Manuscript Found:The Spalding Enigma Traditional Geocache

This cache has been archived.

SVC: This cache has had a good run and it's just gone missing one too many times. Thanks to all those that found it and found the story interesting.

I'll be back to check up on old Solomon from time to time and I hope you folks will too :)

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Hidden : 12/20/2006
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

You may be scratching your head right now thinking "Who is Solomon Spalding"?


The Rev. Solomon Spalding (1761-1816) was a lapsed Calvinist clergyman, a failed businessman, and the would-be author of a pre-historic American epic story explaining the lost civilization of the "Mound Builders." He graduated with the Dartmouth College class of 1785. In 1833 residents of New Salem (now Conneaut), Ohio, signed affidavits stating that Spalding had written a manuscript, portions of which were identical to the Book of Mormon. These included Spalding's brother John Spalding, his wife Martha, Aaron Wright, Henry Lake, Nahum Howard, Joseph Miller, and others. Several years later residents of Amity, Pennsylvania, also signed statements that Spalding had read to them from a manuscript that was similar to the Book of Mormon. Spalding moved from New Salem to Pittsburgh in 1812 and to Amity in 1814 where he died in 1816. In 1884 a Solomon Spalding manuscript was recovered in Honolulu, Hawaii and taken to the Oberlin College Library in Ohio. This unfinished story bears only occasional resemblance to the Book of Mormon text and is not claimed by many literary critics as having formed the basis for the LDS scriptures. The text was published by the Reorganized LDS Church in 1885 and a transcript is available on-line.Whether or not Mr. Spalding wrote a fictional history as a basis for the Book of Mormon remains a matter of scholarly debate. Despite the signed statements in 1833 in support of this thesis, no manuscript closely resembling the Book of Mormon exists today. Consequently, although the Spalding authorship was accepted as fact throughout the 19th Century, today most historians reject the Spalding thesis as an explanation of the origin of the Book of Mormon. The title of his book was Manuscript Found (hence the cache title).

Now that you have a little background on the man, you can go visit him for yourself at the The Lower Ten Mile Presbyterian Church in Amity,Pa. The cache IS NOT in the graveyard. It is nearby but not on Church property. The walk is easy and suited for almost everyone (the last 50 feet might give someone in a wheelchair some trouble). I have also included a waypoint for Spalding's grave.

Take I-79 to exit 30 (Amity/Lone Pine). Follow 19 towards Amity and you'll see the Church on your right. Good luck and have fun visting an obsurce fellow in American history.


UPDATE: 06-17-12

The old cache is M.I.A. so it has been replaced with a lock-and-lock that has a green logbook with a ghost on it. If you find any other cache in the area that doesn't have that log book, its the missing old one.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Tbbq fvmrq ybpx-naq-ybpx orgjrra gjb ybtf pbirerq jvgu gerr onex. Gur pnpur vf bayl n srj srrg vagb gur jbbqf. Jnyx cnfg Fcnhyqvat'f tenir naq xrrc gur jbbqf ba lbhe evtug. Ragre gur jbbqf jura lbh nobhg 3/4 bs gur jnl gbjneqf gur onpx. Lbh bayl arrq gb tb n srj srrg vagb gur jbbqf (znlor yrff guna 20). Vs lbh jnyx cnfg gur byq srapr cbfg lbh'ir tbar gbb sne. Gur pnpur vf va orgjrra gur gjb ybtf pbirerq va gerr onex.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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