A "Pledge" and a "Fountain" Mystery Cache

A little puzzle with a 3 stage multi thrown in just for fun. The posted coords will take you to a place where you will find two memorials. One memorial honors Francis Bellamy, a Mt. Morris native born on May 18, 1855. He was the author of "The pledge of allegiance to the flag" of which the puzzle concerns. Therefore, this cache is of a patriotic theme. The other is a fountain honoring Dr. Myron H. Mills, Mt. Morris pioneer.

You will need to collect a little info from these memorials. The "Mills" memorial was actually the stage 2 of another of my caches before it was moved to it's present location. It has graduated to stage 1 for this cache. The fountain was originally erected in the downtown area of Mt. Morris in an intersection, so it is not far from where it originally stood.

A bit of history of the fountain; taken, in part from "Mount Morris, Patriotic People, Vibrant Memories, Bustling Businesses - A Community Memoir of Life in Mount Morris, New York" from an excerpt written by Andrea Rizzo Zadoorian.

Dr. Myron H. Mills was the youngest son of General William Mills. He was born in the village of Mount Morris in 1820 and died in 1897. He graduated from Geneva Medical College in 1844. He entered the Army during the Mexican War in 1846 as a medical officer. Dr. Mills returned to Mount Morris to became a leading citizen. He was a writer of Native American History, he founded the Mills Waterworks System and he was president of the local board of education. The Mills Memorial Drinking Fountain was given to Mount Morris by his wife Mary Mills and her daughters, Isabel and Jennie Mills, It was a memorial to honor Dr. Mills as a husband and father. The fountain bowl is 10 feet across; over all the fountain is 11 feet high. The shaft is made of red beech granite from Maine. The bowl weighs 35 tons, while the approximate weight of the whole structure is 42 tons. It was built by Worden Brothers Monument Manufacturing Company of Dansville, N.Y. The fountain is similar to the Wadsworth Memorial Fountain in Geneseo, except that Mount Morris has an eagle on top and Geneseo has a bear. On May 27, 1931, an intoxicated driver from out of town crashed into the fountain with his car. The supporting shaft, the marble ball and bronze eagle toppled to the ground when hit and the fountain was moved fully 10 inches off it's base. On June 19, 1931, the village residents, in a meeting, stated they believed that the fountain should be moved before it was completely ruined. On September 18, 1931, the Mills Memorial Fountain, which had been on Main Street at the corner of Lake Street for 28 years, was moved into the Mount Morris Cemetery. Though there was some talk of moving the fountain to the front of the Mills Mansion, in the summer of this year, 2011, the fountain was moved to it's present location, the corner of Main and State Streets.

*****To attain the coords to stage 2 you will need to know how many teeth the gear wheel has on the top plaque of the Francis Bellamy memorial. Add that number to the year the memorial was presented. Consider this number exhibit "A".

*****Next, count the number of whole round circles visible in the narrow arched band on all four sides of the "Mills" memorial below the large ball. Total all four sides together and subtract that number from the year seen on the front of the memorial. Consider this number exhibit "B".

*****Subtract exhibit "B" from exhibit "A" and consider this number exhibit "C". To reach stage 2 you must first solve the simple puzzle below.

N42' 43.ABC W077' 52.DEF

A = 1892 - "I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for _hich it _tand_: on_ natio_ indivisible _ith liberty and justice for all."

B = 1892 to 1923 - "I pledge allegia_ce to my flag and to the republic for which it sta_ds : one nation indivisible _ith liberty and justice for all."

C = 1923 to 1924 - "I pl_dge allegia_ce to the flag of the U_ited States and to the republic for _hich it stand_: one nation indivi_ible with liberty and justice for all."

D = 1924 to 1954 - "I pl_dge allegiance to the flag of the United State_ of America, and to the republic for _hich it sta_ds; one _ation indivisible with lib_rty and justice for all."

E = 1954 to Present - "I pledge all_giance to the flag of the U_ited states of America, and to the republic for _hich it stands, one nation u_der God, indivisible, with liberty and justic_ for all."

F = The old pl_dge has changed a few time_ since it _as written, and continue_ to be challenged in pr_sent times.

*****Now that you have a set of coords, add exhibit "C" to both North and West coords obtained by soving the puzzle.

These coords will take you on a short stroll to stage two where you will look for the coords to the final.

It is an easy walk to all legs from the parking coords and back of approx. .9 miles. At the final, you will (hopefully) find a .30 cal. can full of patriotic items. You can find some interesting history concerning Francis Bellamy by Googling "The Pledge of Allegiance" and going to Wiki.

I hope you enjoy this little challenge. I'm glad to be able to get the "Mills" fountain back into the game. No night caching please. As usual, please take a few steps away after replacing things and take a look back to see if you would be satisfied were it your cache. Most of all, HAVE FUN and thanks for stopping by.

You can check your answers for this puzzle on Geochecker.com.