Indiana Spirit Quest #129: Hoosier Homestead Traditional Cache

The Indiana Spirit Quest series of geocaches will take you to a number of historic cemeteries built by Hoosier Pioneers. In just a year, the quest has grown to over a hundred thirty caches hidden in sixteen Indiana counties, and the hiders have grown to five cacher teams, four of which are comprised of A Man and His Dog... PRAIRIEPARTNERS has set a record for one-day ISQ finds on 10-16-2004 at 55! 130 cacher teams have logged over 1,750 finds.

TOP TEN FINDS

FTF's

1. 32 --Dragon Ryders Three
2. 16 --Bluegillfisherman
3. 14 --Buddaman
4. 8 --Pinestrail

Pioneer Cemetery (All photos copyright 2005 by LEAD DOG)

Welcome To Thompson Home Cemetery, established 1849, in Salamonie Township, Huntington County. The cemetery has a nice little orchard behind it, as well as the Thompson Centennial Farm (1837 - 1976), a Hoosier Homestead Farm (Owned by the same family for over 100 years). It is well-tended, and has a U-shaped drive that is good when the ground is dry. More than a hundred souls have been laid to rest here, no less than fifty-Five of them Thompsons, and many of the others extended family members.

From Biographical Memoirs of Huntington County, 1901, pages 417-420:

Kentucky has contributed to Indiana many prominent families of the class of pioneers who followed Boone into that region… Probably the state at the south never contributed a family whose members have done more to develop Indiana than has the Thompson family.

Many of this class of brave frontiersmen followed Boone into the country west of the Mississippi, but Ebenezer Thompson had his attention directed northward toward the close of the eighteenth century; His gaze rested upon the valley of the Salamonie, and in 1839, but six years after the first cabin was built on its banks, he is here found …Seeing what he deemed a more promising country in the valley of Little river, he finally settled near where Huntington now stands

His first wife, Elizabeth Howard, was the mother of three sons: George, John Howard and William… George was the father of Senator George Howard Thompson, and John Howard became one of the most prominent men of Salamonie township, Ebenezer was born in Bracken county, Kentucky, November 12, 1802, and died at the age of eighty-five… His eldest son, Ebenezer, being sixteen years old upon accompanying his father to Huntington county in the fall of 1840, the journey being made during the most heated political campaign this country has ever known, that of "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too." When still a young man he was married to Miss Permelia Blair. Permelia was not, however, allowed to remain the companion and comfort of her husband and family for long, as her death occurred September 25, 1849, and her body was the first deposited in what became known as the "Thompson" cemetery, in the eastern part of the township, and many of the name have been laid there since. She was the mother of two children...

The successor to the lady above mentioned was Mary Richards, She was the mother of eight children,. Ebenezer Thompson began his farming in a small way, having but forty acres of land, but, with the ambition and energy characteristic of the family, he kept adding until his farm contained upward of three hundred acres, highly improved, and became one of the most valuable estates in the community. He was one of those advanced farmers who delight to have his business kept in fine condition, the improvements that he placed upon the farm speaking forcibly of his capacity as a shrewd, sagacious citizen. The original house is still in use, having been incorporated into the present one, his whole business life being passed on the spot where he died, in December, 1896, in his seventy-third year. The "dark messenger" gave no warning, but, as the flash of lightning from a clear sky, laid his hand upon the brow of this old and respected pioneer and called him to the last rest…

Ebenezer and his two wives share a tombstone in the cemetery. John H. is buried here as well. If you find the above narrative a little confusing, and note that the dates don't jive, don't worry about it, you get the gist of the story--One big family on the farm for 165 years...

CEMETERY SIGN (Can you see Patrick in the truck?)

THOMPSON FARM SIGN

The cache container is a 35mm film can. BYOP. Park with extreme care. If you find a fallen US flag, please stick it back in the ground. As always, please be respectful, and cache in, trash out. XXX

DON'T BE FOOLED BY IMITATIONS!!None genuine without SixDogTeam seal. 35mm photographs taken by Lead Dog, copyright 2005 by RikSu Outfitters unless otherwise noted. (Photos taken with 1970 Mamiya-Sekor 500DTL SLR) We are the SixDogTeam and we approve of this cache.

"Indiana Spirit Quest" is brought to you by The SixDogTeam, Kodiak Kid, THE SHADOW, Team Shydog and Rupert2.