The cache is not located at the given coordinates, but there you will see the sign that was unveiled to the public on September 16, 2023, which commemorates the story of the Widow Krieger, an accused witch.   On that day, Joyce Held of the Pownal Historical Society told this story to an enthusiastic crowd, many of whom were in costume as witches.   Read the article, and solve the puzzle to reveal the actual coordinates.  All answers can be found in or deduced from the article. 

The following is by Joyce Simpson Held, 2023.

Below is my “Reading” from the September 16th, 2023 Dedication of the Legends & Lore “Witch Trial” Marker. 
Thank you “Vermont Folklife Center” & the “William C. Pomeroy Foundation” for the beautiful Marker and to the Bennington Museum who collaborated with the Pownal Historical Society to tell the Widow’s Story.

I hope you enjoy reading about “The Widow With Many Names”.
I have always been fascinated with the story that has been passed down for many generations about Widow Krieger and how she was tried as a Witch. 

Although my research has yet to find formal documents about the trial, I was able to find the Krieger family who lived here in North Pownal and the woman who became Widow Krieger in 1785. 

I am sure Widow Krieger would have been quite happy to join our “Witches Walk” today in defiance of those who feel they have the right to accuse someone they feel looks different, acts different or  has  a personality that they might find odd, of being a Witch. Not to mention those who used the Witch Accusation for their own personal gains and to take land.

If the Widow were here today I believe she would tell her story as such.

“Over my lifetime,   I have been called by many names but only one almost took my life.
To be called a Witch by neighbors, brought before the Safety Committee and put to a test to prove my innocence filled my heart with sadness and almost filled my lungs with the icy water of the Hoosic River back in 1785. 
I thank my Lord He saved me that day and the Committee acquitted me.
The first name I remember being called was “Daughter”.
 My parents Hans Peter & Barbara Schumacher often called me “Daughter” rather than my given name, Margarete.
 I was born in Williamstown MA on April 24,1725. 
Growing up I heard the tragic stories about what happened in Salem and the horrible Witch Trials. Little did I know that someday I too would be a victim of such terrifying accusations.
I was very young when I first met Johann Juri Krieger, 14 years my senior. He was one of who the English would eventually call a Dutch squatter who settled on land on the East Side of Rensselarswyck Manor  in the 1730’s. 
Johann built a much needed Grist Mill below an outcrop of rocks along the Hoosic River and a small home just north of it. 

We were married at the Albany Reformed Church on February 9th, 1741 and I received a new Name, “Mrs Krieger”. 
I was proud of that name for Johann was a good man who took pride in his land and his mill. 
His pride served him well when the English came and declared the Settlers “Squatters” and took their land from them. The British Settlement was named - “Pownal” after Thomas Pownall, Governor of Massachusetts. The Charter was signed January 8, 1760 and the Town Proprietors voted to grant a single ownership to “Squatter”Johann Krieger in recognition of his improvements of the land. I reckon They needed his Mill.
The English gave us new names calling Johann Juri  - John George and myself  Margaret.  
We had three sons, John, Peter and William adding the name “Mama” to my list of names. 
 The boys learned early how the Mill was constructed and maintained, working by their PaPa’s side. 
They also took pride in their work and were soon recognized as talented Millers. 
At a Williamstown MA  proprietors’ meeting on October 15,1767 it was voted to give John, Peter and William  land to build a Corn Mill.
 Our sons went off to Williamstown and a year and a half later it was voted again to give the three brothers land, this time to set up a saw mill. The Mills became known as Krieger Mills.
Oh my life was full of hard times, sad times and times of celebration. We celebrated our sons’ accomplishments in Williamstown not knowing that just 4 years later we would be grieving the loss of our beloved son Peter. 
I hadn’t stopped wearing my mourning clothes before our youngest son dear William was killed at the Battle of Bennington. He left his wife, Margaret and three little ones who called me  “Oma”. 
Johann continued to work the Mill and I would help as needed but things weren’t the same. I am certain that the loss of our two young sons wore upon my husband. We had been married 44 years when Johann went to be with the Lord on a hot August day in 1785. I was now known as “Widow Krieger”. 
 I did my best to keep the Mill going but the law said as a woman I couldn’t own land so I soon was looked upon as a burden by my neighbors.  My neighbors said I was an “extraordinary woman” with “Extraordinary Powers” Oh this  made  people suspicious and even envious of me. They gave testimony and accused me of being a “witch” and brought me before the Safety Committee proving the tongue is sharper than an axe. 
The Committee decided a hole should be cut in the ice of the Hoosic River and I should be put into it. if I sank I would be acquitted but if I stayed afloat that would mean the Devil held me up and I would be declared a Witch.
 They cut the hole on a cold winter’s Day while everyone stood quietly  watching, waiting to see if the devil would keep me afloat.  
I was scared oh Lord knows I was scared but I wasn’t going to give them the chance to name me weak so I stood tall and strong and let them drop me through the hole. 
I remember sinking slowly down in the dark icy river till my feet touch the bottom. Someone shouted from above, “she sank!” People gathered to help to pull me up and out of the river. I survived and was acquitted.
Maybe it wasn’t the name Witch that nearly did me in but rather the name Widow. After all by becoming a Widow I was looked upon as a burden who needed to be removed from the Mill property. In the eyes of the people, since Johann was gone I became a squatter with no rights to the land.
Soon after I moved back to my birthplace, Williamstown MA.
Krieger Mill would go to another for the “Krieger” family had served its purpose in Pownal. All that was left was the “Krieger Rocks” that still stands guard over what was once ours.”

Margaret Schumacher Krieger went to be with her beloved husband and two sons on February 21st 1790 after dictating her Last Well & Testament the day before leaving her Estate to her surviving son John and his children.
Her 18 sheep, household contents, hymn books in the Dutch Language and other items she left to her beloved grandchildren Margaret, William and John, children of her late son William Krieger. She signed her Will with her mark - a very strong, bold “M”. 
She is buried in Westlawn Cemetery in Williamstown Ma along with her husband John, her son Peter and her granddaughter Elizabeth.  
 

Solve for N 42° EB.BCF' W 7Z° AD.FBH'

1:   The year she became a widow   ABCD

2   How many sons she had.   Z

3.  How many years younger she was than her husband.  AE

4. The year she died.  ABFG

5. The number of sheep in her estate divided by Z = H

You can park near the sign and have a nice walk, or you can do it as a p&g if you prefer.  The cache may be a short bushwhack some times of the year, and should be possible most of the winter. Most of the year it is a 1.5 T.  
 

FTF Congratulations go to: FKrol!