-71-
The
present pastor of the Church, the Rev.
Eugene Johnson, now resides in the Meadowbrook district of
Oxford not
far from the church.
The building which stands on Great Hill was
designed
to be the first of three units of the new church plant, and
was
constructed during the pastorate of Pastor Otto A. Borchert.
Pastor Borchert remained with the parish
for more
than thirty years. When he first came to the parish the
members often
knew little English and services were conducted in German for
the
benefit of elderly persons who did not understand the English
services.
The church observed it's seventy-fifth
anniversary
on October 28 and 29, 1967, while still using the church
building in
Seymour.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * *
*
PUBLICATIONS IN AND ABOUT OXFORD
One
of the most difficult problems in
writing a history of Oxford is the lack of suitably preserved
and
stored documents of the community's early life
Two early publications which detailed the
proceedings of the community were the Oxford Advertiser and
the Seymour
Record.
The Seymour Record is well known to area
residents
interested in the local history of Seymour, Oxford, Beacon
Falls and
other communities of the vicinity. The paper was published by
William
C. Sharpe who founded the paper in 1871. He was the son of an
Oxford
man, Lugrande Sharpe. William was at one time a school teacher
in
Oxford, and throughout his work with the Seymour Record
maintained a
lively interest in the affairs of the local schools.
Sharpe was also interested in local
history, and
wrote a History of Seymour, and the standard work on Seymour
history, Seymour
Past and Present.
He
also published two volumes on Oxford History, History
of Oxford, Part 1, and Oxford
Sketches and Records, Part 2.
These two volumes have been especially
helpful in
the compilation of this book, and the author wishes to thank
Miss
Bernice Hull for the use of the books. Through the cooperation
of Miss
Hull and the Seymour Public Library, plans now are made to
have the
books micro-filmed so that the material may be more generally
available. In addition one volume of the material, xeroxed
from the
original has been provided to the Oxford Public Library for
the
convenience of residents and future historians.
Another publication in the 1800's is the "Oxford
Advertiser," which was published by J. E. Hinman. This
publication was
published twice a week on a single sheet of paper, folded so
as to make
four pages.
It contained advertisements from area
merchants,
principally from Seymour.
The advertiser sold for twenty-five cents a
year.
Hinman was also a book and job printer. His name is spelled
variously
in some of the publications, with it appearing as Hinman, in
an ad on
the following pages.
