Captain James Fairfield Traditional Cache
crazy leg: This was here the last time we checked when someone thought it had gone missing, but won't be able to get to it for awhile. So we'll archive it, in case someone else wants the spot!
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Another quick park n grab in a series dedicated to Maine Sea Captains, this is a magnetic key holder.
Like his father, James Fairfield sailed ship owned by Tobias Lord, Jr. In 1806 the newly-built brig Somers was put under his command when it was launched. The following year on November 12, James was married to Lois Walker. According to family tradition, it was on a voyage shortly after his marriage that Captain Fairfield decided to have his portrait painted at one of the first ports he visited on his trading mission. Since he was not coming directly home, he sent the portrait to Lois by another ship. Imagine his surprise and disappointment when he arrived back in Maine months later and he discovered that not only had his portrait not yet arrived, but that the ship by which it was sent had been lost at sea!
Early in the summer of 1820, James Fairfield became mortally ill and on July 23rd he died at the age of thirty-six.
It was two years after Fairfield's death that the unusual event occurred. Word was sent to Fairfield's brother-in-law from a Swedish bark that had come into Portland that his presence was requested on board their ship. There on the Swedish ship was the life-like painting of Captain James Fairfield. In the background of the portrait was a ship under sail and flying an American flag. Furthermore Fairfield was shown holding a letter in his right hand to Messieurs Tobias Lord and Co., Kennebunk, Maine, his employers at the time.
It was the letter in his hand that made it possible for the painting to be delivered to Kennebunk at last. Apparently the portrait had been rolled up and put in a tin case when Fairfield sent it home from the port where it had been painted. After the ship in which it was conveyed went down, the encased portrait was buoyant enough to make its way to the surface of the water and travel many miles away where it was spotted and retrieved by the men on the Swedish ship.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures