The posted coordinates will take you to the starting point for this cache, which has been set up as a letterbox or a geocache. You can do it either way. A GPS will be needed for both. Don’t forget to bring a rubber stamp and an ink pad!
Begin at the Cornerstone Community Church, formerly Weaver Mennonite, and follow the narrative directions in letterboxing format. Once you reach the area of the hide, you can gather information to identify the final coordinates.
This cache will trace the early history of the Amish-Mennonites in the Johnstown area. These were primarily Swiss immigrants and their descendants, including Joseph Johns, from the Glades Settlement near Berlin, Somerset County. That settlement consisted of Amish, Mennonites, and Tunkers and was established in 1762, prior to treaties formally acquiring the region from the Indians. The first Amish Bishop in Cambria County was Jacob Eash. The Amish typically met in individual homes at that time. As Mennonites increased in the area, establishing church sites, many of the Amish were absorbed into those congregations. Weaver Mennonite dates to prior to 1800. The first minister ordained by the Mennonite Church in this district was Jacob Blough, Jr., in 1803-1804, who we've found through Linda's genealogy research to be Tom's 5th Great-Uncle.
This cache will take you to Bishop Eash’s gravesite, but it’s not in the cemetery behind the church.
Remember, this is a letterbox, so bring your stamp pad, log book, and personal stamp.
Letterboxing Route
Leave the church via the traffic light entrance. Turn in the direction going away from the visible billboards. Journey until you pass the pyramids, but turn right before you reach the king. Turn left at the golden deere that is about to leap in front of you from the wooded area beyond the fields. Turn left again at the T, unless you need to quench your thirst first. Then follow red and then black arrows leading to the bodies. You will find a wide grass path in the southern corner of the parking lot, overgrown with dense brush on either side. The entire route is less than 2 miles.
Climb the path to the cemetery entrance. You will find the Plexiglas encased original tombstone of Jacob Eash, immediately inside the entrance. His replacement stone can be found elsewhere in the cemetery. Most of the other stones have also been modernized with concrete grave markers that include only initials, without full names. As Jacob’s original stone is not legible to use as clues, you will need to find his granddaughter’s grave, located 45 feet away at a bearing of 172 degrees, to collect the following information:
Granddaughter’s birth/death years – 1abc-1def
Her Husband’s birth/death years – 1hij-1kmn
(don’t mix them up)
where:
X = c + 2
Y = h – 4
Z = a - 2
The cache is hidden mZj feet from Jacob’s original tombstone at a bearing of enY degrees. Or plug the following coordinates into your GPS - N40 1n.ZXd W78 5f.bmk.
Traditional “GPS Only” Instructions (Not needed if you follow the Letterbox route)
In order to get the coordinates to Jacob’s tombstone you will need to collect clues from within the adjacent Richland Cemetery. Only about half the acreage of Grandview Cemetery located across town, this area may have been the alternate site under consideration for development instead of Grandview due to the access issues encountered there (see our Morrell Arch cache). Richland Cemetery presents a more uniform rectangular layout rather than the curving road network used to sculpt the access routes into the more irregular landscape of Grandview, so the following clues will be easier to collect. It is intended that you use the letterbox method to reach the final search area, so the gps only method is intentionally inconvenient. No significance (except personal) to these cemetery coordinates. You will need to get the following info for substitution into the tombstone coordinates. All coordinates collected to better than 15’ accuracy.
N40 16.728 W78 51.267 – w = x+1, Helen’s birth year plus one – 193x
N40 16.527 W78 51.533 – Year that Civil War Veteran Ja. Bistel died – 18p2
N40 16.728 W78 51.267 – Number of windows on the structure on Al’s tombstone - q
N40 16.713 W78 51.547 – Year that “Crash” died – 200r
N40 16.734 W78 51.467 – Flornell’s year of birth – 19s1
N40 16.554 W78 51.581 – Number mausoleums at this cemetery entrance - t
N40 16.642 W78 51.328 – Year that cross was erected – 200u
N40 16.724 W78 51.196 – Number of letters in the name on the private mausoleum - v
Now substitute that information into N40 1w.pqr W78 5s.tuv. Then return to the final portion of the Letterboxing instructions.
This is Featured Cache #5 of the Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Geotrail, which highlights the scenic and historic amenities of the area. Be sure to collect and record the Geotrail Code Word from in (or near, in the case of micros) the cache to your official Geotrail Passport, which can be obtained from the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. A map and list of all caches featured in the Geotrail can be found at visit link. or they can be bulk downloaded from the bookmark list.