Farm Horizons
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Feb. 8, 2016
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Page 24
Old Adventist cemetery a glimpse
into little-known Dassel history
By Brad Salmen
On a small, wooded hill in the middle of a corn field, just
south of US Highway 12 about two miles west of Dassel,
sits a small cemetery that contains a bit of little-known
Dassel history, along with a glimpse into a long-ago era.
The cemetery is known both as the Milton Clay Cemetery and the Seventh Day Adventist Cemetery.
The first name is an homage to the original landowner.
The second is from the Seventh Day Adventist Church –
an organization that lasted only a decade in the late 1800s
in Dassel.
Jeanette Servin, researcher at the Dassel Area Historical Society, said that according to historical newspaper
records, Seventh Day Adventist services were held from
1888 to 1898.
According to a plat map, the SDA church was located at
6th St. and Simon Avenue in Dassel.
Servin noted that in Oscar Linquist’s book, “Those
Were the Days,” the SDA built a church in 1887, but upon
removal of some of the leading members to California,
services were discontinued and the church was turned into
a residence.
A look into the local newspaper archives, provided by
Servin, gives a glance into the SDA church at the time.
From the Litchfield Saturday Review, Feb. 11, 1893
(Dassel News): “Meetings will be held in the Adventist
church all next week. Eld. T. B. Johnson of Huthinson [sic]
will conduct the meetings.”
From the Litchfield Saturday Review, June 2, 1894:
“Memorial service was held at the Adventist church last
Sunday. The memorial sermon, which was highly enjoyed
by all; was preached by Wm. Bricky of Kingston.”
Perhaps the most interesting tidbit comes from a piece
printed in the Dassel Anchor on Jan. 23, 1896.
“The Adventist church seating capacity was taxed to
its utmost Sunday evening by the large congregation that
gathered to listen to Rev. Philps talk on the ‘Eastern Question.’ Prehaps [sic] a great many went expecting to hear
more of the political side of the question, but Mr. Phelps
took a different phase of the subject and devoted his time
to following or pointing out the different prophecies made
in the Bible that had been fulfilled in the recent events connected with the Armenians and the Turkish Empire. He
also dwelt a short time on the reasons why England did not
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