The Lynching of Jim Cullen! Mystery Cache
Northwoods Explorer: Removing it due to damage to the cache, it will not be replaced
The Lynching of Jim Cullen!
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Size: 
(regular)
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This cache is a series of four locations around an event when Aroostook farmers found the law too slow and lynched Jim Cullen in Mapleton, Maine in 1873. This is the only known lynching in New England.
According to the lore Jim Cullen was a poor uneducated man just barely making an existence with his wife in Mapleton, Maine. There were many things that led Jim to this troubled time but what finally sent him over the edge was when he decided to see if the rumors about his wife and his friend were true. So on Saturday night April 26th, 1873 he pretended to go to the woods to visit his friend John Swanback but hid and watching the house. Soon he saw his wife and Thomas Hubbard, the friend, go into the house hand in hand. As he watched the rage grow and he finally entered the house and confronted them. As you can well imagine things did not go well. Both Thomas, the owner of the house, and Jim’s wife told him to leave. Jim ran out into the woods in a rage.
He decide to kill Hubbard’s horse which he did with a pocket knife and then went to the store in Mapleton where he stole $20 - $25 worth of goods including a pair of boots. He had the largest feet in the area so it was easy to identify him by the prints in the snow. People from all around started to accuse him of things they were missing and before long the Deputy Sheriff Granville Hayden and Thomas Hubbard were sent after Jim. Jim was headed home to Peel, New Brunswick and stopped by his friends John Swanback’s camp to spend the night. Minot Bird a man in his teen wanted some excitement and decided to go with them to capture Jim. They caught up to Jim at John’s camp and decided to all stay the night. It was Granville’s hope that Jim would escape and go to Canada to stay and never return. During the night Jim did escape but decided later to return to the camp. When he returned it was about four in the morning and he quietly entered the camp taking an axe and killed both Granville and Thomas as they slept. He made John and Minot help him burn both the camp and the bodies. And before he could do anything to them they escaped, running for help. Jim followed them back to Mapleton where he was captured by the constable.
He was taken to the store in Mapleton because there was no jail. Word quickly reached Presque Isle that Jim had been caught and he confessed to the killings. In the early evening on April 30, 1873 Constable Hughs decided to take Jim to the Presque Isle jail. About a mile out of town the party was met by a group of seventy-five disguised men that over powered the constable and hanged Jim on the hill then dissappeared. While there is a great deal more to this story enough has been told to peak your interest. There has been a book written about the subject by Dena Winslow called "They Lynched Jim Cullen". And the Presque Isle Star Hearld paper has written a series about the event recently. There are four locations of important to this story.
John Swanback’s Camp which is located at N 46 35.012 W 068 09.873
Jim Cullen was lynched on a hill located at N46 40.914 W 068 08.144
Deputy Granville Hayden grave is located at N46 39.895 W 068 00.547
Jim Cullen was burried at N 46 40.611 W 068 02.485
And finally the location of the cache. To find the cache you must first visit the grave of Granville Hayden to pay your respects. Notice the “Killed in the line of duty” metal next to the gravestone. You will find his gravestone in the Fairmont Cemetery in Presque Isle. He is buried next to his wife and daughter. His daughter, Lydia Rose, was born shortly after he was killed. To find the cache you must use the date that she was born. Month is June the day is AB and the year is 1873. If you take AB X 7A then subtract B you will get YYY and if you take AB X 4A then add B you will get XXX. It is located of the cache is at N 46 39.YYY W 068 00.XXX.
Please make sure the cache is well hidden when you are done.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gur pnpur vf ybpngrq hc va gur nve nobir rlr yriry.