My goal is for you to learn about Wilmington and to have fun. It’s not created to be tricky. Most of the waypoints can be found by reading the "Waypoint Notes" and using the printable map. Let’s go to the Oakdale Cemetery.
The published coordinates will take you to the entrance of the cemetery. They will also lead you out if you get lost inside. Oakdale Cemetery was chartered on December 27, 1852 by the General Assembly of North Carolina. The founders purchased 65 acres for $1,100. The acreage now has grown to 165 acres of natural beauty. Created during the era of the Rural Cemetery Movement in the US, Oakdale was the first in the state, only fitting for the most populous city in the state at the time. It was five blocks beyond the town boundaries. 1st, l will lead you to where it all began. All this tombstone says is, “Our Little Annie”. A green Number 6 sign is next to it. N 34° 14.738’ W 77° 55.988’ Annie De Rossett – The first interment in Oakdale Cemetery, February 5, 1855. She was the daughter of Dr. Armand J. De Rosset, the first president of Oakdale Cemetery. To the left of Annie’s grave is a tombstone that reads, “Only A Private”. Look at the age that he died and plug the last number into the next coordinate. (Died at 1X)
Our next stop is Mrs. (Wild) Rose O’Neale Greenhow. Located in Section D; Lot # 12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Greenhow N 34° 14.X53’ W 77° 55.982’ Rose was a Confederate secret agent, who drowned off the coast of Fort Fisher while running the blockade. Legend has it that she was weighted down with gold that was sewn into her dress. The green sign next to Wild Rose’s tombstone has the number (Y) you need in the next coordinate.
Next is the Confederate Mound. Located in the middle of Section K. N 34° 14.Y92’ W 77° 55.960’ In this lot are buried, 367 unknown Confederate Soldiers who were killed during the Civil War at Ft Fisher. In 1872, The Ladies Memorial Association, which became the Cape Fear Chapter #3, Daughters of the Confederacy, erected the monument. It consists of a bronze statue of a Confederate soldier and medallion likenesses of Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. Mr. O'Donovan of Virginia provided the design and Maurice J. Power at the National Art Foundry in New York, executed it. A North Carolina quarry furnished the granite pedestal. You will notice that true to southern tradition this soldier is looking south with his back directly to the north. At the base of the monument, under the medallion of RE Lee, is another plaque which states the number of Confederate dead that is different from the records. The 1st two numbers are the same and the “ZZ” in the next coordinate and also “Z” of the final coordinate. (“… Memory of ZZ0 Honored Unknown Confederate Dead…”)
Now, let’s go over and see Nancy Martin N 34° 14.821’ W 77° ZZ.887’ While on a voyage with her brother in May of 1857, Nancy became ill and died near Cuba. Her brother was blown overboard during a hurricane on the same voyage. Her father wanted to take her home to his wife and body was placed in a large cask filled with rum then returned to Wilmington. Upon their arrival back in Wilmington, the officials would not allow the cask to be opened so she was buried in the cask of rum. Her grave is marked with a simple rustic cross that bears her name “Nance” by which she was called. Her brother who was washed overboard on the same voyage has a simple message carved on the nearby family obelisk stating “lost at sea.” With the Green #8 sign in front of you, look up at the top date on the obelisk. The “V” of the last coordinates, is the day of the date on the obelisk. (Sept Vth 1861)
Have you heard of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1862? Located in Section B; Lot # 78 N 34° 14.754’ W 77° 55.840’ When the blockade runner Kate pulled into port on August 6, 1862, who knew what she was carrying. Sick seamen from the crew were brought to boarding houses in Wilmington to recover. A hot, humid summer mixed with a mosquito problem and the yellow fever disease were a combination that would prove fatal to many of Wilmington’s population. The town of 11,000 people decreased to 4,000 as people died or fled the city. Over 600 people are confirmed to have died from the fever over three months and those numbers are believed to be wildly inaccurate. Records of those who died among Wilmington’s slave and black population are almost nonexistent. As for whites, most people who died of the disease went into this unmarked mass grave. On the sign at this location is the number of reported cases. The 1st integer of this number is the “T” of our final coordinate. (…of the T,505 reported cases, 654 (43%) died from Yellow Fever.)
The cache is at: N 34° T7.3Z3’ W 077° ZV.VV9’ The cache is not in the cemetery. It is 3 ¼ miles away in an appropriate location. The cache is on the business property of a fellow cacher. This is a great place for walking your dog, but please remember to pickup after Fido and have it on a leash. Congratulations to hootgibson59 for FTF!