Indiana Spirit Quest #5: Friendly Persuasion (BM) Traditional Cache

The Indiana Spirit Quest series of geocaches will take you to a number of small, rural, historic cemeteries in central Indiana. There are some twists, however. Most of the caches will be traditional, usually micros, but some may be may be virtuals. Some may be similar to locationless reverse caches in that you will be required to provide a photograph of an interesting tombstone with your GPSr in it, in order to claim a find on the website. Some will have other requirements, such as including a tombstone inscription in your log.

"Put on your Bonnet, your cape and your..."

Here is The Maple Grove Cemetery, Dallas Twp, Section 2 in Huntington County, Indiana. This is a Society of Friends (Quaker) cemetery. The land was donated in 1830 by John and Mary Moore and deeded forever as a meeting place and final resting place for Friends and their kin. The cemetery is still in use and there are at least 38 unmarked (worn) markers. There are records for 141 burials here. There is a wonderful grove here, but it’s not maple. Be sure to check out the classic Outhouse and the green pump. Relax, no other requirements here but to find the 35mm film canister and sign the log. Happy caching!!

UPDATE JUNE '06: UPGRADED CACHE TO SMALL PLASTIC SPICE JAR. SOMEBODY CUT DOWN ONE OF THE BIG OLD TREES FOR FIREWOOD. AUG. '11--NOW A MATCH SAFE...

Thanks to DOLPHIN for pointing out the Historical Marker on the Out House! It is an authentic 1931 Biffy built by the WPA!!! Whoo-Hoo!!

For those of you who may want to sample BENCHMARK hunting, there is an easy one about 2.7 miles west of here, on State Road 16: LA2184 (HUNT) at N40 54.879 W085 38.511 marked by a white Witness Post:

DESCRIBED BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1948 (RCB) STATION IS LOCATED ABOUT 8 MILES EAST OF URBANA AND 7 MILES NORTHEAST OF LAGRO. IT IS 52 FEET SOUTHEAST OF A T-INTERSECTION OF A GRAVEL ROAD SOUTH AND STATE HIGHWAY 16, 41 FEET SOUTH OF CENTER OF HIGHWAY 16, 33 FEET EAST OF CENTER OF A GRAVEL ROAD AND 20 FEET SOUTH OF A WHITE WITNESS POST. THE MARK PROJECTS ABOUT 8 INCHES AND THE DISK IS STAMPED HUNT 1948

IF YOU FOUND THE BENCHMARK CLICK HERE TO LOG IT

Members of the Society of Friends lived a life filled with what they referred to as their "plain ways". These plain ways of dressing, speaking and personal conduct helped maintain the separateness and discipline that was necessary for the continued existence of their religious society. "The Discipline" was a slender volume of rules that were to be kept by each Friend. The original Discipline dated back to the London Yearly Meeting of the 1660s. Each member was to have a copy, published by the Yearly Meeting of which he or she was a member. The rules varied little from meeting to meeting. These rules defined the life of individual Friends from birth to death, even dictating whether a burying ground could have gravestones and the height and form of the stones!

Dress was their most immediate difference from the non-Quaker Hoosiers. Men were required to wear collarless coats and wide brimmed hats of black or yellow that were only removed in prayer. Women’s bonnets were plain cloth with stiff, deep brims. Women wore plain cut dresses, unadorned by decoration. Both men’s and women’s clothing were fastened with the plainest of buttons and then only as absolutely necessary.

In counties were Friends settled, Quaker schools were usually the first and sometimes the only schools. In 1840, when the Federal Census revealed illiteracy rates of 16% in some counties, Wayne County’s literacy was almost 100%. Friends saw a religious responsibility to provide a "guarded education" to their children. That same year, Yearly Meeting records show that the Friends were operating 114 schools in the state. Children were to be taught by Friends to read, write, and cipher in order to fulfill the work of the Society – within the meeting and in their personal life. The monthly meeting usually had oversight responsibility for schools, hiring the teacher, choosing texts, and maintaining the building. Parents paid tuition, with the meeting encouraged to pay for educating poorer members. Higher education came in the form of academies, Spiceland Academy being the largest and most well-known. In 1845 a Friends Academy opened in Westfield. A year earlier a manual labor school was opened by Friends in Parke County. Through the 19th century, Friends operated nearly a dozen of these secondary schools. The Friends Boarding School in Richmond was finally opened in 1847 and evolved into Earlham College by 1859.

Night caching Dogs Allowed Available year-round Less than 500 ft. from car to cache Restrooms available Check Tide Before Caching Accessible in Winter

Happy caching from SIXDOGTEAM

Thee I love, more than the meadow so green and still
More than the mulberries on the hill
More than the buds on the May apple tree, I love thee

Arms have I, strong as the oak, for this occasion
Lips have I, to kiss thee, too, in friendly persuasion

Thee is mine, though I don't know many words of praise
Thee pleasures me in a hundred ways
Put on your bonnet, your cape, and your glove
And come with me, for thee I love

---- Instrumental Interlude ----

Friendly persuasion

Thee is mine, though I don't know many words of praise
Thee pleasures me in a hundred ways
Put on your bonnet, your cape, and your glove
And come with me, for thee I love,