"The Hanging of Bill Sketo" Traditional Cache
jonkathy: I'm so sorry to archive this. But... My husband is sick and I'm busy with his care. HOPEFULLY things will improve and we will be able to get back to hiding caches one day. Thank you all for your kinds words on our caches. Happy Caching everyone and God Bless!
"The Hanging of Bill Sketo"
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(micro)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
you can really take in the history involved with this cache! The cache is located close to a church so Sunday mornings might be very busy! So Stealth is a MUST on Sundays mornings!
We decided to place this cache where we have because so many are interested in Bill Sketo's story. Bill Sketoe was my GGGrandfather and I love to keep his story out there! I hope that this cache's story will help that happen. This cache is placed close to the cemetery where he is buried. The above coordinates are to the cache... The coordinates to his headstone will be listed below. Also anyone interested in seeing the actual hole, we will also list the coordinates to that below. The hole is located in Hutto Park in Newton and there is a marker there also for Bill Sketo. The marker is not where the original hole is at. They moved the marker to a new spot away from the hole, everyone always tries to cover the hole but, it keeps getting uncovered! And this is the story of that...
Bill Sketoe was a Methodist Preacher who was known to preach to the Indians in the area. Everyone says he was a good, kind and gentle man. But, Bill became famous for reasons that were far from good! He was hung by the homeguard in Newton. They accused him of being a deserter and they didn't take the time to hear... "the rest of the story"! While Bill was off fighting in the civil war he received news that his wife Sarah was very sick and he wanted desperately to be at her side so he paid someone to stand in for him so he could go home and take care of her. Paying a "stand in" for you was a common occurance during the civil war. He was ambushed by the homeguard who took it upon themselves to be judge, jury and executioner of Bill and carry out the sentence of hanging immediately! So on that December day, 6 men of Captain Brears Homeguard proceeded with the hanging. While they were getting ready to hang him a Newton resident happened upon this awful event. He begged for Bill's life and to at least give him a fair trial. He was informed that if he did not leave immediately that he would suffer the same fate as Bill. Well the homeguard feel rushed now, feeling sure that the man would go get help and try to stop them from what they are wanting to do and they did not want to be stopped! The leader of this group asked, "you got anything to say before you die, Bill Sketoe"? "I want to pray", murmured Bill. He didn't pray for himself though, he prayed for the men who were hanging him. "Forgive them... Forgive them... Dear Lord...". Well this angered the men and the leader yelled, "Hang Him"! They slapped the horse and the buggy bolted, but the hanging limb was not strong enough and it allowed his feet to touch the ground just enough that he could tip toe and ease the pressure on the rope. One of the men involved with the hanging was a crippled man and he grabbed his crutch and dug out a hole under Bill's feet so he would swing freely... this is where the legend of Bill Sketoe comes from...
All the men involved in the hanging died very mysteriously. To this day that hole that was dug to finish the hanging with that crutch, cannot be filled! LOTS of stories about that hole not being able to be filled.
Bill's wife Sarah Clemens lived till she was 81 years old.
Bill Sketoe is one of the 13 Famous Alabama Ghosts
Just wanted to let you know that in the naming of this cache I noticed I dropped the "e" in the spelling of Sketo! When Bill's family came to this country from Spain they spelled it "Sketoe" it was only later that the "e" was dropped. I sometimes drop that "e" in telling of the story accidentally. Which I did here!
This story by: Kathy Dent in, "The Heritage of Dale County, Alabama"
Here are the coordinates for "Bill's Headstone": Sarah his wife is buried next to him.
N31 25.509 W085 29.158
Now here are the coordinates to the hole... just remember depending on when you visit it could be covered up, people are always covering it up, but, hit it right and you will see it UNCOVERED! It was at the time of this listing! And you will have to drive to Newton and go to Hutto Park to see the hole :N31 20.645 W085 36.686
Congratulations to shanethewise and ccindyy/bubb on FTF!!!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Pbeare, ybbx ybj!
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures