HCWHA US 250th GeoTour
Strawbridge Shrine
Party like it’s 1776 with the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area’s 250th GeoTour! Designed for beginner and veteran geocachers, participants will travel through time, solving puzzles and following clues to learn more about mid-Maryland’s rich history. In honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States, our 250th GeoTour will take you throughout Carroll, Frederick, and Washington Counties to sites of historical significance, including battlefields, houses of worship, museums, parks, and more!
Our tour is an opportunity to learn more about the people, places, and events that laid the foundation for our country. While supplies last, those who collect 15 or more will earn this Geotour’s limited edition geocoin commemorating the 250th. Happy hunting!
Courtesy of The Strawbridge Shrine
Strawbridge Shrine, established circa 1760, is the original home of Methodist Circuit Rider Robert Strawbridge, who first introduced and established Wesleyan American Methodism in the United States. The property was later owned by the Barnes family, who lived in the Strawbridge house during the 1850s and 60s. Love letters found beneath the attic floorboards of the home reveal more about the inner life of one of the home’s residents and reminds us today that love, loss, and loneliness transcend time.
Mary Kate Woods, who would have been eighteen years old, wrote the letters to Jesse Barnes, then about 22 years old and serving in the Union Army’s 7th Infantry of Maryland. Jesse’s letters to Kate do not survive but Kate’s side of the correspondence offers a glimpse into the lives of average teenagers during the Civil War. In one letter, Kate wrote that she “had almost gave up that hope of ever hearing from [Jesse]. I thought you had forgotten me, being so far away, you say, with no kind friends to pity you. [You] may not have many there but you have many here.”
Mary Kate wrote to him about her life, describing her struggles with typhoid fever, impending attacks on Gettysburg, and lamenting his perhaps-wavering love for her. Her letters include news from home, writing about mutual friends and giving us unique insight into the lives of young women in the mid-19th century. The letters are written between 1862 and 1863. The correspondence stopped when Jesse was captured by the Confederate Army on May 5th, 1864 at the Battle of the Wilderness. He was likely sent to the notorious Andersonville prison before his transfer to Florence Stockade in South Carolina where he died on October 8.
After Jesse’s death during the Civil War, Kate Woods would go on to marry. Although we don’t have Jesse’s side of the correspondence, the preservation of the letters, hidden in his family home, suggest that they were something he wanted to keep and remember. Today they reveal an aspect of life during the Civil War not much discussed: one of youth, pining, jealousy, and practical jokes that not even a war could disrupt.
Batavick, Frank J. “The Civil War through the Eyes of 3 New Windsor Teens.” Carroll Yesteryears (2022).
“Kate Woods Letters to Jesse Barnes.” 1862-1863. Strawbridge Shrine.
King, G. Wayne. “The Emergence of Florence, South Carolina, 1853-1890.” The South Carolina Historical Magazine 82, no. 3 (1981): 197–209. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27567693.
Lauber, Melissa. “Glimpses: Shrine offers history and mystery.” Baltimore-Washington Conference: The United Methodist Church (2021). https://www.bwcumc.org/news-and-views/glimpses-shrine-offers -history-and-mystery/
“‘Letters from Home’ Conserved.” Exhortation! 27, no. 1 (2022).
Percoco, James A. “The Space beyond the Gates: Andersonville Prison.” OAH Magazine of History 8, no. 1 (1993): 37–43. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25162924.
“What is the Strawbridge Shrine?” Strawbridge Shrine. http://www.strawbridgeshrine.org/about.html.
To receive the final coordinates to the geocache, play the Adventure Lab at the Strawbridge Shrine and enter into certitude the five bonus words from the Adventure Lab in alphabetical order, lowercase and no spaces. A hint will be given once solved.
You can validate your puzzle solution with
certitude.
Placement of this geocache has been approved by the The Strawbridge Shrine Association and the Curator of the Museum. The grounds to the shrine are open during daylight hours.
The shrine is open for tours between April and October
Fridays: 10am to 4pm
Saturdays: 10am to 4pm
Sundays: 1pm to 4pm
Thanks to the following members of the Maryland Geocaching Society in placing the hides for this GeoTour: deepdish23, hunterKat, GR8Caches, Snurt, Phos4s, JediTrashPanda and AL's Guide.