Baldwinsville GC Event, Cleaning Out, Caching 6/22-25/2008

Sunday was a beautiful day as it started out sunny and cool so we decided to go look for a cache in a wooded area called the "Unique Forest" which is located in the hamlet of Amboy near Camillus. The 355-acre property contains only a small 40-acre sylvan sanctuary of old growth hardwoods, but it holds a special ecology, energy and atmosphere. Trees are mostly sugar maple, with a bit of beech and red maple, many over 100 feet tall and approaching 200 years old. The trees' tall, straight, unbranched boles and deeply fissured bark are ample evidence this is an ancient forest. A few of the maples are well over 200 years old; one was dated by annual growth rings at 285 years old. This cache was supposedly a tough one to find as many cachers had been there 4 and 5 times and still haven't found it. Mom and I walked up the road to a pine tree and spotted the cache hidden in a pine cone hanging on a branch of the tree after about 5 minutes of looking. We went back to the house and dressed and went to Baldwinsville as we had a geocaching event at Wack Wyatt's. It turned out to be a lot of fun meeting some of the cachers from this area that had hidden a lot of the cachers we had found. We had lunch and then they had a caching hunt inside the restaurant and then drew numbers for prizes that had been donated. We won a camo'd bison tube for hiding a cache. After that they just sat around and chatted and we left about 3:30. That was about it for Sunday.
Monday Tim & Melissa stayed home from work so Tim and I loaded some furniture into the van and took it to the landfill. It was some things that he had wanted to get rid of for a long time and Mark kindly consented to let us dump them in the landfill. The rest of the day was spent just hanging around doing a few odds and ends around the RV. We watched some TV and had a great spaghetti and meatball dinner.
Tuesday we went caching in the university section of Syracuse. First cache was located in some rocks around a drainage pipe, second was another puzzle cache at a Dunkin Donuts, third, fourth and fifth were in Oakwood Cemetery (more later), sixth was in a Jewish cemetery (more later) and the last cache was located near the Syracuse University football teams practice field in a pine tree.
The Jewish cemetery didn't have any name at the entrance so we really aren't sure of the name but the odd thing about this cemetery was the small stones plaved on the top of the gravestones in the cemetery. Although this custom is very common, little has been written about it. It may date back to biblical days when individuals were buried under piles of stones. Today, they are left as tokens that people have been there to visit and to remember. The custom of decorating graves with flowers was strongly opposed by rabbis for many centuries, based on the talmudic rules that "whatever belongs to the dead and his grave may not be used for the benefit of the living" and probably also because they regarded this custom as an imitation of pagan customs. It became popular for Jews to place stones on graves: simply as a replacement for flowers. The use of stones may possibly based on the early belief (also alluded to in the Talmud) that souls continue to dwell for a while in the graves in which they are placed, and placing the stones insure that they "stay put." Another possible explanation is stones are an equalizer: everyone is economically equal in death and placing a stone was considered less ostentatious than using flowers. Stones and pebbles represent permanence; the placing of stones suggests the permanence of memory, as opposed to the quick fading and passing of flowers. Quite unusual and as you can see by the pictures there quite a few that did have stones on them.
Oakwood Cemetery was founded in 1859 and has played a dual role in the life of the Salt City. A tranquil and beautiful resting place for the deceased, it is also an historic picturesque landscape filled with art and architecture. In the early 1850's a group of prominent men in Syracuse began looking for grounds for a new cemetery. In the forefront of this group were E.W. Leavenworth and John Wilkinson. Meetings were held on and off until the late 1850's when the group began to act. The men were interested in making the new burial ground a rural cemetery, which was a popular cemetery style during that time period. In contrast to burial grounds in the city which were overcrowded, odoriferous, and were prone to vandalism this cemetery was to be an attractive and civilized place to bury one's loved ones. The chosen site encompassed a glacial hill where springs carved valleys around steep slopes forested with massive oaks. The rural cemetery, designed as a series of landscape pictures, was to be a place of spiritual fulfillment for the living as well as a resting place for the dead. An overall picturesque effect was achieved through varied topography, irregular land division, winding roads and paths, and controlled internal views. The rural cemetery was designed to be a place of natural and man-made beauty, where individuals and families could escape their everyday lives and enjoy the surroundings. Oakwood Cemetery was dedicated on November 3, 1859. The first interment occurred on November 8th. A 21-year old woman named Nellie G. Williamson, who died of consumption, was the first person buried in Oakwood. Another noteworthy Oakwood burial was that of Benjamin Nukerck (or Newkirk) who was the first caucasian person buried in Syracuse at the age of 37, on December 7, 1797. He came to the area to trade with Native Americans in 1786, prior to settlement on the Military Reservation. Due to a mistake by the US Army during the Civil War, Oakwood has an unnamed soldier. They mistakenly sent the wrong body which was subsequently buried in the Barnum family plot. Later, when the young man returned to his family, the unknown soldier was left buried and unmarked in the family plot.
In 1904, a stir was caused in the Syracuse area when Charles Crouse planned to memorialize his father, Jacob Crouse, by placing a large boulder in the family plot in Oakwood. The commotion was not caused by the act, but in how the boulder was to be transported to Oakwood. After an extensive search, Crouse found an appropriate rock on the Wilbur Farm on Terry Road in Split Rock. It weighed 80 tons and he paid $4,500 to have it delivered to the cemetery. It was initially proposed to move the boulder by train from the Fairmount station, but a crane large enough to lift the weight could not be found. The next idea involved having 40 teams of horses pull the rock on a sled in the winter, but there were too many sharp curves in the roads and no way to slow the boulder on downward grades. What took place instead occurred later in early spring when the roads were still covered in snow. A capstan, one team of draught horses and six men were employed to move two-inch planks and rollers individually to slowly move the massive rock. It moved about 900 feet per day and the six-mile trip to Oakwood took eight weeks. The newspapers reported on the progress of the boulder and crowds gathered daily to watch the slow progression.
