Middlebush Cemetery Traditional Geocache
Sapience Trek: Hello NYBigfoot -
As the issues with this cache have not been resolved, I must regretfully archive it.
Please note that if geocaches are archived by a reviewer or Geocaching HQ for lack of maintenance, they are not eligible for unarchival.
Sapience Trek
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Size: 
(regular)
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Cache is located in the Middlebush Cemetery between Route 9 and Old Route 9. Just a few feet north of Poughkeepsie Nissan. You are looking for a regular sized ammo can that holds lots of goodies.
This cache, along with many other of its type that I am planning, will mainly focus on older, nearly forgotten burial plots of Dutchess County. The goal of these caches is not necessarily the length of the walk nor the difficulty of the find, but rather a simple reverence for those who came before us to shape our area.
Given this cache's venue and the need to show proper respect for it, there will be NO DIGGING REQUIRED to locate the final cache container. It is NOT located in the rock wall and is a safe distance away from any gravestone. Please DO NOT engage in any behavior that might even POSSIBLY be construed by the locals as improper, disrespectful, or sacrilegious toward the grave sites or the general area. Please leave everything (the cache as well) EXACTLY as you found it when you arrived.
The best parking for this cache would be at the office building on the corner of Route 9 and Middlebush Road, directly across from a bank (sorry, the name escapes me at present). I have added the coordinates for this spot as a waypoint below. You may also park in the Cablevison parking lot on Old Route 9 and walk across the street.
This cache could be a quick park and grab, but it was not intended to be done in this manner. Please stay a few moments to walk around and read some of the stones. This cemetery was visited on November 21,1912, by J. W. Poucher, M. D., and Miss Helen W. Reynolds. The two copied the transcriptions on every stone for their book, "Old Gravestones of Dutchess County, New York", which was then written in 1924. Their exact transcriptions are in a ziploc bag inside the cache for your viewing purposes. Please do not remove the listings from the container. There are 97 stones in total.
An excerpt from Poucher's book gives the following historical information: "Before the war of the Revolution there was a Baptist church at Gayhead in the town of East Fishkill. In 1782, this was abandoned and a new congregation was organized which erected a church at Middlebush. One pastor served for a time both at Middlebush and at the Union meeting house at Green Haven in the town of Beekman (q.v.). In 1826 the "meeting house lot" at Middlebush was sold and, in 1830, the church building was purchased by the Methodists. The building was used by the Methodists 1830-1869 and was finally torn down."
One of the oldest graves in the cemetery is Abraham Van Wyck. He died on May 17th, 1790. He was just 42 years old.
CACHE WAS APPROVED BY THE TOWN BOARD OF THE TOWN OF WAPPINGERS
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)