The very first time that I visited the Waterford Cemetery I was drawn to one particular headstone. It was that of Harriet E Strong who died in 1849 at the age of 20.
Beneath her name on the same stone are the names of two other girls, Lucinda Phelps age 20, and Elizabeth Ash age 17. Then the inscription “Were drowned in Conneauttee Creek”. I was always curious about it and decided to find out more.
The three young girls were friends and teachers at a school in Edinboro. One very stormy Sunday they all left church together in a buggy driven by one of the girl’s younger brother. The water in the creek was very high and either the horse took a misstep or the bridge was washed out and the buggy tipped into the creek. The current was very strong and unfortunately the only survivor was the young boy.
Elizabeth Ash is buried at Draketown Cemetery and Lucinda Phelps is buried at Washington Valley (McLallen) Cemetery, both outside of Edinboro. The gravestones of all three girls are nearly identical.
The stones of Elizabeth and Lucinda each have three flowers engraved on them to represent the three girls.
The cache is located at N41 56.7AB W 079 58.CDE. Lucinda Phelps was 20yrs _mo &_d. The sum of these 2 numbers=AB. Beside Harriet's stone is the grave of Charlotte Strong. The third digit of the year she was born=C. The age Charlotte would have been in 1881=DE.
You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.