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Utica’s Famous Residents Mystery Cache

Hidden : 5/13/2012
Difficulty:
3.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

The cache is not at the listed coordinates.

This puzzle cache brings you to scenic Forest Hill Cemetery, America's first municipal Victorian cemetery.   

Forest Hill's beautiful Gothic entrance archway, erected in 1888, was inspired by Richard M. Upjohn's grand archway design for Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. The landscape features hilly and varied terrain which ranges from nearly treacherous on some of the steepest slopes near the front of the property to flat, pine-needle strewn expanses near the rear of the grounds. In between, visitors are treated to terraced drives, small babbling brooks and expansive vistas. These vistas include the aforementioned Adirondack Mountains as well as glimpses into neighboring graveyards New Forest and Calvary.

Forest Hill Cemetery is home to many of Utica's famous residents. The amount of local history in this one scenic location is unmatched and I couldn't pass up on the opportunity to expose you to some of it.

Now it's time to see how well you know your Utica history and to give your online (and in the field) searching skills some exercise. Below you will find 16 descriptions of some famous people from Utica’s past. Your task is to identify the person, find their grave and collect the information requested. Using this information you will then calculate the coordinates to the cache location. Sounds simple enough, right? Let the searching begin.

Helpful hint: When collecting information from "the right" or "the left", do this while facing the front (where the person's name is) of the grave or monument.
Now that you have finished collecting the information it's time to check to see if what you have is right. Use the following formulas to double check what you have:

58 = G1 + G2 + G3 + G4
43 = G5 + G6 + G7 + G8
25 = G9 + G10 + G11 + G12
2020 = G13+ G14 + G15 + G16

And now use the following to calculate the final coordinates of the cache:

N 43 04.ABC, W 075 15.XYZ

A = G1 + G10 - G7 + G8 – G5 – G6 + G10 + 13
B = [ (G12 * G14) + 12] / [ (G2 * G5) - G3 - G8]
C = G3 + G12 + G9 – (G6 * G16) + 51
X = G7 * (G4 * G7) + G6 - G3 - G15 - 525
Y = G5 + G9 + G11 + G8 - G13 – G5 - 13
Z = G6 + ((G3 + G14 + G8 - G9) * G16) - 129

Please remember that this is a cemetery and to be respectful at all times while you are on the premise. At no time do you need to touch, move or doing anything else with the graves. The posted hours are dawn to dusk.

The cache is a small lock-n-lock container hidden in a typical cache location that should not be very hard to find. Please stay away from any graves while searching for the final. Also, please be discreet while searching so as not to give the hide away to any muggles or lurking cachers.

This is a gentle reminder that hints/help should not be given out for the first week after publication. I think each of you can work your way through this one with a little persistence. I will be happy to be of assistance after a week (assuming the cache has already been found).

Prefix Lookup Name Coordinate
01 G1 Grave 1 (Question to Answer) ???
Who started the Utica Asylum?

NOTE: How many letters are there in the name to the right of the statue?
02 G2 Grave 2 (Question to Answer) ???
Civil War NY Governor from 1853 to 1855 and again from 1853 to 1865.

NOTE: How many letters in the name of where is wife was born?
03 G3 Grave 3 (Question to Answer) ???
Who was a blacksmith, first came to the Old Fort Schuyler on a flat boat up the Mohawk River in 1793. In 1794 he purchased four acres of land from Joseph Ballou for his business on Main Street, and he constructed a hotel for travelers waiting for their horses to be shoed the same year. It grew from being a "shanty", to a two story wooden building.

NOTE: How many stones surround the statue?
04 G4 Grave 4 (Question to Answer) ???
His career is most often associated with the post Civil War period but during 1859 to 1863 he served in the US House of Representatives.

NOTE: How many letters is there in his wife’s full name (First, Middle, Maiden)
05 G5 Grave 5 (Question to Answer) ???
He was commissioned as Lieutenant on April 28, 1816, Commander in December, 1835, and Captain on September 8, 1841. He was attached to the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1836, and to the naval rendezvous at Baltimore in 1841.

NOTE: How many letters in the item that is on top of his grave?
06 G6 Grave 6 (Question to Answer) ???
He was an aide-de-camp to General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben (during this appointment he was reputed to have been the male companion of the Baron) and subsequently as a member of the staff of General George Washington. From March 21, 1791 until February 20, 1798, served as a captain and as naval officer of customs at the port of New York. He was moved to Fort Schuyler, now Utica, in New York State, in 1797. He also worked as an real estate agent for the Steuben property and was influential in bringing Welsh settlers to that area.

NOTE: How many letters (2 words) does the round sign above the grave say?
07 G7 Grave 7 (Question to Answer) ???
Who wanted to be a stage coach driver, then later helped create the American Express Company, built the Morse telegraph between NY City and Buffalo and became Mayor or Utica in 1865?

NOTE: How many letters of who is across the Road (Full Name) (not the wife's name)?
08 G8 Grave 8 (Question to Answer) ???
Who was a bookkeeper to a stagecoach business and became an early partner of Theodore Faxton?

NOTE: How many letters in the wife’s first name?
09 G9 Grave 9 (Question to Answer) ???
Who was a physician and lived in Old Fort Schuyler? He presented a request to the state for building the State Lunatic Asylum.

NOTE: How many children did he have?
10 G10 Grave 10 (Question to Answer) ???
Who own a hardware and plumbing business on Bleecker St in 1861?

NOTE: How many letters in each named flowers next to the cross?
11 G11 Grave 11 (Question to Answer) ???
Who was mayor of Utica in 1875 and his home was on the site of the present Utica Public Library?

NOTE: How many letters - What is the lady on the statue holding?
12 G12 Grave 12 (Question to Answer) ???
Who set up a small shop for manufacturing of millstones? He also became the director of the Utica and Schenectady RR and was president of Oneida Bank in 1837?

NOTE: How many graves are in front of monument
13 G13 Grave 13 (Question to Answer) ???
In 1908 he was vice-president of the United States under William H. Taft?

NOTE: From the road, how many steps are there?
14 G14 Grave 14 (Question to Answer) ???
Who in the 1800’s, had a large wholesale plumbing supplier and was also an US Congressman from 1836-1837?

NOTE: How many letters in Who is to the right of the monument?
15 G15 Grave 15 (Question to Answer) ???
Who founded New Hartford, NY?

NOTE: What is the year of the plaque?
16 G16 Grave 16 (Question to Answer) ???
Who was a partner with the following: Silas Childs, John Butterfield, and Alfred Munson and an organizer of the Utica & Black River RR. Also, was a commissioner of the Utica Lunatic Asylum and Home for the Homeless?

NOTE: How many letters in object to the Right?

Additional Hints (No hints available.)