The Cache Series
The Thanatopsis series of caches celebrates a life-long interest of
mine, old rural cemeteries. I have also included an Emily Dickinson poem
with each cache, since she wrote many poems about death. The poems themselves
were taken from The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by
Thomas H. Johnson. Emily Dickinson published 1,775 poems. Each poem of
the series follows the numbering of the "Harvard (variorum) edition,"
according to Thomas Johnson. As a heading to each poem, I quote Johnson
in giving the earliest known manuscript for the poem, and its earliest
publication date.
Why "Thanatopsis?" My dictionary defines it as "a meditation upon death."
A final word: All caches may be found without showing any disrespect
for our predecessors. I hope that all finders have an opportunity to pause
and consider what life (and death) must have been like in the North Woods,
more than a century ago.
The Cache
The cache is a match holder covered with camo tape.
There is an interesting note for the marriage of John R. Menard, Sr.,
and Rosemary T. Menard.
The Cemetery
McCombs Cemetery
McCombs Cemetery was a gift of Bill McCombs. It is maintained by the
Town of Wheaton. Most of the people buried in the cemetery are from Albertville.
The earliest burials include six year old Emma Ross 1877, Jonas Wood 1881,
and Maria Wood 1883. (From the Chippewa County Cemetery
Index by Donna Miller Bourget, 1998.)
The Poem
Harvard Number 935. (From
The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson.)
Earliest known manuscript: c. 1864; First publication: 1896
Death leaves Us homesick, who behind,
Except that it is gone
Are ignorant of its Concern
As if it were not born.
Through all their former Places, we
Like Individuals go
Who something lost, the seeking for
Is all that’s left them, now –