We got to learn a little more about Joseph’s service. He joined Company B, aka the Woodworth Rifles, and was first located in Chicago before moving down to Memphis. He was part of the Vicksburg Campaign, the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, the Arkansas Post, and a couple more. It was disease not bullets that ended his time fighting. It was after that that he moved up to Northfield and first worked as a bookkeeper for a lumbermill and then went to work at First National Bank. He also became the treasurer for Carleton College and the City of Northfield. Some clues that we worked in on this day were:

Ember has the M sound and also Honeylocust Dr is the street and honey can be ember and amber in color. In a field because it will be hidden in the field and the other field reference is that they are the Timberfield Apartments right there which are gray and blue so they should be on that side/path and not on the YMCA side. Point of view because if you look at an aerial photo like on Google maps (or with Tim’s drone 🙂) it looks like a point between the two ponds. Two paths because there are two paths that you can take for the park, and rightly because if you are starting at the YMCA you would take the one to the right. Also if you are coming from between Elysian Senior Homes of Northfield and the Timberfield Apartments you’d also go to the right. And in the end I took 8 steps in line with the small trees which came to about the first tree and then went to the right 6 steps so I tried to keep everything going to the right to help you find it. I felt like this day had a lot of clues that you could come back to on Day 4 or 5 to help you figure out where it would be.

When Joseph moved to Northfield he met and then married Martha Buffum and together they had a daughter named Lizzie May. Martha fell sick and died and her wish for him was to marry her friend, Lizzie Adams so that her daughter would have a mother. We worked in quite a few clues into this day.

See – C in YMCA. I’m hoping that this one makes you realize the sounds of the letters are leading you over to the YMCA. No time for play is a clue to stay away from the playground part of the park. Also I added the line about his life being cut short to mean he would never grow old or be a senior man. The Elysian Senior Homes are right by the field where the horseshoe was hidden and I took the path that goes in between that and the Timberfield Apartments. Sweet is a clue because the address for Char Carlson Park is Honeylocust Drive. Targeted is a clue because Target is right over there and it’s off the path closest to Target and actually First National Bank also has a branch over there as well. Floor was a clue because it was hidden on the ground

A plaque really does hang at Carleton College and this is what it says:
A man modest, true, gentle; diligent in business; conscientious in duty; a citizen benevolent and honorable; towards God reverent and loyal; who, while defending his trust as a bank officer, fearlessly met death at the hands of armed robbers, in Northfield, Sept. 7, 1876. This tablet is inscribed by his friends as a tribute to heroic fidelity. ESTO FIDELIS USQUE AD MORTEM. (Be Faithful unto Death.)

This is also the day we wanted to give a nod to Char Carlson herself because from the research I did it sounds like she has done so much for our community, not only monetarily but in time as well.

As for the clues this day:
A – for A in YMCA the last one, Carlson College instead of Carleton College…at first I just thought about misspelling Carlton like this and you would need to figure out that that if you changed the t to an s it would spell Carlson but in the end we decided to go with Carlson College and lead you to Char Carlson park that way. There is in fact a plaque at Carleton College for Joseph. The benevolent protector clue was for Joseph and because Char Carlson was well known for helping financially and with time and just looking out to do good in the community and with different organizations in the community. Joseph was also a benevolent protector because he gave his life to protect his fellow townspeople’s funds at the bank. Prairie because that’s one area in the park that could look like a prairie and it was hidden in one of the more open spaces over there besides the big grassy area over by the playground, but day 3 already told you to stay away from the playground. And we threw in inner to tell you to go into the grassy area and not just stay on the edges by the trail. E, S, and H are capitalized because I wanted to get you over closer to Elysian Senior Home. The park is pretty big so I wanted to narrow it down for you a little bit.

I’m really excited for you all to hear Tim’s new song, “He Asked For Nothing More”. Remember, it’s available now for you to listen to on your favorite streaming platform. And here is how I arrived at the exact spot where I put the shoe down from the path:

I first went in on the path between Elysian Senior Homes and Timberfield Apartments and took a right (which if you started at the YMCA you would also take the trail to the right)…I added rightly in this clue and in clue 2 I had said rightly and hoped you all would remember that when you got to Char Carlson Park and would take the trail that went to the right. I knew there was this piece of prairie land in between the two ponds that would be a great place to place the shoe and I knew there was a line of many small trees that are planted there so I thought that would be a good thing to reference in the end. I started at the trail and took 8 steps to the east into the tall grass and that got me to about the first tree and then I took a right (south) and took 6 more steps and put the horseshoe on the ground. Pointed was a clue because if you look at it from the aerial view it looks like a point. Down again means to look on the ground. Between the two because it’s the land in between the two ponds. I added the part about where the tall weeds grew because the shoe was in some tall weeds this year. Actually when I went to hide it I panicked a little because they were so tall and in the dark they seemed extra tall to me! Scary! ha! As we got closer to the Day 5 clue we realized we might need to give some really specific clues because the park is so big so we added off the beaten path to make sure you went in and not stayed on the edge of it and told you to stay away from a bunch of yellow flowers because the part where I hid it had a few yellow flowers but on the other side of the line of trees there were a bunch. And then down the trail to the second to last garage stall towers meant to go down the path and that piece of land is right in front of the second to last of the garage buildings at the Timberfield Apartments. I didn’t want you guys to look all over the park on the last day so I hope that narrowed it down for you.

This year’s hunt has been so fun to create and I hope you all have enjoyed learning and discovering more of Northfield! Can’t wait to see you all next year!

Enjoy your time at the Defeat of Jesse James Days and congrats to the Schwab family for winning the $2150 and putting in 15 years of searching together as a family.

-Ali