***. The CoE has asked for some pics of folks finding these caches for a storyboard, or status report. It would be really great if the first few finders would include some pics, but not required at all!
Coshocton was founded in 1811, so these dates all align for these folks to be some of the very first white settlers to the area.
The Natural Resources Specialist from the Corps of Engineers provided this article from The Coshocton Tribune, June 22, 1937. With so many interesting tidbits in this, I wanted to include the entire piece; it is worth reading, and consider the years as you do.
As if Mr. Specialist and his staff aren’t doing anything else in the area, or the other districts they have (oh, like the trails, and vernal pool, and all the other little biodiversity parties they are throwing!), they are maintaining this special plot and giving it a facelift. They are in the process of having a plaque made and will be installing that in the future. Be sure to stop back and see that; their vision sounds really neat! And thank them for their efforts, if you see them...
You are looking for a nano log only. One unencrypted hint is the Pine trees are no more, so it won’t be them... Do not disturb any of the headstones.
This is a dawn-to-dusk only cache, and has been placed with permission by the US Army Corps of Engineers, specifically one of the rockingest Natural Resources Specialist/Wildlife Biologist/Wetland Scientists you will ever meet! If you see any of the crew from the project office, take a second and say hi and thanks; they are all wonderful peeps. Be courteous, obey the rules and let’s keep the area nice for us all.
*** Beginning verbatim copy of Tribune article: Family Cemetery Undisturbed as Dam is Built
While Coshocton was still called Cush-og-town and before the Act of County Organization was passed, Mary Ann, daughter of John and Catherine Hershman, died March 5, 1811, at the age of fifteen years nine months and was buried in a small family cemetery near the Hershman home in Franklin Township.
Many changes have been made in the neighborhood since the funeral of the little girl. Although the Wills Creek Dam close by is nearly completed, the half dozen ill-cared-for graves remain undisturbed. The construction work on the dam has now passed an advanced stage. Therefore it seems that the family graveyard might remain unmolested.
Half a century passed between the time a grave was dug for Mary Ann and the day in ’63 when Philip Hershman was buried. Philip who died at the age of 79, was the last person to be buried in the little graveyard. He was born in 1873 (*think this is a typo and they meant 1773!) when the Colonies were fighting the last battles of the Revolution with England. Philip was probably the son of John and Catherine Hershman, who lost their daughter in 1811. He would have been twelve years old when the girl was born. If the Hershman’s were members of the general migration that was crossing the mountains in the early 19th century, the boy with the parents must have settled on Wills Creek sometime between 1800 and 1811. Aside from that, all that is known of him is that he married Rosanna who died Jan. 21, 1859 at the age of 64 years and is also buried in the family graveyard. She, according to the inscription on her headstone, “Was a member of the German Baptist Church about forty years, and died in the faith.” She and her husband were probably Dunkards of the Seventh-day German Baptist Church, members of which came to Ohio from Pennsylvania during the early 1800’s.
The Hershman’s are not alone. A plain brown stone bearing the inscription: “Jacob F., son of James T. And Elizabeth Morris, died March 21, 1844, aged 1 year, 4 mo., 4 days.”, marks the grave of one of the two young Morris boy to lie with the Hershmans in the little Wills Creek Cemetery.
In each century-old graveyard where the headstones are grown with moss there is found at least one tenderly inscribed marker. An unknown rustic bard inspired by the death of Mary Ann wrote these lines and had them carved on her stone:
This young and tender babe Not long on earth did stay Gone with a chilling blast Took its life away
Helen Meredith *** End verbatim
These are the occupants documented:
Hershman, Phillip - died 1863, 79 years
Hershman, Rosanna s/o Phillip, Jan. 21, 1859, 64 years
Hershman, Mary Ann d/o John and Catherine, Mar. 5, 1811, 15y, 9m (1841?) (*typo and they meant 1811, as stated above??)
Morris, Jacob F. s/o James T. & Elizabeth, Mar 21, 1844, 1y, 4m, 4d
Note: Going East across dam, cemetery is 100 yards north of dam in Pine trees.