THE PELEG SWEET LEGACY CACHE Multi-cache
ALPHA WOLF & MAL: Time to archive this cache. End of history lesson.
The good news is that other geocachers have placed a new cache about a foot away, so the search goes on.
THE PELEG SWEET LEGACY CACHE
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(regular)
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Two sets of answers are found in the Peleg Sweet Park, but areas of interest are separated by State Road, which is a 4-lane road; the final answers and cache are located in the Edgewood Cemetery.
Peleg Sweet (pronounced pay lig) was born in Litchfield County, Connecticut (1758). He was a Revolutionary War veteran who saw action at Ticonderoga and was involved in numerous skirmishes (1775-1780). He married Mary Wilkinson (November, 1777); they eventually had twelve children. Following the war, it was possible to exchange Connecticut land for land in Ohio. Sweet was experiencing little success as a farmer, so in 1806, he made the exchange, and headed with his wife toward his new 600-acre plot in Ashtabula. Sweet built a cabin and tavern, and became a successful businessman. He eventually donated land for a school, park, and cemetery.
Braden Junior High School, the second school to be built on land donated by Peleg Sweet, was constructed around the first schoolhouse; the original one was recently razed, but the bell was saved and sits proudly in the front yard at BJHS.
Peleg Sweet Park, situated directly in front of the school, was originally used as an area for training soldiers during the War of 1812. Today, a beautiful gazebo (SEE ABOVE COORDINATES) and sign have been constructed on one side of State Road, and a stone marker (N 41 52.472 W080 46.360) has been placed on the opposite side to designate this tract of land. The park was divided in 1945, in order to make room for the street. Construction of the gazebo is the result of a dream held by current Township Trustee, Sam Bucci. Through Mr. Bucci’s efforts, fifty-two Ashtabula County Joint Vocational School students volunteered to build the entire structure with materials donated by local businesses.
The Edgewood Cemetery, located a half-mile south of the park, serves as the final resting place for Sweet and many of his family members. The decision to deed this portion of land to the local government was in part influenced by the fact that the Native American mound builders had used this area to bury their own dead. As Sweet and his fellow citizens worked to prepare the land, over a thousand graves were uncovered. A portion of the original mound (dating back a thousand years) still stands and can be seen just south of Peleg Sweet’s grave. Old bones were moved somewhere leading to the ghostly legacy. Those who roam this sacred burial ground are unknown. Sightings abound.
(“Pre-history of Ashtabula” by Darrell E. Hamilton
(visit link)
Star Beacon, June 8, 1997
Ashtabula Telegraph, December, 1877)
In order to locate the cache box, you will have to visit the gazebo (questions A & D), stone (questions B & E), and gravesite in the Edgewood Cemetery (questions C & F). The coordinates for the actual cache box are in code; to convert, answer six questions. Then, to commemorate Peleg Sweet’s legacy, please sign the log in the cache box; there is little room for trading items.
To begin your search, travel to the gazebo in the Ashtabula Township’s Peleg Sweet Park. Coordinates are at top of page. There are parking spaces provided near the gazebo. However, please do not disrupt school activities from mid-August through mid-June. There is plenty of parking across the street at Mike’s Farm Market.
Cache coordinates: N 41 52. ABC W080 46. DEF
A. Number of marble markers which are placed next to the gazebo that bear the name SAM BUCCI, the Ashtabula Township Trustee who was instrumental in the building of this gazebo. Do not count the plaque.
B. Check the date when the Mary Stanley Chapter of the DAR erected stone; add 2 to the last digit of the year.
C. Total number of tombstones exactly next to Peleg Sweet’s headstone (N 41 52.330 W080 46.500).
The words on the headstone are only readable at certain times during the day. To make certain that you have identified the correct tombstone look for a flag, war veteran plaque, and flowers.
D. Number of sides of the gazebo that have signature brick clusters
E. Check the date on the stone when the stone was relocated; note the 4th number of that year and subtract 1.
F. While standing at Peleg Sweet’s grave, look to the south at the number of tombstones marking members of his family. These are in a row beside his stone, and extend to the driveway. There are several tombstones. Count them, and this number becomes "F." If you began counting in the direction of the Metcalf stone, you are looking in the wrong direction; go the other way.
These coordinates will take you to a very large, old tree. Find the nearby tupperware cache(cleverly hidden inside a ...). This tree marks a spot where the original Indian burial mound once stood before excavation. I created a larger cache holder so that travel bugs of all sizes could relax before continuing on their journeys. Peleg Sweet was a tavern owner in Ashtaula County, and he knew the importance of rest and relaxation during a trip.
Thank you for visiting these sites. Ashtabula is celebrating its bicentennial in 2003, and we are happy to have you join us.
This cache was placed with permission from the
Ashtabula Township Trustees and Cemetery Superintendent.
Member of the NWPAGeoCachers
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
RKUHZR zvtug or na nccebcevngr jbeq sbe gur svany pnpur. Ybbx sbe na haznexrq ebpx, naq zbir gur ebpx.