"Liberty Cemetery" Traditional Cache
Northstar and Gemini: Keeping online for historical purposes. Archiving because too far away now to maintain.
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Take a drive out Kentucky Route #7 and visit Liberty, Kentucky, or what once was Liberty...
When the United States was still a very new country, having been liberated from England during the Revolutionary War, soldiers and their descendants moved into the new territory of Kentucky, having been granted land for their service in the war…
It was just before the turn of the 18th Century when families from New England came to this untamed wild land that would become the State of Kentucky and put down roots… They were the descendants of families dating back to the 1600’s in New England, some having come over on the Mayflower… Among the early settlers were the Warings, The Howlands, The Dupuys, and The Craycrafts…
Early in the 1800’s, the village of Liberty was founded on Tygart Creek, south of the Bennett Mills and the Globe Iron Furnace area… The village grew to more than 40 houses with a doctor, a store, a post office, a school and two churches…
Liberty was founded, shaped and energized by New Englander John PRATT whose family history is linked British Judge Sir John Pratt and early politicians in England… Liberty must have been the largest manifestation of New England in Kentucky at one time…
Historians say that in the early 1840’s, PRATT became a player in the Underground Railroad, assisting runaway slaves in their bid for escape to freedom across the Ohio River into Ohio…This apparently became a source of ill feeling between Kentucky slave owners and Pratt who had founded a town of wealthy New England families who were quite successful entrepreneurs... From the Globe Iron Furnace to shoe making enterprises and other succesfull business ventures here, the northern influence was not embraced by everyone…
Historians now wonder whether Pratt named the village Liberty because of his great patriotism, or if the name somehow referred to Liberty and Justice for All, including slaves…
On the hill above Liberty stood the Liberty Methodist Church…Founded around 1820, the church and community cemetery overlooked the village below… Today only the cemetery remains, as the church burned down around 1880... A new Liberty Methodist was built about a mile away and is still in use today…
Several area settlers rest in peace in Liberty Cemetery... They include Moses Fuqua Dupuy (1799-1889) who was the sheriff of Greenup Co, KY during the Civil War… Charles Craycraft (1783-1845) who served in the War of 1812... Benjamin Howland (1800-1871) whose namesake remains throughout the area… Also buried here are two Reverend Jeremiah Farmers who served the Liberty Methodist Church in the early years…A father and son- Jeremiah Farmer (1800-1875) and Jeremiah Farmer Jr. ( 1824-1897)…
The cemetery is a step back to a time when the land was just taking shape and pioneers with courage came to this once new place and it’s harsh conditions to shape the future of Kentucky… Today, it is only a memory of old timers... It is listed only as a historical place of population today…Historical references note what once was, and a handful of residential homes and farms are all that is left but a memory… After it’s founder John Pratt was murdered in 1849, the village was renamed and relocated about a mile away in what is now known as Lynn…Was Pratt murdered by what Sheriff Deputies say was a disgruntled tanning yard worker, or, was he murdered for his belief in Liberty and Freedom for all?
The cache is a camouflaged large pill bottle with a statehood quarter and an army man, some River Rat Geocachers cards and a log book to start out with…Bring a pen and a desire to visit part of history made by bold and daring men and women who braved the harsh conditions to mold a new land…
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Crevzrgre srapr.
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures