Oxford
Oxford was “laid out” in 1857 by Christopher Columbus Catron and was located in the Oxford Township along the Santa Fe in Missouri. Oxford is notorious for what has become known as the “Oxford Frauds”. In 1857 voter fraud was committed during an Oxford election. Although the town only had about 42 to 43 legal voters, over 1628 votes had been placed during the election. Oxford was sympathetic
to the Southern cause during the Civil War. During the war the entire settlement either joined the Confederate army or moved south
into Texas. The buildings left behind by this migration during the war were eventually moved into by Union soldiers. The town buildings were, for the most part, destroyed by the soldiers by the end of the war.
Sources:
Andreas, A. T. History of the State of Kansas. Chicago: A. T. Andreas, 1883. p. 644.
Blair, Ed. History of Johnson County, Kansas. Lawrence, KS: Standard Publishing Co., 1915. p. 181-184.
