Collections
The Oxford Museum preserves collections of art, artifacts, photographs and archives documenting the history and culture of the town and its environs. Below is a slide show that features a selection of items that represent the breadth of our holdings.
1707 Plat Of Oxford
This is perhaps the most significant artifact in the Museum’s collection. It is the earliest known plan of Oxford, drawn by William Turbutt on goatskin and dated 1707.
When the town was laid out in 1683, lots were numbered 1 to 100. Payment for purchase of the lots was made in the currency of the day – tobacco. Each buyer was permitted only one lot and was required to build a house on it at least 20 feet square by the end of August 1685. However, the deadline was extended while buyers waited for nails to be imported from England.
The plat names streets for the first time: “ye High street” in now Morris Street and “ye Cross street” is today’s Market Street. It also shows the earliest known representation of a Chesapeake Bay sloop.
Oyster Clock
This is a unique example of late 19th century folk art. It was created by Aaron Mills in 1890 using various sizes of oyster shells attached to a metal frame surrounding a clock.
Unfortunately, we know nothing about Mr. Mills. Each shell has a portrait of a different lady. We can only speculate who they are and what their relationship might have been with the artist.
Ballet Slippers
This delicate pair of silk and leather ballet slippers has come down through descendants of Oxford’s Tilghman familys. Unfortunately, we do not know which of the many Tilghman daughters wore them.
Pencil Illustration
This drawing is part of a series of 13 illustrations that artist Consuelo Hanks produced for William Warner’s 1976 Pulitzer Prize winning book “Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay.”
Ms. Hanks was born and lived most of her life in Maine, where she created watercolor paintings and pencil drawings as illustrations for the New Yorker Magazine, Wooden Boat magazine and many books. She was a founding member of the American Society of Marine Artists.
Painting of Bringman’s Store
Bringman’s Store is the current site of the Oxford Museum. It was an Oxford institution run by the Bringman family, specifically Myrt and Bill Bringman. During business hours, Bill could always be found in the bay of the right-hand window alongside the cash register. It was a prime spot to know all, and see all, that was happening on Morris Street and in the vicinity.
Local artist Howard Lapp included Bill’s fedora on the floor of the bay window, the wilted plant in the other window, and the reflection of the setting sun to mark Bill’s passing and pay homage to the closing of this business and a family that was held in high regard.
Ship’s Compass
This compass was used for years on the Oxford/Bellevue Ferry, Tred Avon when it was owned by Capt. Bill Benson. You might not think a compass would be necessary for crossing from Oxford to Bellevue and back, but Capt. Bill and the Coast Guard did.
Kuhner Engine
This one-cylinder, six-horsepower gasoline engine with two enormous flywheels was built in Oxford in 1911 by the Kuhner Engine Company. Built for use in a factory or sawmill, this may be the last existing Kuhner engine. The company operated here in Oxford from 1910 to 1924.
Painting of Skipjacks
John B. Moll, Jr. was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1908. He became interested in art while in high school and later studied at the School of Industrial Art in Philadelphia and the Wilmington Academy of Art with N.C. Wyatt.
In 1946 he moved to Oxford and opened a commercial studio where he produced hundreds of works in oil, watercolor, pastel, and pencil that depicted scenes of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia. He was especially skilled at rendering working vessels like these under sail.
Numerous examples of his art are included in the Oxford Museum’s collection as well as the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institute, the University of Delaware, and the Maryland Historical Society.
Anna and Nat Brown
Mr. Nat Brown, a prominent African American resident of Oxford and WWII veteran, owned and operated one of several stores along Tilghman Street. He and his wife Anna lived in the vibrant but segregated Black neighborhood which supported numerous shops, businesses and the town’s first Black school. Most of Oxford’s Black families are now gone, as are their businesses.
Native American Stone Tool
Long before the first Europeans arrived, the peninsula where Oxford is now located provided temperate, fertile woodlands and bountiful local waters for Native families. Algonquian tribes, including the Choptank and Nanticoke people flourished here for generations, until being displaced by English settlers in the 1700s. Stone tools like this one are nearly all that has survived from their time here.
Cardboard Milk Carton
Established in the 1670’s on the Tred Avon River, Otwell was one of Oxford’s first plantations. Generations after growing tobacco and wheat, the family turned to dairy farming and operated a creamery which until the 1950’s. They delivered their products in containers like this to stores and door-to-door to local residents.
Penguin Carving
Behind his grocery story in the center of town, “Uncle Ed” Parsons had a little shop where he carved working decoys – ducks and geese – to sell to hunters. He was one of the first carvers to regularly sell his work. Most carved only for themselves or family and friends. His decoys were in high demand by millionaire sportsmen. At one time, automobile tycoon Walter P. Chrysler purchased 300 of Parson’s decoys. His work, even decorative carvings like this penguin, is still highly valued by collectors.
Mary W. (Molly) Stewart’s Pistol
Molly was one of the first female postmistresses in the U.S. In 1877 she took over the job at the age of 18 when her father retired. Despite several challengers, Molly held this position for an incredible 63 years. She served under 13 Presidents and 24 Postmasters General, and upon her retirement in 1940 was recognized by Eleanor Roosevelt. The small revolver was given to her for self-defense during World War II.
Portrait Brooch
This oval shaped brooch features a likeness of Charles Carroll (1737-1832) of Carrollton. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence for Maryland. We wish that we knew who painted the portrait and for whom. It would have been an elegant piece of jewelry for a lady of the time.
Seal of the Port of Oxford
This was the official lead seal of the Port of Oxford used by the customs official to allow ships to enter the colony of Maryland. The stamp went missing from 1866 until 1949, when it was found in 1949 in a private collection in Kennett Square, PA. When the owner realized its significance, he donated it to the State of Maryland. The stamp is on a permanent loan to the Oxford Museum by the Maryland Historical Society.
Towne Shoppe Paper Bag
Originally built around 1860, the dry goods shop on the corner of Morris Street and Tilghman Street was purchased by Jeremiah Valliant in 1904. His grocery business passed to his daughter, Miss Louise Valliant Willis, who added merchandise of all kinds. Although she named her store the “Towne Shoppe,” locals always referred to it as “Miss Louise’s.” She maintained the business into the 1960s, but the building deteriorated and was eventually torn down. It is a small miracle that a paper bag from that business has survived.
Washatella Tribe Ceremonial Button
The Improved Order of Red Men was established in 1834 to encourage a love of the United States and to promote the “principles of liberty.” Its rituals and regalia are modeled on what White men assumed that Native Americans used. In the early 20th century, the Red Men’s Lodge on Morris Street was a segregated entertainment and social center for the town, with an auditorium that could seat 200 people for silent movies and a dressing room in the basement to accommodate theater productions.