An Exact Copy of Rev. Isaac Oxford's History of the "Oxford Family" From Daughters of the American Revolution file. Samuel Oxford who was born in the state of Virginia about 1735, whose ancestors came from Wales, was of English origin and married a Barrett whose first wife was a Jarman and said Oxford married a daughter of the first marriage and had eleven children - eight sons and three daughters, names as follows:Samuel, James, Jonathan, John, Jacob, Abel, William and Isaac. Daughters: Barsheba married Jacob Byler, Elizabeth married James Metcalf, Nancy married A.D. Moody. Said Samuel Oxford Located in Anson County, afterwards Lincoln Co., now Catawba County, at or near Oxford ford on Catawba river, which ford took it's name from the finder or first settler which was in or about 1756 or 1758. The above named eight sons emigrated as follows: Samuel settled in and died in Kentucky. Jonathan's bones lie in Georgia, John's in Ohio, Jacob's in Missouri, Abel's in Arkansas, William and Isaac died in Kentucky unmarried.James, the second son lived and died in Burke Co., now Caldwell County on the waters of upper Little River within 15 miles of where he was born. He twice married, first to Ailsey Roberts by who he had seven children to wit: Samuel, Margaret, James, Barsheba, Nancy, Sarah and William who died about two months after his birth and death of his mother.The other six married as follows: Samuel married a Gilbert, Margaret married W. Payne, James A. (looks like Powell), Barsheba married Joseph McCary, Nancy Married Burton Ried, Sarah married Samuel McCary (Mcrary?). In the fall of 1806, James Oxford took to wife Hannah Barnes, daughter of James Barnes and Sarah Barnes. James Barnes was born in the state of Pennsylvania, was of Irish descent, his father having emigrated from Doublanbutt in County Down, Ireland. His wife's maiden name was Sarah Carter.She also was a native of Pennsylvania of English descent and a Quaker by profession. She died at the residence of James Oxford in the year 1829 at the advanced age of 96. James Barnes at last account was in Indiana was 115 years of age, could walk 5 miles to and from church in the day. James Oxford by his second marriage, had nine children, six boys and three girls. Ailsey the eldest married Eliphlet Crouch and the mother of fifteen children. (At this writing is alive at the age of 83 - 1890.) Adam B. Oxford married Barbara McLeod, 5th of Jan., 1830, had eight children, 5 boys and 3 girls as follows: Hugh A., William, James Harvey, Mary Ann, Hannah Louise, John , Isaac Layfayette and Elizabeth. Barbara, wife of A.B. Oxford, died in the year 1861 and A.B. Oxford took as his second wife, Mary ____? by whom he had eight children, 3 boys and 5 girls. Hugh A. fell as a soldier in the late war at Chanslorville. W.W. Oxford at a hospital in Kentucky, a Confederate soldier. J.H. went through the war and is still living in Texas.Mary Ann married William Robinson and is living in Texas. Hannah Louise married Adam Sherril and died in 1885. John married Anney Land and is living in Taylorsville. A.B. Oxford's two eldest children by his second marriage, married as follows: Lilly married Jefferson Teague, Sarah Eter married Thomas Lind. The balance single. Isaac Oxford married Letty Harrington and had four children as follows: William C., who married Marthy Ann Ried and had thirteen children, James Oxford married a Martha Loudermilk and had seven children, four died in infancy and three growed up to man and womanhood. Rebecca Mariah married Jacob McCall, Sion Harrington Oxford married Elizabeth Ried and had nine children, two died in Missouri by chills and fever, the other seven living. Mary Oxford married John Sherill and had eight children, three boys and five girls, all lived to have family's. Jacob Oxford married Abigail Day, had two children, left this country and went to the state of Georgia. Elisha Chambers Oxford married Evalina Bradburn and had four children by his first marriage, one only living at this writing: married a second time, last wife Sarah Blair by whom he had three children and died 25th day of Feb., 1890, being 75 years, 1 month and 25 days old. John Oxford married Mira Freeman by whom he had several children. She died in Illinois and he married Susan Hodge by whom he had children. He died in Illinois. Close to his 70th year, with congestive chills. William Dodson Oxford married Harriet Shell by whom he had eleven children, three sons and eight daughters. Synthia married Calvin Porch, Selana married J.J. Porch. James L. married Sydney Small. Mary E. married J.J. Mcrary, Amandy Roxan Married ____?, Nancy ____? married Tipton Talbert, Hannah married W.S. Teague and had six children. James Terril and ____?.James married a Watts. Terral married a Wills and Iverson married a Matheson.Elizabeth married J.B. Pool. Ellen married first Henry ____? second marriage Phillip Tuttle ____? married Boole Sherill. This was written by Rev. Isaac Oxford in the year 1890 proof read by ____ Ball and James H. Oxford, Oct. 30, 1930. James A. Oxford OXFORD The Oxfords immigrated to Virginia from Wales but came originally from central England. Samuel Oxford was born in Virginia about 1735. His mother was a Browne. He moved to North Carolina about 1755 and settled in what then was Rowan Co., later Burke, then Lincoln, now Catawba Co. The first settler to cross the Catawba River and settle on the west side was Adam Sherill in 1747.By 1752 there were not more than a dozen families living west of the Catawba River in this whole region of North Carolina. In 1752, Bishop Spangenberg of the Moravian Church, which had purchased 100,000 acres of land from Lord Granville in North Carolina, with a party of surveyors passed up the Catawba River from Adam Sherill, some 30 or more miles, seeking a body of land chiefly in one track.Bishop Spangenberg reported there was a Jonathan Barrett who lived like an Indian with no neighbors within many miles. This Jonathan Barrett lived on the east side of the Catawba River at the foot of a spur of a small mountain still known as Barrett's mountain. Local legend is that he was married to Jarmin, daughter to King Haigler, one of the last great chiefs of the Catawba Indian Nation. Samuel Oxford settled on the west side of the Catawba River opposite Barrett's mountain. Applications for land grants had to be made to the Governor and his council at New Beru, 250 miles away; therefore, many of the first