Trails and Tribulations 5 - Bonus
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This is one of a series of 5 caches that make up the "Horace Greeley History Hunt 2.0" created by the New Castle Historical Society, located in Chappaqua, NY, to promote interest in local history and awareness of our town’s remarkable open land. All 5 will be logged separately. In each of the first four, you will find a clue in the form of a token. Take one token from each. Once you have them all, you will be able to find this fifth, bonus cache.
The header coordinates will not lead you to the cache, but to a town landmark.
You will need to find clues in the Horace Greeley History Hunt 2.0: Trails and Tribulations series that will lead you to this final bonus cache. In each of the first four caches in the series you will find a game piece with a part of the coordinates you need. Good Luck!
Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley, a fifth generation American (his ancestors came here in about 1640 from England), was born in Amherst, NH on February 3, 1811 to Zaccheus Greeley and Mary Woodburn on their small farm of 50 acres. Eldest of five surviving children, he learned to read early. The family fell on hard times and was evicted from the farm in 1820. At age 11 Horace went with his father to Whitehall, NY to apply for work, but was too young to be hired. His father found a job working at a lumber camp for 50¢ a day. At age 15, Greeley walked to East Poultney, Vermont, where he learned about the printing trade as an apprentice at “The Northern Spectator.”
From 1830 to 1833 Horace was employed by a number of small newspapers including “The Erie Gazette”, “The Evening Post” and “the Spirit of the Times”. In March of 1834, he started “The New-Yorker,” a non-partisan literary and news journal. In 1838 he became the editor of “The Jeffersonian,” which espoused Whig causes, and in 1840 he edited and published the Whig campaign weekly, “The Log Cabin”. In 1841, he merged the “The Log Cabin” and “The New-Yorker” into “The New York Tribune”, which by 1850 employed 14 local reporters, 20 American and 18 foreign correspondents. It had a circulation of more than 250,000. In 1872, after his failed presidential campaign, Horace lost control of the paper.
Greeley began his political career in 1848 as a member of the 30th Congress from New York for one session. He was one of the founders of the Republican Party and active in the party in the 1850s. He was the decisive factor in nominating Lincoln for President in 1860. He served in many capacities including: a juror at the Crystal Palace in London in 1851; a delegate to the Loyalist Convention; and a candidate for State Comptroller in NY but was defeated. He ran for President on the Liberal Republican and Democratic ticket against Ulysses S. Grant in 1872 and lost 3,597,070 to 2,834,079. He carried only six states. Mary had died a few days before the election. That, combined with his election loss, and his loss of control of the Tribune, led to a mental and physical collapse. He died on Nov 29, 1872. He was 61.
Horace met his future wife, Mary Cheney, in 1835 at a vegetarian boarding house where they were both residing. Mary, 22, was a teacher at a girls’ school. Horace and Mary had a mutual interest in both books and current events. They married in July 1836. Over the course of 13 years, Mary gave birth to 7 children, of which only two (Ida and Gabrielle) survived to adulthood. The others died from a myriad of causes: including cholera, dysentery and croup. After the deaths of Mary and Horace, Ida took over the role of caregiver to Gabrielle, who was only 15. Later, Ida married Col. Nicholas Smith and had three children, whose descendants now live in the Northeast. Gabrielle married Rev. Dr. Frank Clendenin and had four children with descendants living in Germany.
Horace Greeley House
The original portion of the Horace Greeley House was constructed between 1853-1854 on one-half acre. It was sold by Betsy Sands to the Greeley family in 1864 for $1,401. The Greeleys added several rooms, including the music room and the butler’s pantry on the first floor and the family parlor and maid’s room on the second floor, to the uphill side of the structure. The stairs were also relocated. It was their country home from 1864–1873.
After the Greeley daughters moved out of the house, it was rented to a number of families During the 1930s it became severely dilapidated, and was in danger of demolition. In 1940, it was rescued by two local citizens: interior decorator Gladys Capen Mills and insurance agent Frederick B. Stickney, and was restored under the direction of local architect Melvin P. Spalding. Mrs. Mills devoted the first floor to the Greeley House Gift Shop, and lived on the second floor. For a time, a restaurant was opened in the old ground-floor kitchen. In 1959, the Greeley House was sold to David and Walter Swertfager, who enlarged the gift store to occupy the entire house. They also build a flat-roofed addition on the back. In 1979, The Horace Greeley House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of The Greeley Thematic Group of Buildings.
In 1998, after the gift shop was closed, The New Castle Historical Society purchased Horace Greeley House. The society worked diligently to research the building, to document the reconstruction and to meet high standards of safety and historical accuracy. The restoration was under the direction of Stephen Tilly, Architect, who specializes in historic preservation. The landscape has been restored under the guidance of Stephen Yarabeck of Hudson & Pacific Designs, Inc., historic landscape designers. In September of 2000 the New Castle Historical Society dedicated the newly restored Horace Greeley House. The Museum and property have become a central element in downtown Chappaqua.
History of New Castle Historical Society
Originally named the Chappaqua Historical Society and chartered through the NYS Department of Education, the Historical Society was founded in April 1966 on the 175th anniversary of the formation of the Town of New Castle. At that time exhibits were set up at the Chappaqua Library (now the Community Center).
In October 1968, the Chappaqua Historical Society found a home – a Mini-Museum – in three tiny rooms rented for $25.00 monthly upstairs at the Holmes & Kennedy (now Prudential Douglas Elliman) building, across from the Horace Greeley House. Members decorated the rooms and the Museum was opened to the public March 1, 1969. The ceiling in one room was so low it was difficult to stand up. In 1969 the Society’s permanent Charter was received from the State Department of Education.
The Society remained in the Mini-Museum until early 1971 when a 300 square foot space in the new Town Hall became available. The Museum remained there until January 1985 – 14 years.
The Greeley Collection, purchased by the community in 1955 from Greeley Stahl, Horace Greeley’s great-grandson, for a museum, had been stored in a basement room in the High School. It was officially turned over to the Chappaqua Historical Society in 1970. A fund drive for $2,500 was necessary for the restoration of items in the Greeley Collection – Greeley’s desk and chair, the large oil portrait, busts of Greeley, and pictures, etc.
In 1976 the Threadneedle House on lower King Street was donated to the Historical Society. It was thought this would be the Society’s Museum, but it was not possible as the building could not meet State and local building codes. In the fall of 1981 the building was sold and the proceeds were placed the Capital Fund to be used for another museum building.
In 1984 the name was officially changed from Chappaqua Historical Society to the New Castle Historical Society in order to express more effectively its role as a Historical Society for the entire town.
Due to lack of space in Town Hall the Museum was moved in January of 1985 to a former classroom at Roaring Brook School. In July of that year better space became available adjoining the Bell School for a nominal fee and remained there until 1990. Then temporary quarters were provided at the Horace Greeley High School until the Society found a permanent home.
In early 1990 a home at 312 King Street became available. After many meetings with local and State officials, ownership was completed on February 25, 1991. Alterations were completed and the first permanent museum and headquarters after twenty-five years of existence was dedicated in September of 1992.
In 1998 The New Castle Historical Society purchased the Greeley family home. The 312 King Street Museum was sold and the office moved into temporary headquarters in Town Hall. In September of 2000 the New Castle Historical Society dedicated the newly restored Horace Greeley House. The museum interprets the period of time when the Greeley family lived there (1864-1873) and also provides rotating exhibits on New Castle history. The archives include books, photographs, costumes, maps, local diaries, and merchants’ records. Funds raised from membership and benefits support educational programs and exhibits.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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