History of Brokensword Cache Traditional Cache
History of Brokensword Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Cemetery cache, so be respectful, stay on the gravel roads and hunt
in daylight only.
This northern settlement was almost wholly German with 8 or 10
families coming together from Dauphin County, Pennsylvania in
wagons drawn by horses in 1828. These were the families of Michael
Shupp, Isaac and Abraham Ditty, Henry Fralick, Jacob Lintner, Jacob
Moore, Daniel Porter and Daniel Fralick. These settlers located
near each other on or near Brokensword Creek..
We are told it would be hard for us to imagine the type of forests
which existed in the early 1800’s when the town now known as
Brokensword was established but as legend tells it a Mrs. Ferguson
tried to round up the family’s cows and became bewildered in her
directions and quickly became lost in the woods. She wandered for
three days until she was found by a neighbor less than a quarter
mile from her own cabin. The thick forests of poplar trees, on the
bluffs above the Brokensword Creek, were highly prized for their
timber, and sawmills were built as early as 1834..
Early stone used for foundations of houses and barns were taken
from the pits and small quarries that later became the Brokensword
Stone Company and is now the National Limestone Company..
About 1834, William Wingert was appointed postmaster of a country
post office that was called Lykens and was ran from his home on
Tiffin Road (now SR 19/100) just north of the Holmes Township line.
Several decades later, Mr. Wingert was employed to sell goods on
commission in the area and soon started a store himself. The
community became known as Wingert’s Corners..
In 1852, David Porter laid out a town just south of Wingert and
called it Portersville, in honor of himself. A bitter rivalry
developed between the two men and even though the post office
department decided in favor of Portersville, friends of Wingert
continued to address all mail and goods to Wingert’s
Corners..
Accord to oral history the name, Brokensword, was given to the
nearby creek after Col. William Crawford, closely pursued by a band
of Indians in the late 1700’s, jammed his sword into the ground
near the creek and broke it so that the Indians could not kill him
with his own weapon (a sword thought to be Col. Crawford’s weapon
is on display in the Wyandot county Museum at Upper Sandusky,
Ohio). The name was subsequently given to the village to allay all
bitterness that arose during the Civil War. During the conflict the
town became known as Confederate Crossroads as there was support
for the South in the area and many arguments over the slavery issue
were settled with fisticuffs in the center of town..
Brokensword Cemetery Society records state a meeting was held
December 25, 1831. This meeting consisted of neighbors of the
vicinity and was held in the home of John Shaffer. The purpose was
“to secure a suitable place or lot of ground to be used as a
burying ground or cemetery for this neighborhood.” There had
recently been the death of a four year old girl and she had to be
carried through dense forest to be buried at Benton. Since there
were now eighteen families in the immediate vicinity a cemetery was
necessary. The initial acre of land was purchased from Abraham
Ditty and William Shults. Mrs. William Shults was the first buried
in the cemetery on January 6, 1832. Her daughter, Anna Shults died
July 4, 1832. She was buried beside her mother. A spot for a grave
was cleared as it was needed until 1862. Land again was purchased
from Abraham Ditty with money received by subscription from
community residents. This area was called the First Addition and
was laid out in plots. Today there are five additional plots of one
acre each plus over one acre in the original plot..
The current trustees of the Brokensword Cemetery gave permission
for the placement of the cache. My relatives are buried here and I
will be too, someday. Please be respectful…daylight caching
only…and stay on the graveled roads. Be sure to return the cache
exactly as you found it.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Oruvaq gur 4.