Oxford Historical Society, a 501 (c) 3 charitable organization
Twitchell Rowland Homestead Museum
P.O. Box 582, 60 Towner Lane, Oxford, CT 06478
LIFE AND TIMES OF JAMES “PROFESSOR JIM” WILLIAMS: An African American Story from Connecticut
Kevin Johnson appears as James Professor Jim Williams from 2-3 pm on Saturday, November 15 at the Great Hill United Methodist Church Hall, 225 Great Hill Road in Seymour.
Professor Jim worked as a janitor at Trinity College for 50 years, where he became a beloved, respected figure among students. Kevin Johnson’s presentation of Professor Jim from an emotional and exciting first-person perspective vividly illustrates the journey of this African American in the early 1800’s, from his early life in New York, to his escape from enslavement and adventure on the high seas, his battle in the War of 1812, and then his final years at Trinity College.
Kevin Johnson is a longtime member of the State Library’s History and Genealogy staff where he assists researchers in connecting with archival resources. He has transformed his passion for African American history into vividly presenting the stories of historical characters such as Jordan Freeman of the American Revolution and Private William Webb of the 29th (colored) Connecticut Volunteer Infantry Regiment of the Civil War.
Johnson has been presenting for more than 25 years and has given over 600 presentations across Connecticut and beyond. The cost of admission will be 15. A question-and-answer period will follow Johnson’s performance and refreshments will be served. Those seeking more information may call Nancy Farnum at 203 888-0230.
On November 15 at 2 pm the Oxford Historical Society’s Annual Meeting will be held just before Kevin Johnson’s dramatic re-enactment of Meet ‘Professor Jim.’ This meeting will be brief and is open to the public.
The Tale of Munn School Continues with Giving Tuesday
Recently Oxford Historical Society Robert Buck met with Oxford Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ralph Marino Jr. and Curriculum Director Eric Williams to discuss how Mr. Munn’s School at the Historical Society site at 60 Towner Lane could be used for a special program for third graders. Discussions with teachers will follow.
For the past seven years, the Society has envisioned “A Day in 1850” for Oxford children, similar to the Bullet Hill School program in Southbury. This is becoming possible with the final building approvals for Mr. Munn’s schoolhouse. Because the Society’s colonial Twitchell-Rowland Homestead is at the same site, the program could include both buildings. This effort has been supported by members, friends, the Valley Community Foundation, and the Town of Oxford.
Members of the Society first visited the schoolhouse, which then stood at 999 Oxford Road, on September 27, 2018. Owners Mr. and Mrs. Dan Sears were willing to donate the historic building if the Society could move it to the Towner Lane site. The following month the Society voted to accept their offer. After more than a year of fund-raising, grant-seeking and Town of Oxford support, the exciting move was made on November 13, 2019.
With moving day done, now the Society expected to pay for repairs and restoration with fund-raising and volunteer workers. However, the Covid 19 pandemic made those plans impossible. Fortunately, the Valley Community Foundation provided the necessary funds to stabilize the schoolhouse in its new location. A new roof was installed to keep the building safe and dry but initially pandemic shutdowns made supplies and materials hard to find.
Over time the Society was able to complete restoration and preservation. Weakened beams were replaced. Stairs, ramps, and electricity were installed. The basement refinishing continues.
With so much accomplished, our next steps will enable sharing our unique heritage with Oxford residents, young and old, and other visitors to the Society campus by preparing a history that combines Oxford schools and life in the 1850’s with the history of the Twitchell-Rowland Homestead.
Your continued donations provide support for this project as we participate in the annual Giving Tuesday on December 2nd, through the following methods:
- Online gift through our website https://www.oxford-historical-society.org
- Online gift through our Facebook page @oxfordhistorical or
- Checks mailed to the Oxford Historical Society P.O. Box 582, Oxford, CT 06478
We appreciate gifts of any amount. Community support preserves our history and prepares for the future.
Preparing for America 250 with Revolutionary Service Records
Help us make more history as the Oxford Historical Society launches its America/250 Project documenting the lives and records of Oxford’s veterans of the American Revolution for preservation in multiple formats.
Over a dozen local volunteers of all ages are already working to research period records and locate veterans’ headstones in local cemeteries. More people will be needed to record the information found: photographers, readers and writers, video/sound recorders and tombstone cleaners and more.
