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The Signature Quilt
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The Seger family’s square

A Gift from the Parishoners

This signature quilt is believed to have been made for the Rev. Benjamin Mead Wright, upon his 1896 retirement as pastor of the Kent Congregational Church. The quilt was handed down in his family, where it remained until 2012, when Kent Historical Society board members Dick and Charlotte Lindsey met his grandson, Stanley Wright, in Norwalk.

Mr Wright felt strongly that the quilt should be returned to Kent. The Lindseys agreed to arrange the transfer. It went on display at the Congregational Church in the fall of 2013, and now will be displayed as often as possible by the Kent Historical Society at Seven Hearths.

Square #26 of the quilt is embroidered with the names of may of Frank Seger’s family, including his mother-in-law Desdemona Root Sterry. The signatures are identified by Margaret Smith of the Kent Historical Society:

In January 2014 the KHS used this quilt and others in its collection as a theme for its “Sunday Series” presentation with quilt historian and author Sue Reich. A good number of Seger descendants managed to find their way to this event.

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Descendants of George Louis Seger at a Kent Historical Society event, winter 2014.
Standing, left to right: Jann Carmody Tanner, Stanley Jennings, Sarah Eisenmann Seger, Susan Grisell,
Margery Jennings, Timmy Williams.
Seated:Marjorie Burr Carmody, Marilyn Burr Ober and Ellen Ravens-Seger.