Gypsy Heart
Gold Member
Samuel Oxford settled on the west side of the Catawba River opposite Barrett's mountain. Applications for land grants had tobe made to the Govenor and his council at New Beru, 250 miles away;therefore, many of the first settlers did not receive their grants forseveral years after settling . Samuel Oxford's first grant was for 300acres 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 fromJohn 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 cain on a brow of a small ridge that ranfrom 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 a ferry after rains when the water was deeper than usual. This area became known as Oxford's Ford and Oxford Ferry until 1928 when the Duke PowerCompany 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 "hardmoney" 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 incoin or "hard money." It is not known what other sources of incomeSamuel may have had, as commodities bringing cash were few thisdistance 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 inthis case, many people believe that somewhere in the earth of a small ridge on Lake Hickory, North Carolina, is a pot of coin buried thereby Sam Oxford, who died without revealing the hiding place
