Letter From Old Settler Ed Myers I came here with my parents in the spring of 1860 from a little pinery about 7 miles west of Plainfield. There were no railroads at that time but Oxford was a thriving little village and the metropolis of this section. The grist mill owned by a Mr. Ormsby was the only one for a distance of many miles and brought patronage from places as far distant as fifty miles. It occupied the present mill site and all the grinding was done on stone. It ran continually, day and night. Mr. Ormsby later ran a distillery in connection with this business. I passed through here in the fall of '56 and they were erecting the building now occupied by the printing office. I don't recollect what business occupied this building at first but later it was converted into a schoolhouse and I attended school there about the year 1862. My father and I later ocnducted a general merchandise store there and continued until the year 1905. My first school days were spent in what is now part of the livery stable but was then a schoolhouse located on property now owned by Z. Grant. E. L. Jaeger, the leading merchant at that time, conducted a general store on the corner where the Wohlfert hardware now stands. He enjoyed excellent trade but moved to Portage when the Milwaukee and St. Paul (rail)road entered that place. In fact it was this event that killed Oxford at that time as many of our people located there. --Sincerely, Ed Myers
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