settlers did not receive their grants for several years after settling. Samuel Oxford's first grant was for 300 acres on the south (or west) side of the Catawba River, and he purchased a large tract on the north (or east) side of the river from John Perviance, adjoining the lands of Jonathan Barrett. His grant was #602, dated 11 Oct 1783. Samuel began courting Jonathan Barrett's daughter, Barsheba, and would take a long pole with him when he crossed the river so that in case a heavy rain came while he was gone and the water level would rise, he could pole vault from rock to rock back across the river. Samuel married Barsheba and they reared a large family. Samuel raised his cabin on a brow of a small ridge that ran from a higher hill down to the river.At this place he found a place where horses could cross the river when the depth of the water was normal, and later built a rough skow or flatboat that he used as a ferry after rains when the water was deeper than usual. This area became know as Oxford's Ford and Oxford Ferry until 1928 when the Duke Power Company built the Oxford Dam and a hydroelectric power plant creating Lake Hickory, or as some call it, Lake Oxford. For more than half a century Samuel operated his ferry on the Catawba River which became a heavily traveled route to the west. At that period of history "hard money" was hard to come by and much sought after.The Justices comprising the County Court fixed the rates that a ferryman could charge, from two pence for a man or single animal to one shilling for wagon and team. These fees, while small, were almost always paid in coin or "hard money". It is not known what other sources of income Samuel may have had, as commodities bringing cash were few this distance from the coast, about all being: hides of game, feathers, tallow, and beeswax. Anyway, Samuel Oxford accumulated a considerable amount of hard money, and the old people who lived in his neighborhood said he buried a peck of gold and silver coins on the place near his home. These people related the story to their children as a fact and it was handed down through the families, whose descendents still live in that community. As a result of buried coin story, treasure seekers have dug dozens of holes over the hill sides about the ruins of his cabin. Samuel was buried a short distance from his cabin on the brow of a hill overlooking the lordly rolling Catawba River, now Lake Hickory. Vandals dug into his grave, hoping to find the buried money and didn't replace the thrown out earth. Whatever may be the facts in this case, many people believe that somewhere in the earth of a small ridge on Lake Hickory, North Carolina, is a pot of coin buried there by Sam Oxford, who died without revealing the hiding place. Another local tradition is that a man passed over the road in the night and without waking Oxford, took the ferry boat to the opposite side of the river. The water was only a little higher than normal, but in the late part of the night a heavy rain fell raising the water level to at least three feet higher than when it could be forded. A traveler came along waiting to cross the river, but the boat was on the other side so Samuel just mounted a horse, went up the river a hundred yards and swam the animal across and brought the ferry back across the river. This was certainly service to the traveling man, and is said to have been a trait of Samuel oxford .... when he offered service, he gave it regardless of the trouble and cost. Colonial records reflect that Samuel Oxford provided food for the families of the Catawba Indians that fought for the English in the French and Indian War.During the American Revolution, it was reported that at one time he had to flee with his family to his old home in Virginia to escape the British and Tories. Samuel died about 1811, leaving a will in which proceeds from the sale of his goods, chattels lands and tenements were to be distributed among his children. Apparently his wife, Barsheba (Bathsheba) died earlier as she was not named in his will. Samuel Oxford, Jr. was a Revolutionary Soldier from North Carolina. The DAR Patriot Index lists him as "Oxford, Samuel, M. Bathsheba Barrett, Soldier, North Carolina." On June 109, 1781, Samuel Oxford was granted $13.15 by David Vance, Commissioner for Revolutionary War Service. Family tradition has it that Samuel Oxford, Jr. is buried on the South bank of the Catawba River at Oxford Dam. This is the site of Samuel's property*. There is an old graveyard at Oxford's Ford about three miles from the Catawba River on the Alexander County side of the river.This is probably Samuel's resting place, however there is no marker so it cannot be determined with any certainty. The published summary of the Lincoln Co. NC Deed Book 25 lists for the April 1811 session: "823. Feb. 14, 1810 Samuel Oxford (Lincoln Co.) to Molly Fox (same); for 50 [pounds] sold a black horse, all his stock of horned cattle, all his household furniture and dresser furniture in pewter, iron pots, all the furniture belonging to the dresser, all his beds and bedsteads and furniture, all his plantation tools, all Indian corn on the place, and all rent of his plantation for 4 years; Samuel gets to enjoy the property during his natural life and Molly gets it when Samuel dies. [Signed] Samuel Oxford's mark "S"; witness Jacob Aurent jurat and Peter Little. Recorded Apr 1811. Book 25, page 46." The published summary of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of Lincoln County, NC, 1809-1812, by Anne Williams McAllister and Kathy Gunter Sullivan - in the Lincoln County Public Library, Lincolnton, NC - lists the following combined item for the April 1811 session of the court: "Bill of Sale Samuel Oxford to Molly Fox dated 1810 February 14 proven by Jacob Aurent (for all Oxford's worldly goods which she is to receive at his death). Last Will & Testament of Samuel Oxford proved in Open court by oaths of Peter Little Jr. & Peter Little Sr., admitted to record & Peter Little Sr. qualified as Executor." The census records show that Bathsheba and most of the Samuel Oxford family had moved to Buncombe County NC before Samuel's death. Samuel apparently stayed behind on his plantation on the Catawba River. I wonder if Molly Fox is his daughter and that she stayed behind to care for him and in return inherited the homeplace? Because Molly is provided for in the Deed, she would not need to be listed in the Will.