Did you know the oldest grave marker on Long Island is located in the oldest surviving colonial cemetery in the State of New York?! The Southold Presbyterian's Old Burying Ground is rich in history, and is considered by many to be the most important colonial cemetery in all of New York State. There are 20 graves older than the year 1700 (which is apparently an extraordinary number), a total of 9 box tombs, and stones carved by some of the best early colonial stonecutters.
The coordinates for this virtual will bring you to the box tomb of William Wells, 1671, the oldest grave marker on Long Island! Isn't this exciting? As of the publication date of this virtual, you're standing beside a beautifully cut stone marker that is 350 years old!! That's pretty cool... The inscription on top of this box tomb is biographical in nature, not religious, as was typical with early Connecticut Valley stones. Born in England, William Wells was with the Rev. Youngs when the first organized settlement in Southold was founded. Wells held several public service positions, including serving as Deputy to the General Court at New Haven, being appointed Assistant Magistrate, serving as both Constable of Southold and Southold Town Clerk, representing Southold in a Convention of Deputies assembled by the Governor, and being appointed High Sheriff of New York Shire on Long Island by Governor Nicoll. Based on my research, it seems William Wells had between 6-10 children, most likely all with his second wife, Mary Youngs.
Now that you've taken a few minutes to check out this very old, cool historic box tomb, let's get to the requirements for this virtual so you can claim a new smiley on your geocaching map! These should be fairly easy questions to answer, and shouldn't take too long, although I definitely invite you to take your time and thoroughly explore all of the interesting, old graves in this historic burying ground. First off, and possibly most important, remember that you are in a HISTORIC BURIAL GROUND. Please be sure to be respectful at all times, and don't do anything that could potentially harm these very old headstones and tombs. There is NO physical cache to be found here, so there is no reason for you to touch or disturb anything in the cemetery.
Please do not include spoilers to the answers in your logs or any photos you may post. Please send me a message with your answers BEFORE claiming the find (you don't have to wait for a response from me to log the find, but if there's no message from you with answers waiting for me, your log may be deleted). And please keep in mind that if you do not fulfill all the requirements, I may end up deleting your log (I would really hate to do that, but if you don't fulfill the requirements, then you didn't earn the smiley, did you?).
Like your teachers in school always said, PAY ATTENTION to the directions for each requirement.
REQUIREMENTS FOR LOGGING THIS VIRTUAL CACHE
When standing at GZ beside the box tomb of William Wells:
1. One (1) row to the east towards the church, there is a white stone pillar monument for Philemon Dickerson or Dickinson. What are the names of the people he emigrated from England with, and what was their relation?
2. Three (3) rows to the east towards the church and heading south into the graveyard away from Main Rd/25, just a few headstones down from your starting point, you will find the grave of Helena Underhill. This is the oldest grave for which we know the identity of the interred (there are older graves that exist in the cemetery, but they are unmarked). This stone marker however is from the 1930's, when Underhill's descendants placed a new stone on the grave. Facing Helena's newer slate headstone, FOUR (4) graves to her right side, what is the name of the interred at this spot, and what was the date of death?
3. Standing at the box tomb of William Wells, face towards Main Rd/25. From this location, how many granite stone spheres do you see in total in the cemetery? Count both large and small. Do not include any light fixture looking spheres in your count.
4. Take a photo of the box tomb of William Wells (please WITHOUT any spoilers for the answers). Your face does not have to be in the picture. You can, if you would like, take a photo of something geocaching related by the grave: a trackable, a GPS device, yourself if you'd like, maybe your finger pointing to the grave...(no, not THAT finger..come on now..) A picture showing in some way that you were at this site is necessary to claim this smiley. **This is the only part of the requirements which you are to post in your online log. Send me a message with the answers to the first three questions. **
**If found as a group, each member of the group must submit their own answers and photo please. Thank you!**
I truly hope you've enjoyed your visit to the oldest surviving colonial cemetery in the entire State of New York, and seeing the oldest grave marker here on Long Island! Please post as many pictures from your time here as you would like, as long as they don't contain any spoilers!
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You can find more information about the various historic old graves in the Old Burying Ground by visiting: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ad5f9b250a54f56883b1075/t/5ad62af7f950b7d15edee542/1523985146584/OBG_Brochure_Compressed.pdf
Congrats to Marilyn and Bob (mmacgown and Sakiman) on their New Years Day FTF of this virtual!
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.