Placed by: Beth, Aaron and Max 
Location: Middlebury, CT New Haven County 
2/12/03

It is at beautiful Hop Brook Lake, you might want to check out the website during the spring and summer to see what this park offers. This is a wonderful place to spend a day with the family or just alone. Swimming and fishing are allowed. This park also happens to be pooch friendly, so long as they are leashed. I have learned that there is now a fee to enter the park from Memorial Day to Labor Day (1.00 for each person on foot or 3.00 per car). So keep that in mind when you go. However this box is accessible quite easily by foot even when the park is closed. 


Hop Brook Lake
Route 63 / Straits Turnpike
Middlebury, CT
This is a quick easy hike for all. 

The Lincoln box has an ink pad that you can take with you to the rest of the boxes, you will pass it again on the way out so please make sure to put it back or you may want to bring your own ink pad.
This is the first in our United States Presidents series (I know I went out of order). There are 5 boxes in this series.  We had hoped this would not only be a fun but an educational series too.

Abraham Lincoln
16th President 1861-1865
Republican
Vice Presidents - Hannibal Hamlin 
Andrew Johnson
Born: February 12, 1809 near Hodgenville, Kentucky
Occupation: Lawyer
Married: Mary Todd
Died: April 15, 1865 in Washington, D.C.
Early Years: Lincoln received no more than a year of schooling, but read every book he could borrow and became a master of the English language. He studied law in his spare time and passed the bar in two years.
His Presidency: Lincoln's election resulted in the secession of the southern states from the Union and the start of the Civil War which brought an end to slavery. His first goal had been to preserve the Union. It then became to restore peace. Shortly after beginning his second term in office, he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth while attending a play at Ford's Theater. He is considered by many to be our nation's greatest president.
Did you know? Lincoln was the tallest president at six feet four inches, and the first to wear a beard.

Depending on whether or not the park is open; either park at the top lot and walk down or begin at the first parking lot next to the guard booth.

* Follow the Wetland Trail to the south, the trail is blazed with blue. It is a short walk to the lookout deck. Mr. Lincoln is waiting for you on the right side of the deck under the very first board. Just reach underneath and claim your prize. Return to the blue Wetland Trail and keep heading south.

George Washington

1st President 1789-1797

Federalist

Vice President - John Adams

Born: February 22, 1732 Westmoreland County, VA

Occupation: Surveyor; Farmer; Soldier

Married: Martha Dandridge Custis

Died: December 14, 1799  Mount Vernon, VA

Early Years: Washington had no formal schooling. At 17 he became a surveyor for Culpeper County, VA. At 20 he was managing the family plantations, and in 1775, became commander of the Continental Army.

John Adams

2nd President 1797-1801

Federalist

Vice President - Thomas Jefferson

Born: October 30, 1735 Braintree MA

Occupation: Lawyer; Writer

Married Abigail Smith

Died: July 4, 1826 Braintree, MA

Early years: Adams grew up on a farm and was very athletic. He especially liked hunting, playing games, flying kites and shooting marbles. At 16 he went to Harvard, and after graduation, he taught school and studied law.

His Presidency: Adams was the first president to occupy the White House, although it was unfinished. His decision to maintain peace with France when the U.S. was not strong enough to fight, and his signing of the Alien and Sedition Acts to stop foreign and American opposition to the government, made him so unpopular that he was defeated in the next election. In spite of all this, Adams was a courageous patriot.

Did you know? John Adams' great-great-grandparents were John and Pricilla Alden, two of the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620.

* Continue west along the trail, over a stream, until the trail forks. You want to follow the blue blazed trail to the right. Not too far along the trail on your left you will see a single Spruce Tree (a short needled, pine tree) by a stone wall. In the wall under the tree Mr. Adams is waiting for you. Stamp in and continue along the trail.

Thomas Jefferson

3rd President 1801-1809

Democratic-Republican (hows that for sitting on the fence)

Vice Presidents - Aaron Burr 1801-1809

                        George Clinton 1805-1809

Born: April 13, 1743 Shadwell Plantation, VA

Occupation: Lawyer, Planter

Married: Martha Wayles Skelton

Died: July 4, 1826 Monticello, VA

Early Years: Jefferson was well-educated and studied several languages. At 17 he went to the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, interested in science and mathematics. He became a lawyer at 24, and wrote the Declaration of Independence at 33. He was the first secretary of state under Washington. He was also an accomplished architect, linguist and naturalist.

His Presidency: The first to be inaugurated in Washington, D>c., he was extremely popular. He reduced taxes and believed in as much freedom as possible. One of his greatest achievements was purchasing the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803. This doubled the size of the United States.

Did you know? Jefferson designed his own tombstone and wrote his won epitaph, but chose not to mention that he had been president of the United States.

* Stay on the trail until you see a large stump of a tree on your right. Directly behind the stump is a large boulder if you walk over to it you can see at triangular piece broken off (almost like it has been cut in quarters) tucked between the boulder and the broken piece Jefferson lays waiting. Go back to the trail.

James Madison

4th President 1809-1817

Democratic-Republican

Vice President - George Clinton 1809-1812

                       Elbridge Gerry 1813-1814

Born: March 16 1751 Port Conway, VA

Occupation: Lawyer

Married Dolley Dandridge Payne Todd

Died: June 28, 1836  Montpelier, VA

Early Years: Madison was an intense student and completed a four-year course in two at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). He is known as the Father of the Constitution and of the Bill of Rights because of the leading part he played in their writing and ratification.

His Presidency: Madison's main concern as president was the war between France and England and its effect on American commerce, ships and cargos. This culminated in the War of 1812. Madison barely escaped when  the city of Washington was captured and burned by the British in 1814. Peace was finally attained by the Treaty of Ghent in 1814.

Did you know? He was our shortest president at 5 feet 4 inches, and the first to wear trousers instead of knee pants.

* When you come to a fork in the trail, with a sign to your left and a bench to your right. You will go east off the trail for approximately 32 paces, on a left right count. In the base of a standing hollowed out tree President Madison will be.

You can either follow the blue blazes and come out near the lake and the main road back to your car, or turn around. You can also follow the Welton trail, to your left and that will loop back around to the Wetlands Trail.