Taken from old clippings dealing with Kentucky family history, newspaper unknown. These clippings are about 100 years old (1997). Reprinted in Kentucky Explorer, Volume 11, Number 9 - March, 1997. p. 81. Johnson County. Samuel Oxer or Auxier. In glancing over your generous column a few days since, my attention was attracted by a list of old soldiers who fought in the War of Independence. I found there a familiar name, that of Samuel Oxer, or Auxier (as it is more commonly spelled today). Knowing the traditions of his valiant service, it is an easy matter to believe that the same soldier who added his mite to help repulse the British also aided in wresting from the dominion of the red face and his powerful ally, the ferocious beasts of the jungle, this valuable territory of Eastern Kentucky. In Johnson County, lying on the right bank of the Big Sandy, and extending about two miles along that stream, lies "Block House Bottom." The Cumberland Hills may be seen in every direction. Its name is derived from the block of houses which formed the old fort, and in which the brave and sturdy pioneers and their families took refuge during the invasions of the Shawnee. More than one hundred years have passed; nothing is left of the old block houses. The forest still stands on the hills, but has long since disappeared from the valley. One sturdy old oak remains a central figure. Beneath this tree is a lonely grave, where one of the "rude forefathers of the hamlet sleeps." Here, in 1792, more than a century ago, Samuel Auxier, the pioneer of the forest, the soldier of the Revolution, was laid to rest near his own log cabin in the wilderness. The oak will soon be gone. Who will mark his grave? Oxer Auxier = none http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/johnson/oxer.s.txt