You can rail against magnets here to find what you are looking for.
Set your gaze through the bridge, to the stone embankment beyond, to conjure a vision of the tree where Hannah’s Stump (and Hannah) stood. Look south to imagine the Old Stone Mill as the Flood of ‘35 washed it away.
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“Say yes or I jump!” Those could have been Hannah’s last words…but they weren’t.
Isaac Bloomer dropped to his knee below the precipice over which Hannah’s stump leaned. Right then and there Isaac proposed marriage to save the poor girl’s life. At least that’s how the early 19th century tale goes, and it very well may be true. Town records show that Hannah Towbridge of Gridley Hollow and Isaac Bloomer were married and likely lived an abundant pioneer farm life.
Twentieth century locals embraced and reported the legend of Hannah’s Stump, as well as the good berry picking and camping that could be found at the base of the cliff and adjunct to the winding road and stream. The road was eventually straightened and the physical location of Hannah’s stump vanished to progress. Regardless, if the geocacher looks upstream through the new bridge and to the stone embankment beyond, one might conjure up the essence of Hannah’s Stump.
This geocache is also near the site of the Old Stone Mill, a prosperous Virgil enterprise built by Gaius Ruddin in 1856. In later years, the mill was known as Angell’s Mill and the Rockdale Mill. During the infamous Flood of 1935 the raging stream ran its banks, the surrounding area was washed out, and the mill was destroyed.
- KB/SC