Victorian Halloween, Walker Tavern, Cambridge Junction, Michigan

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Walker Tavern, which I have written about before, is packed full of history and they run great programs during the spring, summer and fall.  Man and I have taken the twins, L & M, there on several occasions, they have attended a Victorian Tea, a Pioneer Cooking Day, and several other activities.  The staff does an outstanding job, teaching, hands on, real life stuff.  Reasonably priced, this is a gramma and grampa saver and education all rolled into one.  Win-Win.

Over the weekend, Man and I took the girls to the Victorian Halloween celebration at Walker, rain threatened, but never damped, the temps were quite moderate and we had a great day, visiting each and every single display and partaking of all.

We made decorated bags for our candy, we painted pumpkins, made dolls from corn husks, tried to catch an apple dangling from a rope (no using of one's hands allowed), had our fortunes told, had popcorn that was popped over an open fire, colored and cut out these really curly snakes and listened to some scary stories.  See:

The way I remember the symbols: 
Water = travel; flower = good luck;
ring = marriage; cross = service as nun or priest;
penny = fortune.

Is this story lore or lies??

Man's snake has "different" eyes, eh??

Trick er Treat ?

Happy Halloween!

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Lenawee History, Sylvester and Lucy Walker, Cambridge, Michigan

Sylvester and Lucy Walker

Sylvester's headstone, Cambridge Junction Cemetery, Cambridge, Lenawee County, Michigan.

Closeup of the inscription


Wife, Lucy's, Headstone, Cambridge Junction Cemetery, Cambridge, Lenawee County, Michigan.

Sylvester arrived in Cambridge around 1838. He opened the Walker Tavern to serve travelers that were traversing the road from Detroit to Chicago, known as the Sauk Trail or US 12. This route is now also known as the Sauk Heritage Trail, a U.S. Heritage Trail. It was originally a military road surveyed and laid out by the United States government in 1825. This is the original Walker Tavern.



This site is now owned by the State of Michigan. In 1958 the site was placed on the State Register of Historic Places. In 1971 the site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is now part of the Cambridge State Historical Park. We enjoy taking the twins to the park for some of their summer special programs, A Walk in Time, A Victorian Tea and Pioneer Cooking.

Sylvester built a new brick tavern across the street around 1852. Here it is, for years it was an antique store, it has been for sale for a few years, noted this week, that some repairs are being done to the structure's foundation.


Sylvester Walker was a representative from Lenawee county for 1847. He was a Democrat. He served on the building committee for the St. Michaels and All Angels Church during fall and winter of 1855-56 when the church was built. (Note the Cambridge Junction Cemetery lies behind and beside this church.)

Sources:

*History and Biographical Record of Lenawee County, Michigan, Volume II, W. A. Whitney & R. I. Bonner, Willard Sterns Printer, Adrian, Michigan, 1880.

**Memoirs of Lenawee County, Michigan, by Richard Illenden Bonner, Western Historical Association, Madison, Wisconsin, 1909

***Some facts from State of Michigan web sites and other web sites, a Google search will provide you with more "hits" for you to enjoy and learn from.

****Likeness of Sylvester and Lucy Walker from "Semi Centennial History" of the St. Michaels and All Angels Church, by F. S. Dewey, 1908

*****Photos of headstones, and both Walker Taverns, taken by this contributor.
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