Randolph County History Series: A Folksong is Born
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This is part of the Randolph County History Series. Enjoy our county as you traverse the county side and learn about our rich history.
This folk story was turned into perhaps the oldest folk song in the US about a murder and has been recorded my over 30 artists.
Over a hundred years ago, there lived a beautiful dark-haired orphan. She dwelt in Randleman at the home of William Adams and his family. A seemingly kind man, Jonathan Lewis, who belonged to one of the most well-known families in town, came often to visit the Adams family. Often, he would join them for dinner, but soon found himself coming to see this gentle orphan, with whom he had fallen in love. The two loved each other very much and when Jonathan asked her hand in marriage, she happily agreed.
However, the Lewis family wished their son to be married to a girl with a name as important as theirs. Jonathan's family could not see why he loved this orphan because she did not have money or name. Still, he wanted to please his family and began visiting Hattie Elliot, the daughter of his boss. He realized that he would be respected and would inherit her family's wealth if he married Hattie.
Even though Jonathan loved this orphan more than anyone, he still felt it was his duty to marry Hattie. One night he told the orphan to meet him by the Deep River and he would take her to Asheboro to get married.
She awaited by the river that evening very excitedly, although she believed it was unusual to be married at night. Jonathan was speaking strangely and acting in an incoherent manner as he drove her off, not in the direction of Asheboro, but towards the river.
When the orphan finally questioned his going the wrong way, Jonathan told her she was right. He was going to the river to drown her, for he couldn't have her as his wife and it hurt too much to see her. Her pleas and struggles were only useless, for Jonathan Lewis was determined to drown the poor girl. So, as the orphan pleaded breathlessly, he lifted her skirt above her head and held her in the water until no breath was left in her.
What became of Jonathan Lewis was not as good as he planned. When the orphan was found, Jonathan was arrested and later brought to trial. The coronor found the orphan to be with child. As no one could remember what exactly happened and had no proof that he'd committed a crime, he was freed. Jonathan never again saw Hettie, but roamed around in various fields and woods of Randolph County. Several years later, he became very ill and returned to his father's home to die. There, he sent everyone from his room, except his father, whom he confessed to the drowning of the orphan. No sooner was his confession over than his soul left his rugged body.
As you approach the posted coordinates, you need to record the name, birth and death dates of this orphan. The monument you are seeking faces the center of the cemetery, not the road.
Subtract the last three digits of the posted north coordinates from the last three of the year of year of birth. Subtract 320 more to get ABC.
D = last digit in the year of her death.
Subtract 12 from the posted last three digits of the west coordinates to get EFG.
Travel to a public facility located at
N35 49.ABC
W79 4D.EFG
Once you have this orphan's name, travel to the public facility at the new coordinates. The hours are M-F, 10 AM to 6 PM and Saturday from 10AM to Noon.
Use the online catalog to locate the cache. Use the name of the orphan and the town she lived to search where she may be lying in the library.
The cache is in plain sight. Please return it the way you found it so others may enjoy the search. If you get very lost in your search, the staff are very helpful and are enjoying people learning about geocaching and that this facility is hosting a cache.
The stamp and stamp pad are NOT trade items. Please leave them in the cache. This is a letterbox and those items are for letterbox participants. There is a small bag of trade items in the cache. Take one and leave something that will fit in the bag.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
uvagf tvira jvgu n ybttrq QAS