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Uneven ground, occasionally mowed grass. Downed trees possible, but mostly cleaned up at the time of this listing.
Parts of the following story were taken from an article in the Journal Star paper many years ago, but the exact date was missing on the copy that I had.
"Think of a Peace of fifty years,
Of lives devoid of hellish fears.
Died without fear of gods or ghosts
Or heaven or hell with all their hosts."
The above inscription marks the stone at the family plot of the "godless" Gilbert family cemetery southeast of Friend.
John W. Gilbert, one of southeast Nebraska's most prominent atheists, isn't buried with the rest of his family, however. His ashes are on display at the library he bequeathed to Friend in 1916. His portrait hangs near his ashes. The locals say the eyes look very eerie and seem to follow them around when in the library.
Gilbert's anti-religious stance cost him some friends when he took his neighbors to court for holding Sunday school in a rural schoolhouse. He was defeated in district court and on appeal in the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Despite his unpopular beliefs, Gilbert was well-respected. He was elected to the Nebraska House in 1878 and to the Saline County Board two years later.
Gilbert died March 12, 1922, at the age of 81.
Gilbert's Cemetery was originally established in June, 1872, as the Gilbert-Hulse Cemetery on a half acre piece of land that was sold to the Hulse family by Jonas and Louisa Gilbert for the price of $7.50, to be used as a burial ground for them and for as many as they saw fit to be buried there. In 1978 the cemetery was indexed and there were 92 grave stones established, including one that read only "John Robertson, a pioneer, lies here between his two wives", and another one that is a confederate soldier (William M. Simmons, 1842 - 1908). There were probably more graves there, but even then the place had been vandalized some. Now it is totally vandalized with only a handful of stones intact. The drives are laid out in a cross pattern which is easily seen in an aerial of the area. I don’t remember there ever being “outer” drives, just that we had to turn around at the crossroads.
Gilbert's Cemetery, or Gilbert's graveyard as the locals call it, used to be a source of entertainment for the local high school kids. Back in the 70's when I was in High School in Milford the local legend was that if you were at the cemetery and sat upon the stone or touched it at least (at midnight), one would die a horrible death within a few days. Well, no one I ever knew that was there actually died from that and we went out there a LOT. The guys would take the girls there hoping to scare them into clinging to them (sort of like they did in the theaters watching a scary movie). Vandals have since destroyed most of the site, breaking stones and pretty much trashing the place. I don't think anyone really goes there much anymore. It has been mowed recently, but it looks like they waited until the grass was 3 feet tall and then used a tractor mower on it. The stuff laying on the ground could be baled! The site also was hit by a tornado a few years ago, and is evident if you look at the trees lining the easterly leg of the "cross" drive. The tree trunk by the entrance is also stripped and twisted.
This cache has mostly been placed as a sentimental tribute to my old High School days and a much freer, simpler time. I have been there in the daytime and also at night, and I can truly say that I recommend going in full daylight. I don't believe it is haunted, but in the deep of night when the wind whispers through the trees and the coyotes howl in the distance it is an amazingly eerie experience. This cache also may be harder under snow cover.
As always, when searching for a cache in a cemetery, please respect the area and pay attention to your surroundings. Feel free to wander around and look at what's left of this place, but be careful where you step, as there are some graves that have sunken in over the years and without headstones to mark them and the grass possibly being long, it would be easy to twist an ankle. The Gilbert family plot is located in the NW corner, but when I was out there placing the cache the stones were either missing or just tumbled around.
You are looking for a small lock-n-lock container with a log sheet and a pencil inside, along with a Sacagawea dollar coin for FTF.
Congrats to eduCACHEtion for FTF!
Please re-hide the container as well as you can for others to find and so as not to be muggled. Thanks.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Onfr bs gerr.