↑Describing Oxford (Oxford-on-the-Thames) township in a book written in 1812, author Michael Smith, a Methodist missionary, summed it up: "This township lies west of Blenheim and Burford, is rich, well watered, thickly timbered, settled and well improved by industrious people, from the states of New York and Vermont. The people in this town are famous for making butter and cheese." Geographical View of the Province of Upper Canada (New York, 1813)