Wright City Cemetery Walk, 'Voices of the Past' is Sept. 26

Posted 9/24/21

When Dr. Henry Wright decided in 1857 to establish a town in Warren County and name it after himself, he turned to a 30-year-old surveyor from Pennsylvania to survey and draw the plat.

John …

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Wright City Cemetery Walk, 'Voices of the Past' is Sept. 26

Posted

When Dr. Henry Wright decided in 1857 to establish a town in Warren County and name it after himself, he turned to a 30-year-old surveyor from Pennsylvania to survey and draw the plat.

John Vincent Hayes laid out 15 blocks north of the railroad tracks and on June 6 the first lots in the town of Wright City were sold at a public sale for an average of $62 per lot.
Mr. Hayes spent the remainder of his life in this new town and went on to become an attorney, merchant and community leader.

His story and that of his wife Ann Taylor Hayes will be among those told during the Wright City Cemetery Walk this Sunday, Sept. 26.

The public is invited to join the Wright City Cemetery Memorial Society for the Voices of the Past program at 2 p.m. Volunteers dressed in period costume will portray individuals who once lived in the community and are buried in the city cemetery.

Proceeds from the $10 admission will be used to purchase a memorial marker for Mr. and Mrs. Hayes. They and two of their children are buried under the shade of a large white oak tree in unmarked graves, and it is the desire of the Society to erect a marker for the man who played a crucial role in the establishment and early years of Wright City.

Other individuals whose stories will be told include:

Dr. A.S. Loving — a surgeon for the Confederate Army who left his native Virginia following the Civil War, settled in Wright City, established a medical practice and became a civic leader;

Elvira Bryan — the wife of the town’s blacksmith whose family business was burned when members of the Warrenton home guard attacked those they believed were Southern sympathizers in Wright City;

Eugenia Blattner —the daughter of a prominent store owner and correspondent for the Warrenton Banner who will share some of the news of the day from 1924;

Charles Schroeder — a German immigrant farmer on Big Creek, mill owner and Civil War veteran; and

Johanna Heidtmann — the wife of a businessman, banker and community leader at the turn of the 19th century and a civic leader herself.

Visitors will also hear the story of a young boy who succumbed to typhoid fever and of the family buried on an undeveloped hillside of the cemetery.

Following the program, cookies and old-fashioned bottled sodas will be served under the shade of the cemetery’s oak trees.
Handicapped parking is available in the cemetery. All others are asked to park in the neighboring church parking lot. Persons are also welcome to bring a lawn chair.

In case of rain the program will be presented inside the sanctuary of Immanuel United Church of Christ at the corner of Elm and the North Outer Road where social distancing can be safely practiced.


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