First of all, thanks to Laurette Vitello and family for doing a
little extra searching after finding Mercy's original spot had been
excavated and tossed over the stonewall. They sent Mercy back to me,
unscathed, so I could relocate her. I do hope that some of you who
would like to visit her will still take the time to check out the old
Historical, 1838, Chestnut Hill Baptist Church and the actual Brown
Family burial site, but before heading out I suggest you also grab
the Kurdziel families Knight at Dawn and Mummies in the Morning and
their Crossing Over cluesheets for an afternoon of letterboxing fun.
You'll take them and head to the Fisherville Brook Wildlife Refuge.
Take Rt. 102 in Exeter, R.I., to Widow sweets Road, (4 miles east of
Rt. 3, 3.2 miles west of Rt. 2) Follow Widow Sweets to Pardon Joslin
Road, bear left and continue to the refuge. The trails here are all
clearly marked and easy to follow. Depending on how many boxes you'll
be hunting, your hike will be anywhere from 1 mile to perhaps 5 miles
if you choose to do both sides. At this time a total of 5 boxes are
hidden on this property.
To find Mercy, from the parking lot you'll cross Pardon Joslin Road
and look for the trail heading west.(left) Continuing on this trail,
eventually you will come to a bench that marks the separation of the
trail. You'll want to continue straight ahead, on the outer loop
trail. After crossing a footbridge, begin looking on your right
through the woods for a stone wall. A little farther up the path
you'll find an unmarked trail on your right. Take the unmarked trail
until you locate a rock outcropping just to the right of the trail.