Jefferson Quilt Trail: Hidden in Plain Sight Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

The Seanachai: While we feel that Geocaching.com should hold the location for you for a reasonable amount of time, we cannot do so indefinitely. In light of the lack of communication regarding this cache it has been archived to free up the area for new placements. If you haven’t done so already, please pick up this cache or any remaining bits as soon as possible. Please note that geocaches archived by a reviewer or Geocaching HQ for lack of maintenance are not eligible for unarchival.

I want to thank you for the time that you have taken to contribute in the past and I look forward to your continued contributions to the sport of Geocaching.

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Hidden : 7/18/2009
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

The cache is a small camoed lock-and-lock container. It is
hidden across the field beside the house with the quilt square
because of the proximity of another cache. The cache is large
enough for small swag and contains one of our signature geocaching necklaces as a FTF prize. Please BYOP.

This cache is the one of a series of caches placed near buildings with quilt squares in Jefferson Co.

There are two quilt squares near this location, the one for which the cache is named and Bovine Weathervane.

The closet quilt square to the cache is on the side of a building that was once a slave house and is now a seldom open antique store. The slave house was owned by General William Brazelton. In 1822 Brazelton established a market in Tuckertown, TN. The name of the town was changed to New Market after his business. In 1832 he built a mansion in New Market which stood until 1949.

This quilt square was chosen for the slave building because it is thought to represent a quilt pattern used in the Underground
Railroad. There is controversy among historians and scholars over the quilt code theory, and whether or not escaping slaves actually used codes concealed within quilt patterns to follow the escape routes of the Underground Railroad. Characteristic of African culture is the communication of secrets through the use of common, everyday objects; the objects are seen so often they are no longer noticeable. This applied to the quilts and their patterns, stitching and knotting. It has been suggested that the stitching and the knotting on slave quilts contained secret information, too, as map routes and the distances between safe houses. Using the quilts, spirituals and code words, the slaves could effectively communicate nonverbally with each other and aid each other to escape.

Some people believe Slave Quilts were used as coded maps to help slaves escape. Others think the quilt patterns were visual maps that showed the directions for the routes north. Whether the quilts and their secret directions were actually utilized as tools on the Underground Railroad remains unclear. However, the legend has been passed down from generation to generation and is now an important piece of American History.

As oral histories leave no written record, there is no written
proof that the codes in the quilt patterns actually existed. What remains are the stories passed down through the generations from the slaves themselves, and, following the code of secrecy, many of the stories were never told.

The codes in some patterns are more obvious than others. For
example, the North Star, Crossroads, and The Wagon Wheel
represented apparent landmarks, while a Sailboat indicated a body of water or the availability of boats, the Drunkard's Path reminded travelers to vary their path by moving east and west, and the Monkey Wrench was a sign to gather tools together in preparation of an escape. More about this code can be found in the 1999 book by Jacqueline Tobin and Raymond Dobard - Hidden in plain view: A secret story of quilts and the Underground Railroad.

Additional support for the quilt code theory can be found in
related oral traditions of the American slaves, notably in the
Uncle Remus stories, compiled by Joel Chandler Harris. Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox and other lovable characters cavort through these very entertaining stories, which are loved alike by black and white children. From accounts of the slavery period, these stories were often told to the children of slaves by a story teller, who usually was a person of high status in the slave group. White children also enjoyed coming to these story-tellings. But the Uncle Remus stories, while entertaining on the surface, had double meanings.
The hidden meanings revolved around the real people the characters symbolized: Brer Fox was the white slave owner, and Brer Rabbit was the powerless slave. Brer Bear was the complicit black person who helped enforce the system of slavery. The central point of the stories was how to survive in a situation in which you are exploited and have no power (see, for example, (visit link) Like the quilt codes, these stories were hidden in plan sight.

Just east of the African American quilt square, on the front of a veterinary services building, is another quilt square, Bovine Weather Vane. It is fitting that a cow appears on this square, as this is the headquarters of a large animal veterinary practice, not too unlike that portrayed in the James Herriot novels.

Parts of the above are plagiarized from the following websites:
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Additional Hints (Decrypt)

gerrf ebpx

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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