America/250 may offer volunteers options for fulfilling community service, Eagle or Gold Scout, or Capstone project requirements. History buffs are especially welcome. Membership in the Oxford Historical Society is not required. Interested persons may email Dorothy DeBisschop at oxfordhistorian@aol.com.
IN MEMORIAM ATTORNEY JOHN W. FERTIG, JR.
John W. Fertig , Jr., formerly of Oxford, passed away suddenly on September 11 in New Jersey. John did the legal paperwork that incorporated the Oxford Historical Society in 1975 and served as co-chairman of the committee that wrote the publication Early Houses of Oxford in 1976. He was an ardent proponent of historic preservation and dearly loved his early home at 154 Bower’s Hill Road that he shared with his wife, Jane, and two children, Salinda and Grayson. John is also survived by his daughter-in-law, Jessica, and five grandchildren in Colorado.
John received his education from Ursinus College and the University of Tennessee, and for many years was an attorney and a Connecticut Probate Judge. An avid gardener, biker, runner, classic car lover aficionado, and hockey fan, he believed in doing his best to the very end. Above all else, he loved his family.
A celebration of John’s life will be held later in Manasquan, NJ. The Fertig family has requested that donations in John’s memory be made to the Oxford Historical Society.
Joining the Oxford Historical Society
OHS membership forms can be downloaded at the OHS website. Mail forms and checks to OHS, PO Box 582, Oxford, CT 06478. Individual memberships are 115, Seniors and Junior Associates (under 18) 110, Families 125 and Business Supporters (1200).
Member dollars help with society expenses and activities, and the numbers of members are used by grant givers as an indication of involvement with the community. Also listed are opportunities for volunteering. Be sure to check those that appeal to you. Being a member really counts for us!
Oxford Heritage Recipe
JENN MILES
If you have indulged in a peach shortcake at the Oxford Historical Society, you have already sampled Jenn Miles cooking. For many years she has made our shortcake, rich, crumbling under your spoon, soaking up the fruit juices and ice cream with just hinting at a secret ingredient. Last year Jenn baked 175 shortcakes for the event.
Jenn has always lived in Oxford. She, her parents, Donna and Rocky, and brother Kevin started as a family on Route 188 in Quaker Farms, but when Jenn was 10, her grandfather became ill and the family moved in with him on Route 67 to care for him.
Jenn’s grandmother, Kate “Nana” Bice, lived just across the road on Bice Drive and it was she who taught Jenn to bake bread and desserts. Kate was a cook of the “a handful of this” school, and Jenn struggled to find out exactly how much that would be as she tried to duplicate her grandmother’s Rice Pudding cooked in a double boiler.
The family had a garden and canned tomatoes and Bread and Butter Pickles every summer. There were chickens and goats as well, so there were goat milk and fresh eggs to use. As she grew older, Jenn lost interest in this part of family life, but now she once again loves growing her own vegetables and canning. Her specialties are relishes with lots of fiery ingredients, not a family tradition!
With extended family nearby, the generations of Miles, Budris, Blood and Bices got together all year round for picnics, although they were always held at the house on Bice Drive with its swimming pool. Everyone offered their specialties. Jenn’s mom, Donna, was famous for her Macaroni and Cheese. Aunt Lorraine Blood made Sweet and Sour Baked Beans, and Kate Bice finished the feast with her Blueberry Buckle.
As Jenn grew older, she combined her love of people and cooking, working in restaurants and as a bartender. Her family are 7th generation members of St. Peter’s Church, so she could often be found in the kitchen volunteering when there was a Chicken Barbeque or a Smorgasbord planned, learning from the ladies of the church as they shaped Swedish meatballs. Finally, her mom suggested several years ago,”Why don’t you make some biscuits for the Historical Society Peach Festival?” A culinary hit and tradition were launched and have continued ever since.
Now as the days are getting shorter and colder, Jenn is beginning her winter project. Each week she makes and delivers a different homemade soup to older people who don’t get out often. Two favorites are Baked Potato Soup and Butternut Squash Bisque.
There’s even rhubarb in the freezer from Kate Bice’s plant on Route 67 for a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. When Jenn’s family moved from Route 67 to Wyant Road, Jenn’s brother Kevin dug up his grandmother’s pie plant and relocated it at their new home. It’s thriving and still feeding Kate Bice’s descendants a hundred years later.
