March is Women's History Month. This month we will feature 100 photos of Oxford's women through history. 

Today's first photograph, from the old familyphoto album of John Downs shows two women, who appear to be dressed for a special occasion. Like so many old family photos, the women are unidentified. It serves as a reminder that we should identify people and places in our family photos. The styles of the necklines and the large, ornamented hats were popular in the 1890's.

The second photo, also from John Downs' photo album, shows a pair of unidentified young girls, dressed in gypsy-style clothing,standing beside the Housatonic River.It was probably taken sometime around the 1890's.

Today's third photo is of Elizabeth Rowland standing on the side lawn at the Twitchell-Rowland house on Christian Street. Note the corn crib
in the background. Today the house is at 60 Towner Lane and serves as the headquarters of the Oxford Historical Society.

Our last photo today is of a painting of Lorena Bacon, daughter of wealthy Woodbury merchant, Jabez Bacon. She was born Dec. 29, 1766 and in 1822 she married David Tomlinson, Esquire. Tomlinson was a merchant who because quite prosperous, owning about 1,500 acres of land. His produce was so large he fitted vessels to ship his goods to New York and to the south. Lorena's fine taste and the couple's commitment to the Quaker Farms area was instrumental in the building of Christ Church, Quaker Farms. She died in 1837. The couple is buried in Brookside Cemetery, Quaker Farms.

Coming at the end of this month, Oxford's MOST HISTORIC WOMAN. Can you guess who that might be?

To see all of the Oxford's Historic Women videos posted to date, see the Society webpage:  http://www.oxford-historical-society.org/March/woman-history.html.  If you enjoy these videos, please "LIKE" the Oxford Historical Society @oxfordhistorical