Cemetery History:
In the year 1717 two brothers, Rudolph and Melchior Hoch, emigrated from Basel Switzerland. As many who came to William Penn's "Holy Experiment", the two brothers were Mennonites fleeing religious persecution. Melchior Hoch settled in Bucks County, and Rudolph settled at "Swedeland above the French Creek" near Pottsgrove.
In 1720 Rudolph's son, Johannes or John, married Susannah Herbein, whose family was of Huguenot origin and one of the earliest families to settle in the Oley Valley. John and his family came to the Oley Valley in 1725 and established a farm there. John's son Samuel was born at Swedeland in 1723. In 1744 twenty one year old Samuel acquired the tract at Poplar Neck and in 1745 secured the land patent for this nearly 400 acre plantation. This fertile tract of land by the Schuylkill River had some of the very best farmland in Berks County. Thus was the beginning of Poplar Neck Farm.
Samuel was county commissioner in 1761 and subsequent years. In an inquiry into the division of deceased neighbor James Lewis' estate in 1762, Samuel signed himself as Samuel High. Because of Quaker and English governance of the area, perhaps Samuel thought it was in his best interests to anglicize his name from Hoch to High.
Samuel passed away at Poplar Neck in 1795. Samuel's wife, Esther Herbein Hoch, just prior to her death in 1796 stipulated in her will that the family cemetery be secured. Samuel had predeceased her by 7 months and her only living son, Isaac, had died the year before. She was concerned that her husband and son had a decent and secure resting place and directed that "out of her estate, money shall be taken to build a stone wall around the burial place on the plantation of Samuel Hoch, deceased."
Back in those days, most people buried the deceased on their farm lands. There were very little, if any, public burial grounds like today. It was not until the 1800s that church burials and public cemeteries became a common practice. The Hoch-High Cemetery is one of the oldest farm burial cemeteries in Berks County.
The present structural appearance of the cemetery is of a Victorian style as it was redone in 1880 by Ezra High, great grandson of Samuel. He erected walls of brick, topped with wooden coping, and installed beautiful wrought iron gates at the entrance. The red sandstone foundation is earlier and most likely the original 18th century foundation.
Eventually the land fell out of the hands of the Hoch-High family. Today the land where the cemetery sits is owned by Western Berks Landfill. Years of neglect saw the cemetery in bad shape. Walls were falling, tombstones were overturned, a thicket was growing up around the remaining walls, and the iron gates were laying on the ground. (See the picture in the gallery showing how it looked)
Thankfully, the Berks County Association for Graveyard Preservation stepped in and helped raise money to restore the cemetery to its past glory. Working together with Western Berks Landfill, they rebuilt the crumbling walls, fixed the tombstones, cleared all the surrounding overgrowth, and restored the beautiful wrought iron gates and placed them back at the entrance to the cemetery.
How To Access The Cemetery:
The cemetery is on private land owned by Western Berks Landfill. In order to access it, you must do what I did. Navigate to the Landfill Office/Cemetery Access waypoint listed below. Park, get out, and walk up to the small office building on the right. Knock on the door and the guard will answer. Tell them that you are here to visit the cemetery.
They will bring out a visitor logbook for you to sign with your name, date, and reason for visit (cemetery). And no, signing this logbook does not count as finding the cache!! 
Then you go back to your car and drive along the access road to the cemetery.
I have written email permission from Kevin Bush, General Manager of the Landfill, that geocachers are allowed to visit the cemetery during normal business hours provided they follow the above outlined check-in procedure.
Hours of Operation:
Monday-Friday 7 AM-4 PM
Saturday 7 AM-10:30 AM
Sunday CLOSED
Also CLOSED on the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day
There is a locked gate at closing hours so please arrive at least 1/2 hour before closing.
They are allowing us permission on their land to visit the cemetery so only visit during the normal business hours and respect their land while you are there. You have a chance to visit a historic cemetery that most people never have or even know exists.
The Puzzle:
A=Ezra High, Aged 8___ years.
Ezra was the one who redid the cemetery with the Victorian style. He also possessed a valuable collection of Indian relics which he donated to the Berks County Historical Society.
B=Daniel V.R. High (flat headstone). Married to Esther Rothermel in the year 182___.
C=Emma G. High, died March 20, 18___2
D=Max, the only headstone outside of the cemetery walls. He was a friend and _______. D is the number of letters in the missing word.
E=William High, aged ___5 years. Take the missing number and add 3 to get E.
William was a Brigadier General and one of the best-known men of Berks county of his time. He was county commissioner from 1816 to 1819; a member of the State Legislature in 1832; served as one of five delegates from Berks county to the Constitutional Convention in 1828; and was associate judge of Berks county from 1846 to 1851. He was elected captain of the Reading Calvary in 1816.
F=There are special markers for veterans buried here. How many markers do you see for those who served in the Revolutionary War? Take that number and add 2 to get F.
Final Coordinates:
N 40 18.ABC W 075 53.DEF
The parking and trailhead coordinates for the final are listed below in the waypoint section.