days.
    There were fires and crimes then as there are now, and definitely the townspeople, during the years of the Revolution, were conscious of the dangers inherent in a war situation. What actually would have happened in Oxford Center in the Revolutionary Ere, if British warships were observed approaching the Connecticut shoreline, or worse, if a British regiment was seen marching toward what is now called "the Valley"? How would the people of Oxford been prepared to meet such an emergency?
    That is a very interesting question, and it is difficult for those living in the twentieth century to imagine exactly how such a situation might have been met. There were no sirens for there was no electricity. The only means available for sounding an alarm in those days were a bell, a rider on horse-back or a drum. Today, when the alarm is sounded, groups of dedicated volunteer firemen are available to answer the call. During the colonial period, who would have answered the bell, or the horseman, or the drum?
    Every township worthy of the name had a militia, a group of able bodied men, willing to sacrifice their time and talents to meet the needs of the community. In the center of Oxford, during the Revolution, there was a large green. Oxford Road, as we know it in 1973, did not exist. The old road came north from Seymour, as it does now; but instead of going through the center of Oxford, it ran behind Victory Park and up Riggs Street to Academy Road. It turned a sharp left on Academy Road and ran past the Congregational Church, and then made a large sweeping circle around the center green, to what is now Dutton Road. The road continued up the hill, and through the woods until it crossed Governor's Hill Road, and then continued in a northerly direction until it met what is now called Hogsback Road. (In the old days, we called it Pig's back Road.)
    You may wonder how I know what the old town looked like during the Revolution and during the time of Incorporation. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Chauncey Judd, and I lived during the Revolution, and played an active part in the affairs of Oxford during those days.
    At the age of fifteen years, I began to attend all the training sessions of the militia which were held on the Oxford Center Green. Every Saturday, at noon I heard the sound of the field drum which called all of us to muster. We marched, and we drilled, and we practiced with muskets, pitchforks, and clubs. And as youths filled with the spirit of adventure, we almost looked forward to the day when we might be called upon to defend our little town against a

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