Around 1883, a railroad was to be built from Winnipeg to Gretna. In 1883, the Town of Morris and the RM of Morris paid the CPR to change the course of the track towards the east and come through the town, and then on to Gretna. This was one Of the first railroads west of the Red River. While the railway was being built, camps were set up along the route, at about six to eight-mile intervals. It was usually at one of these points or sections that a siding was built.

Approximately eight miles southwest of Morris on section 1-4-1-W1, the flag station of De Wet was put up. It was named after General De Wet, a general in the Boer War. Later it was renamed Sewell, and the post office name remained De Wet. In 1947, the post office name was also changed to Sewell. It was not until the turn of the century that the district became well-settled.

The Sewell Cemetery is located on the highest spot of the area, on land donated by August Recksiedler Sr. One of the first people to be buried at Sewell was Erich Ernest Hoffman.

(Source: Furrows in the Valley - A Centennial Project of the Rural Municipality of Morris 1880 - 1980, p 478 [Adapted])

Established in 1919.

(Source: Manitoba Genealogical Society [Adapted])

Dominion Land Survey coordinates: LSD03-12-04-01-W1

In the Rural Municipality of Morris

As noted above, a part of the town's story and those of its inhabitants from the early days of European settlement through roughly 1980 is told in the volume "Furrows in the Valley - A Centennial Project of the Rural Municipality of Morris 1880 - 1980", especially starting on page 478. A free digital version of this and many other Manitoba local history books can be found online in the University of Manitoba Digital Collections. There is also a list of such books organized by district and town name on the Manitoba Historical Society's website on their page entitled "Finding Aid: Manitoba Local History Books".

A list of burials in this cemetery is available from the Manitoba Genealogical Society (reference #0657), transcribed by a member or members in 1992. Also available to MGS members is a searchable online database named the "MGS Manitoba Name Index" (or MANI). Some additional information is contained in the 1996 MGS publication "Carved in Stone: Manitoba Cemeteries and Burial Sites" (revised edition, Special Projects Publication, 106 pages).