Cemeteries tend to be sad places, of course, but this one is especially so, for after the Civil War and the passage of the 14th Amendment to our Constitution, preventing the burial of citizens of color should have been recognized as illegal. How sad to learn that citizens who had risked their lives in defense of their nation had no final resting-place in post-war Westminster. Sad, too, to recognize that Maryland joined ten southern states and Delaware and Kentucky in rejecting the 14th Amendment. Nonetheless, the amendment was adopted on July 28, 1868, and thus became the law of the nation. This cemetery should not have been necessary; African-Americans should have been allowed burial in Westminster's public cemeteries by August of 1868; and, of course, they should have been allowed burial in private cemeteries in Westminster through the compassion and righteousness of the local citizens. This cache calls attention to the fine Civil War veterans--Messrs. Walker, Ireland, Adams, Dorsey, Massey, and Bowens--who chose "to provide a burial place 'for the Colored residents of Westminster, Maryland'" in 1876.
STAGE 1: The given coords take you to a sign. From that sign, you'll gather the following info:
BEARING to Stage 2 = ABC, where:
___ A = the 2nd digit of the DAY of the month the cemetery was legally created
___ B = the 4th digit of the YEAR it was created, minus the 1st digit of that year
___ C = the # of consonants minus the # of vowels in Mr. Walker's FIRST name
___ DISTANCE in feet to Stage 2 = 4 times the 3rd digit of the YEAR the cemetery was created
At STAGE 2 you'll find a stone inscribed with just two words. Number the letters from 1 to 12:
1 __ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__ 6__ 7__ 8__ 9__ 10__ 11__ 12__
From this stone you'll now need to look for two tombstones very close to each other. To narrow your search, make the following calculations:
BEARING from Stage 2 to Stage 3 = ABC, where
___ A = the number of O's among the 12 letters
___ B = the number of S's and R's among the 12 letters plus 3
___ C = the number of T's in the first word minus the number of W's in the second word
___ DISTANCE from Stage 2 to Stage 3 is equal to BEARING from 2 to 3
At STAGE 3 you should be standing between two tombstones of VETERANS WHO SERVED AMERICA HONORABLY. The last name inscribed on the one to your left begins with the 4th letter ___ of the 12 letters you found at Stage 2; it ends with the 9th letter ___ of the inscription at Stage 2. The tombstone to your right is inscribed with a last name that begins with the 6th letter ___ of the 12 at Stage 2; the last letter of this name is the same as the 5th letter ___ of the 12.
ENTER (with no spacing) THE TWO LAST NAMES INTO CERTITUDE IN ORDER TO LOCATE THE FINAL STAGE.
Thank you for taking the time to visit Ellsworth Cemetery. Some things about our shared history are worth remembering. Certainly worthy of our respect and remembrance are those who served our country.
You might be interested in reading "Saving Ellsworth Cemetery," which appeared in the October/November issue of Carroll Magazine.
You can also learn more about Ellsworth Cemetery and/or offer your help with its restoration at EllsworthCemetery.org.
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.