Susan Walker came from what was known as a "good" (read: well-established and influential) family. Her father was not only one of the most respected painters of his time but an inventor as well. He kept homes both in New York and in Puerto Rico; his brother also had a residence in the latter. He was a man who obviously deeply loved his family: one of his early paintings depicts Susan with her mother and younger brother, and the caring that went into it is obvious.
Susan's mother, Lucretia, died of heart trouble when Susan was only six years old. Her father was so saddened by his wife's death that he nearly gave up painting altogether. Finally he left his children with his wife's sister to go and paint in Europe, returning after three years abroad. He again painted Susan when she was about seventeen years old. This masterpiece was one of the last works he painted, clearly drawing inspiration from the works of Rubens and Veronese that he had studied while in Europe; this portrait was to be an ambitious farewell to his career as a painter. Stymied by an inexplicable lack of financial success, he soon after abandoned painting for other more lucrative interests.
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I really love this painting; Susan's face is luminescent and the details of it clearly demand further study. If you right click on the picture and download it you'll see a higher resolution version. Every time I go back and look at it, I see things I missed before. You may well find the same to hold true for you.
But back to Susan. Sometime during the early-mid 1800s, she went to visit her uncle in Puerto Rico. There she met Edward Lind, a Danish merchant from the prosperous port of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, which at that time was a Danish colony. They got married, and soon after Edward purchased a sugar plantation called the Hacienda Henriqueta, located in Punta Gáilarte, Arroyo, then a barrio of Guayama. The Hacienda eventually became one of the most productive plantations on the southern coast of Puerto Rico.
Unfortunately, the international sugar markets deteriorated in the late-mid 1800s, and Edward Lind (who later passed away and is buried in Arroyo), sold the Hacienda to the Fantauzzi family, who were major sugar plantation owners in Guayama. Eventually the Fantauzzis established a modern sugar mill called "Central Lafayette," possibly to honor the famous French revolutionary hero (who was, one of Susan's father's friends).
Susan was not happy with plantation life; some accounts suggest that she may have been unhappy with her husband as well. Three years after Edward's death, she left the Caribbean altogether to return to the United States. Sadly, she never made it home; her ship sank and she was lost at sea off of Cuba.
While her body was not recovered, a stone was erected in her memory in the Old North Cemetery in Concord, New Hampshire. Susan's maternal grandfather, Charles Walker, was evidentally influential in Concord; one notes the existence of both a Walker Street and a Walker School, both of them near the cemetery.
So you're going to start where Susan ended, so to speak: at the Old North Cemetery. Park at the entrance with the difficult-to-miss Franklin Pierce historical marker. Her centotaph is a little way in on your left, with the lettering facing away from the entrance. She is only a few stones away from the main path.
Curiously (and herein lies the mystery!), the last name that is at the top of the stone is Walker; and yes, I've been referring to her as Susan Walker — but I really don't know why. It doesn't appear that she ever used her husband's last name — but apparently at least in death didn't use her father's, either. Instead, she is identified by her mother's maiden name, Walker. If any intrepid historians out there can tell me why, I'd be most grateful.
Susan is buried next to a Harvard man, which must be keeping her father shifting uncomfortably in his grave, since he was himself a Yalie! Curiously, her cemetery neighbor found his alma mater important enough to have the year he graduated from Harvard carved — in fact, the number of that date is recorded even above his birth date. It must have been a very important number for him. I've given this number a great deal of thought — in fact, I've even committed it to memory. One of the things I enjoyed about this tombstone is how the numeral 1 looks like a capital J. It is good that he chose a better quality of stone than the Walkers did; you can barely read the writing on Susan's stone, but his stone looks as fresh as the day it was carved. Don't you agree?
The Cache
FTF will be a $20 gift certificate to the Gala Café in Manchester. I'll mail it to the first finder. Try the prosciutto sandwhich or just any dessert with a double espresso. The cache is seeded with the Celebrity Cacher Seeking Geocoin. The cache container will not hold much, just coins. Please don't put a pencil in the cache, if it shifts around it may not close for the next finder. The cache container is not a 35mm film canister nor an altoids tin. It should be far easier to find than one of those in the woods. Part of the container is colored bright yellow for greater visibility. The container is not waterproof but the log is made of waterproof paper, so please bring a pencil or ball point pen for logging. The final itself is located within 4 miles of the listed coordinates.
Note:There is about 300 feet of bushwhacking if you go the most direct way. Optionally, you can add about 1,000 feet to the hike but eliminate a lot of bushwhacking by subtracting 0.094N, 0.100W from the final location. This takes you to a single track trailhead.
Feel free to run your coords by me before heading out. You can also email me if you want to discuss your solution or your ideas about the puzzle.