Caching on Sunday with Chris, Corinna, Tyler & Alexis

Sunday started out with a huge thunder and lightening storm from about 5:45 till almost 7:00 and the rain was unbelievable. We didn't think we would be able to do to much but a little later in the morning it cleared off a little bit so Chris and the family went for a bike ride on the Airline Trail and we stayed around and watched the house. After they got back there was nothing to do so we all decided to go caching. We took 10 caches and way we went. Our first 3 caches were in cemeteries and old ones they were. The first cache in Westchester Cemetery Tyler found in the woods and after replacing it we looked around the cemetery for awhile and found several headstones dating back to the late 1700's and many more in the mid 1800's. We also found a very unique grave site and if you check the pictures you will see what we mean. We left there and drove to Linwood Cemetery right near Chris's house and Chris found this cache in a stone wall and after replacing it we walk around but this cemetery wasn't quite as old as the last one. Next cache was located at the old Bacon Academy School building in a cemetery behind the school and the oldest cemetery we have been in on our travels to date. Some of the headstones dated back to the early 1700's as the cemetery had a marker outside which said Colchester Burying Grounds Circa 1713.
In 1800 a prominent Colchester farmer, Pierpont Bacon, died and left an endowment of thirty-five thousand dollars (equivalent to about four-hundred thousand today). The endowment was to the "inhabitants of the First Society of Colchester for the purpose of supporting and maintaining a school…for the instruction of Youth in Reading and writing English, in Artithmetic, Mathimaticks, and the Languages, or such other branches of Learning". This established the academy that bears his name. Bacon Academy’s doors opened to the children of Colchester on the first of November 1803 and from that point forward, prepared many young men and women for the life that lay ahead. In its early days, Bacon Academy had a reputation of quality preparation for colleges around the country. Local children attended the school at no cost. Bacon’s status was recognized by many prominent fathers of the nineteenth century. The trustees established that there were to be three terms in a typical school year. The first started in September and ended in December; the second from January to April; and the third from May to August. Early class rolls show that the number of local students would be less in planting and harvesting season, many of them skipping semesters and/or returning either late in the first term or leaving early in the second and zero attendance in the third. Early Bacon students did not earn a diploma or graduate after four years like today. Instead, the school had a system divided into three branches. In the first branch, a young student learned such subjects as languages, grammar and mathematics. During the second branch, he or she would be taught writing, geometry, and rhetoric. The last branch would be similar to the common or grammar school. Age never factored into a student’s ability. Some students would leave Bacon at fifteen or sixteen if they completed the branches. In 1886, the branch structure was abandoned for the current four-year system and by 1890, the first modern-day commencement occurred with each graduate receiving a diploma. The school bell would toll at five-thirty in the morning during the first and third term and at seven in the winter for those in branches one and two. During which two scholars would be chosen each day to practice public speaking in front of instructors and other students. Following the speech, the day would begin with the scholars from the common branch joining the others for the Morning Prayer. Afterward, the preceptor (principal) would talk about morals and the studies of his students. This routine was eliminated after 1846 when the bells tolled only for the start of the school day. Life as a Bacon student was strict. The attitude of the scholar had to be forthright and that of a lady or gentleman. In or out of school, they would have behaved properly and dressed neatly or otherwise punished by means of “reproof, correction, admonition, or expulsion.” While in class, all pupils would sit diligently at their desk and learn the Greek or Latin classics. At home, the student usually studied when not working on their father’s farm or doing chores for their boarding master. After the centennial celebration the national reputation of the school declined and the Academy was primarily for those in surrounding towns. Eventually Bacon became the public high school for the town. In 1962, the student population in the then 160 year old building on Main Street had exceeded its use and they moved to the new facility adjacent to the grammar school. Stephen F. Austin the "Father of Texas" was one of the famous at the school.
After seeing the school we walked around the cemetery and Alexis found the cache behind a rock along the edge of the cemetery. We signed and replaced it and then walked around the cemetery reading all the old headstones and one site in particular caught our eye. It was the tomb of Gershom Bulkeley. The tomb of Gershom Bulkeley was discovered and after consultation with Bulkeley family members, the Colchester Historical Society called in Dr. Nicholas Bellantoni, the State Archeologist. He and his team of volunteers which included genealogists, archeologists and forensic specialists spent a total of 12 days in the exhumation of the tomb. The most interesting part of the exhumation was the discovery of the parts of some 28 coffin lids which enabled the researchers to specifically identify the family members. Forensic studies of the remains were completed in early 2003. In October 2003, the remains were reinterred and the tomb was sealed permanently. A granite marker over the stairwell lists the names of the interred Bulkeley family members. Gershom Bulkeley was born in Colchester in 1708 and died here in 1788. He was the fifth child of John Bulkeley who arrived here in 1703 as a minister of First Church of Christ. John and his wife Patience Prentice had 14 children, three of whom are buried in the tomb. Another of their children, also named John, is buried beneath a table top grave marker next to his father's marker at the upper end of the Ancient Burial Ground. Gershom's tomb was built around the time of his death in 1788 (or perhaps as early as 1775) and this type of tomb has been found in a few other Connecticut cemeteries and date between 1780 and 1840. George Washington is buried in a similar tomb. The first mention of the tomb was by a Colchester historian, who wrote in the 1920's that he had been in the tomb, and he described it perfectly. The tomb was apparently sealed in 1933 when the minister's son broke into it, extracted a skull and on Halloween paraded around town with the skull on a pole. The next day, four students at Bacon Academy were pressed into service and ordered to seal the tomb by the school's principal. For the next 70 years the tomb was just a mound of earth that was completely overlooked in the cemetery restoration which began in 1991. In the spring 2002, while clearing the tree line to put in period fencing, town workmen discovered three pieces of a large marble tablet which, when put together, suggested that this mound with some exposed brick work was in fact "the tomb of Gershom Bulkeley and his descendants" and then the exhumation was begun.
Next was 4 caches loacted in one of the town parks in Colchester. The first one was located up a hill near some rocks in a tree, the next was under a bridge, next was also in a tree and the last one was located on a fence. Then we did 2 caches loacted near RT 2 and they were travel bug hotels. Both were in the woods near off ramps. It seemed like everyone had a good time and we know Tyler and Alexis enjoyed it because they got some goodies out of some of the caches. We drove back to the house and I showered and Mom did our logs and Corinna made a great dinner of shrimp wrapped in prosciuitto and then baked in the oven with heavy cream sauce and mozzarella cheese over it and it was delicious. Then I had hoped to watch the Yankee-Red Sox game but it was in a rain delay so I went to bed and Mom watched tv for awhile. Well that's all the news that's fit to print from CT so we will say until next time we love you and miss you all.


Picture List:1,2-Entrance and marker for the Colchester Burying Ground Circa 1813, 3-Gershom Bulkeley burial tomb as written about above, 4-Many of the grave sites in the cemetery, 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16-Grave markers from many of the sites in the cemetery some dating back to the mid 1700's, 17,18-Westchester Cemetery grave markers, 19,20-Also Westchester Cemetery but note this one particular grave site which has solar powered lights and has a table set with Budweiser beer bottles, cupcakes and many other assorted knick knacks and next to the grave is a metal post with a scarf with the emblem of Gryffindor which is one of the houses at Hogwarts Academy in the Harry Potter book series, 21,22,23,24,25-Linwood Cemetery with many of the early grave sites dating back to the mid 1800's along with many Civil War graves with men who volunteered and fought in the war from, MA, CT and PA, 26,27,28-Bacon Academy School which is written about above.