On November 11, 1982, the Haggerty lion was placed in Oakwood as a memorial to Michael Charles Haggerty who died at age 14 in an auto accident in 1974. His brother Thomas, who was two years younger than Michael, was an art student at Syracuse University when his parents asked him to create a special and original memorial. Michael had always liked lions and his mother thought a lion would be appropriate - a friendly protector, inviting but with claws. Thomas began work on the monument in the summer of 1981. He formed the clay image in his garage, spraying and wrapping his work each night. After this initial phase, the large figure was moved outside of his home and his work was supervised by an SU instructor. After a year's work, the 620 pound bronze statue was ready for placement. Michael had originally been buried at St. Mary's in DeWitt, but the authorities responsible for the diocese cemeteries objected to the monument. Michael was then reinterred in a special spot at Oakwood with the lion standing guard. Many people do not know about the Haggerty lion because it is situated in a wooded area and during seasons with leaves, it is well concealed. The lion can be found across the road from the Chapel. At the corner where the woods begin is a small trail which leads about 20 feet up a small incline to the monument. The cemetery's Victorian charm remains intact and the overall design is Oakwood's most significant asset.
Our three caches in Oakwood were: the first was at the Haggerty Lion (see picture) which you read about above and it was hidden near the lion in a tree. It was also located near the Mortuary Chapel and Receiving Vault built in 1879 by J. L. Silsbee architect and future teacher of Frank Lloyd Wright. Built of Onondaga limestone; Gothic and Romanesque elements include terra cotta cresting atop a steeply pitched roof and a central tower topped by a Greek cross. Note the playful use of carved spider webs on the rear chimneys. It was also near the Old Office built in 1902 by H. Q. French & Co. It replaced the original Gothic Revival gatekeepers cottage built in 1862. Visitors would have to stop here and receive a pass and a copy of the rules and regulations before entering the grounds.
Second cache was located in the woods near a small creek where you could see headstones deep in the woods in almost unaccessible areas.
The third cache was at the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Monument. This monument was a life sized bronze statue of a civil war soldier, standing as a lone sentinel over the graves of 231 veterans of the American Civil War. For sixty-six years, this statue in full uniform, held his musket and gazed southward, a dedicated guard designed to last for generations. On June 25, 1951, thieves stole the statue, presumably to melt the bronze down for scrap. All that remains is the granite base. The old stones, due to age and decay, had been laid down on the ground to avoid them tipping over and causing injury. Chris Piering, a Civil War buff, and others conducted painstaking research to prove the identities of the interred to the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is responsible for marking any unmarked veteran grave. Each stone weighed 230 pounds and had to be set 18 inches in the ground. Ten volunteers working weekends placed the stones. The statue of Col August Root was also replaced sometime after 2000 and again is in full uniform with his musket and is gazing southward.
We went back to the RV after caching and had lunch and Mom did the cache logs and I showered and got ready to go out for dinner. Tim was at a meeting in Buffalo so we asked Melissa, Nikki and Rosie to go with us and we went to Quaker Steak Oil & Lube for wings. This is a new restaurant to the Syracuse area and is a chain located out of PA. The wings were GREAT and I had all you can eat which they have every Tuesday and the place was packed. All in all we tried 7 different flavors of wings and their wasn't 1 we didn't like. After dinner we went back and watched TV and turned in.
Wednesday Mom and I went caching again and again went to the university section and into the valley area. First cache was in a small park near Manley fieldhouse, 2nd was near an apartment building in a rock wall, 3rd was in the woods behind a group of apartments, 4th was near a retirment home in a rock wall, 5th at a Dunkin Donuts in a bush, 6th was in another huge rock wall (it must have been rock wall day today), and the last cache was at Academy Green a small park in a hollow tree. Not an awful lot of interesting or historical caches today so we don't have any pictures. Then it was on back to the RV for lunch and posting logs. It is our turn to do dinner tonight so we are having pork roast, potatoes, sweet corn and a new dessert Mom is making with Oreos. Tomorrow we leave for Binghamton for 3 days and Rachel's graduation. I hope to do a little caching and Mom will spend some time with Anna. So we will say until next time and we love and miss you all.


Picture List:First 3 pics are the Jewish Cemetery we visited for a cache and the one we talked about above that had stones on top of the grave markers. 1-Mom & Dad with our 1700th cache find in Oakwood Cemetery @ the Civil War Monument in the background, 2 & 3-Civil War Monument the soldier in his uniform with his musket facing southward, 4, 5, & 6-Civil War graves of 231 soldiers & sailors, 7-Soldiers & sailors historic marker, 8-Marker for the Medal of Honor recipient of the Civil War, 9-Base the old Civil War statue stood on before it was stolen, 10, 11, 12-Mortuary Chapel & Receiving Vault Circa 1879 at Oakwood Cemetery, 13-Tiny Moon & Pumpkin King, 14-One of the many old monuments in the cemetery, 15-The Old Office, 16-The Haggerty Lion gravesite, 17-T D Lover & Miner_85, 18-TD Lover's TB, 19-Team Lany & ATV Girl, 20-Lou of Team Senegal, 21-The geocaching table at the meeting, 22-Molly and Groo the Wanderer, 23-Monet37, 24-Novak & Family, 25-Sekhmet, 26-Jennifer the Fairie Queen, 27-Finn McColl & Molly, 28-Hubbye, 29-Imatreemonkey & Mom Carla, 30-KKinsto& Jessica, 31-Adium & MandMSyr, 32-Btie58, 33-Bullseye1, 34-Cosmonium & Groo the Wanderer, 35-Dewski.