GC388XM - WSQ Buelow - The Search for Pearl

GC388XM - WSQ Buelow - The Search for Pearl

By:  WI. Hibiscus

1.  Here is the puzzle.

Geocache Description:

The posted coordinates will take you to a set of markers in the Buelow Cemetery. Some simple math will help you find the coordinates for the cache which is available in winter but may not be winter friendly. Thanks to Randy Buelow for granting permission to place the cache.

I was in to gemology and genealogy before I became a geocacher. I used to spend lots of time in libraries, cemeteries and court houses searching for clues to help me solve a puzzle. Geocaching is almost the same but I have replaced court houses with rocks, woods and swamps! I have visited this cemetery as a geocacher, as a genealogist and as a family member. My now 97 year old grandmother used to bring me here to help her tend her mothers and sisters graves.

You will find markers for my great-grandmother, Anna, her first husband Charles and two of their children at the posted coordinates. You will also find a marker for my grandmothers sister, Pearl. Anna was born in 1878. The picture on the cache page was taken before her marriage to Charles in 1899. They had five children before his death in 1907. A sixth child was born a few months after his death. Anna married George Wolfe in 1912 and they had four more children, including my grandmother and Pearl. George had eight children with his first wife, Lillian, who died in 1911.

The final is located at N44 35.ABC W089 43.DEF

A and D = 3 times Pearl’s age when she died. 
BC = number of Anna and Charles children + number of Anna & George’s children 
EF = number of George and Lillian’s children

Strange but true trivia: If you change the posted coordinates to W088 instead of W089, you end up near BUELOW Road in Clintonville.


Additional Hints:

The cache is a WHITE 35mm film container



2.  Solve the puzzle.


Anna was born in 1878. The picture on the cache page was taken before her marriage to Charles in 1899. They had five children before his death in 1907. A sixth child was born a few months after his death. Anna married George Wolfe in 1912 and they had four more children, including my grandmother and Pearl. George had eight children with his first wife, Lillian, who died in 1911.

The final is located at N44 35.ABC W089 43.DEF

A and D = 3 times Pearl’s age when she died. (3 * 3 = 9)
A = 9
D = 9

Pearl Marjorie Wolfe (1919-1922)

BC = number of Anna and Charles children (6) + number of Anna & George’s children (4)
BC = 10


EF = number of George and Lillian’s children (8)
EF = 08

Solved Coordinates:

N 44 35.910, W 089 43.908

3.  Verify the Solved Coordinates.

Since there isn't a geochecker, use Google Maps and the Find A Grave cemetery map to determine whether the solved coordinates look reasonable.

Google Maps - Solved Coordinates

Find A Grave - Buelow Cemetery Map

The solved coordinates look plausible.

Buelow Cemetery - Find A Grave listing

The Buelow Family Cemetery appears to be located at the northwest corner of a residential property.