NANA BICE’S BLUEBERRY BUCKLE
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Mix until light and fluffy:
- 1⁄4 cup shortening
- 3⁄4 cup sugar
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Add and combine until smooth:
- 1 egg
- 1⁄2 cup milk
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Add:
- 2 cups of flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1⁄2 tsp. salt.
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Mix well.
- Fold in: 2 cups of blueberries.
- Place in a greased 9 x 11 baking dish.
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For Topping:
- 1⁄2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1⁄4 cup butter cut into pea-sized pieces
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- Mix and sprinkle evenly over the top of the blueberry cake mixture.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.
THE AUNTS’ BAKED BEANS (RECIPE FROM LORRAINE BLOOD)
- 8 slices bacon
- 4 large yellow onions, sliced
- 3⁄4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp. dry mustard
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1⁄2 cup vinegar
- 2 cans yellow butter beans, drained
- 1 can green lima beans, drained
- 1 can kidney beans, drained
- 1 large can baked beans
Fry bacon until crispy. Remove from the pan and set aside. Cook onion slices in bacon grease until soft. In a large baking dish mix brown sugar, dry mustard, salt, garlic powder and vinegar. Stir in the cooked onions. Add yellow butter beans, green lima beans, kidney beans, and baked beans and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle with crumbled bacon. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
The Oxford Historical Society wishes to thank Jenn Miles for sharing her family’s history and recipes.
On Display: Light in the Winter Nights
Recalling the cold and dark that the early families living in the Twitchell Rowland house endured, a special display is on offer that features 17 th and 18 th century lighting devices that would have brightened their evenings and allowed them to continue their day’s work. The items are from the collection of society President Rob Buck.
Open House: Nov. 2 and 16, 2-4 pm.
Each month on the first and third Sunday the Twitchell-Rowland Homestead is open to the public. Docents chat about the history of the house and the items found inside as well as other topics of interest to the community. Admission is free, all ages welcome.
Books produced by the Society are available for purchase as well as unique notecard sets created using local art and photographs. Proceeds benefit the society’s events and activities plus maintenance of the buildings and grounds.
Join the Effort to Preserve Oxford’s Historic Rural Heritage
- Follow us on Facebook: @oxfordhistoricalsociety.
- Like our Facebook page to let foundations know the Society has your support.
- Join the Historical Society. Download a membership form here
- Visit the Twitchell-Rowland Homestead and learn more about our activities.
- Sign up for special tours & programs.
Holiday Events Coming Up
December 7 & 21: Open Houses
Holiday Open Houses (2-4 pm) featuring natural decorations by the Oxford Garden Club, displays and free docent led tours.
January 4, 2026: Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night at the Homestead, from 2-4 pm. Share cider and treats in celebration of the New Year. Docent led tours and a last look at the seasonal decorations are featured. Of special interest will be demonstrations by local weavers on the museum’s c1790 loom. The event is free and open to all ages.
Annual Vintage Tractor Meet
On Sunday, October 5th the Twitchell-Rowland Homestead hosted over 85 people and showcased a dozen classic farm vehicles some of them fresh off the harvest fields of Oxford for the afternoon. Thank you for your support.
CORRECTION: September-October Issue of Making History Everyday.
Sharp-eyed member Cindy Joy spotted two mistakes in last issue’s article about the Oxford Historical Society’s celebration of its 50th Anniversary in 2025 all the way from Massachusetts. The Twitchell-Rowland Homestead was moved from its original site on Christian Street to its new home on Towner Lane on September 28, 2006. The Munn Schoolhouse was moved from its previous location on Oxford Road to the 60 Towner Lane campus in 2019.
Our staff regrets the errors and is grateful for such thorough readers.
Oxford Historical Society Presents: “Meet Professor Jim”
- Early years in New York
- Escape from enslavement
- Years of adventures at high seas
- Battle in War of 1812
- Trinity College janitor
- 50 year career
- Beloved and respected by students for decades
James Williams: Life and Times of “Professor Jim”
An exciting and emotional first person perspective in dramatic interpretation by Kevin Johnson
Great Hill United Methodist Church
225 Great Hill Road
Seymour CT
Saturday November 15, 2-3 PM
Admission 15
Refreshments
