Thomas Sedgwick  [George Sedgwick / Ann Benson]
  brother of Immigrant Francis Sedgwick (1797)
b. February 27, 1795, England^1,2
bp March 22, 1795, Bolton Abbey Parish, Yorkshire, York, England.²
d. September 3, 1886, Stockton, San Joaquin, California⁶
bu Stockton, San Joaquin, California, Rural Cemetery⁷ m. bef 1820 Parmelia Hodge
immigrated to Columbia County, New York 1820 or before, to California about 1850.

Parmelia Hodge  [parents unknown]
b. abt 1795, Connecticut¹
d. September 1876, [Stockton, San Joaquin, California]⁷
bu Stockton, San Joaquin, California, Rural Cemetery⁷

Census records:

"THOMAS SEDGWICK, believed to have come from England when 19 years old, located in California about 1850, coming by boat, around the Horn. He had two sons, Charles and Thomas. C G Sedgwick of Long Beach, California, and D J Sedgwick, Cupertino, Santa Clara Co., California, are said to be descendants of this Thomas Sedgwick."

- Francis Morris or Hubert Merrill Sedgwick New Haven Collection

Thomas Sedgwick was appointed deputy sheriff in Columbia County, New York, in 1843 and was known as "a man who dared to do bis duty" after arresting the leaders of the "Anti-Rent war" (1844-1845) of that county.⁶ The report of his death said he moved to California in 1849, but he was still in New York at the 1850 census, so 1850-1851 is a good guess of his move date.

Thomas met his death when a train struck his buggy.⁶ He had apparently grown deaf at the age of 92; it is surmised that he didn't hear the whistle. According to the report, his wife had returned east because of ill health, where she had lived with her daughters till her death. However, the grave monument in Stockton indicates she was buried there, so she probably died in Stockton.

Children:

The early census records indicate that there are other children.
The report of his death indicates that there were several daughters.⁶

Sources and notes:

1. Census records, any of those indicated.

2. "Sedgwick" by Donna Ziegler
a report of some of the descendants of one John Sedgwick (b. abt 1718) and Ann Levens

3. Farrington Memorial [R929.2 F246]
Daniel Farrington, 1880, Southworth Brothers. Portland, Maine
available online at GenealogyLibrary.com

4. California Death Index 1940-1997
an Ancestry.com database

5. The parish register of Bolton Abbey, 1689 to 1812, LDS Film 0477646 Item 2.
found at the LDS genealogy website www.FamilySearch.org

6. Hudson (New York) Daily Evening Register, Tuesday November 2, 1886.
sent by Jim Friedman, a researcher of Finkle Family of Columbia County, NY

7. Photograph of grave monument of Thomas Sedgwick and "Phimelia" Sedgwick
found at Ancestry.com attached to "Mike's Family Tree."