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News Feature

Sedgwick
Originally published in The Weekly Packet, August 2, 2012
Much to see and do when touring in Sedgwick

Touring through time in Sedgwick

Inside the 1837 First Baptist Church, a display of wooden collection boxes and memorabilia on a table, with stained glass window in memory of Rev. Daniel Merrill in the background.

Photo by Bette Britt

Evelyn Billings, a Missouri resident and “a Billings by marriage,” seeks information about burial sites of her ancestral in-laws at Old Settlers Cemetery in Sedgwick from Touring Through Time guide Diana Wood, on right.

Photo by Bette Britt

by Bette Britt

Those drawn to the area last weekend by the lure of being able to “tour through time” could have spent a lot of it in Sedwick, because the Sedgwick- Brooklin Historical Society had much to offer, starting with a gathering /hymn sing at the First Baptist Church on Friday evening, July 27, and lasting through Sunday, July 29, when a scavenger hunt was scheduled at Rural Cemetery, had the weather cooperated. The historians had planned special events that focused on “All Things Funeral-Before, During & After.”

At the Settlers Rest Cemetery on Saturday, July 28, Sylvia Wardwell not only spoke about the town’s earliest settlers buried there but also was able to point out gravesites of other members of a family tree. The same knowledge and enthusiasm was displayed when “tourists” visited the town’s historic district to see its hearse house, with both a 19th century winter hearse with runners and a coach with wheels; the Rev. Daniel Merrill house, home of the town’s first minister, holds many cemetery records, articles of clothing, photos and artifacts that provide ideas of life long before the advent of autos.

For those still feeling historical, a return to the First Baptist Church on Sunday evening, July 29, provided closure. At that time, more hymns were sung and Fred Marston spoke about the “First Church-Sedgwick 1794 to the Present.” The Greek revival structure is a 2011 acquisition by the Sedgwick-Brooklin Historical Society; it was open throughout the “Touring Through Time” weekend so those in attendance could admire its stained glass windows, classic pews and woodwork.

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