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The Birthday Present Day of

    “Wow,” said Bucky, “Good work. That’s amazing to see after all these years of hearing about him. OK, check another one off the list. We’re just setting ’em up and knocking ’em down today.” The Lovebunnies wandered around the small graveyard for a few minutes. They found several Streett graves.
    “None of these names seem familiar,” Bucky said. “But they must be cousins many times removed. Darn, we should have brought the camera.”
    “We can come back with the camera some time,” said Loie. “At least we’ve seen the gravestone.”
    “All right,” said Bucky, “Shall we go look for the Third Addition?”
    “Yes, let’s,” said Loie. Back at their car, Bucky showed Loie the map book and the printout of the Third Addition’s location.
    “See, it’s just above this intersection called Bush’s Corner. So here we are, at the church, and if we drive up the road just a bit we should be there.”
    Loie said, “And I think I may have touched some poison ivy looking back there for more graves, so can we go find a place with a restroom for me to wash my hands?”
    “Oh lordy,” said Bucky, “Don’t touch me! Yes, I bet we’ll find something up there along the way.” It took only a few minutes to drive up the road to a gas station at the next intersection. Bucky had to drive around the roundabout twice to learn the gas station could only be entered from the road to the north. But soon Loie had washed up and they were on their way again. At the next intersection, the Lovebunnies stopped to read the map and get oriented.
    Loie said, “This is Saint Mary’s Road? We’ve come too far. The gas station where I washed my hands was Bushes Corner.”
    “Oh jeezey peezey,” said Bucky. “Well, Mr. Pedon told me the Third Addition was near the House. He was right. We already passed it!” It took a few backing and forthings to find the landmarks that would identify the old property: the north end of the high school grounds, the little farm lane and so forth. But after a few minutes, the Lovebunnies were parked in the little lane, looking south up a gentle rise of the land.
    “OK, that’s it,” said Bucky. “I looked up the spot on Google Earth, and I could see some farm fields that looked like their edges were still the edges of the Addition. I can’t pick them out here, but that little hill is mostly the Addition, and most of it. A little bit is across the road over there. Neato.”
    “Check another one off the list,” said Loie, and the Lovebunnies smiled at each other.
    “Well,” said Bucky, “Shall we head home?” Loie said yes, it was time to head home. They discussed a route, deciding to go north a few miles to a road in Pennsylvania that would, if followed successfully, lead them west to the town of Sticks, a place from which Bucky knew how to get home. They soon found the first turn onto their road home, and Bucky drove along in silence, remembering their eventful day.
    “That was quite something,” he said. “The Birthday Present Day of Colonel John Streett.” Loie didn’t answer. She was fast asleep.

Epilogue

    Of course curiosity lead me to do some more research while writing this story. The Web site of the Colonel John Streett Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, for which I had a bookmark from my original research on The Rescued Papers, tells us “Colonel John Streett…was buried in a private cemetery on the Streett Estate, but was moved to Holy Cross Episcopal Church Cemetery. The Streett Family gave the land and built the church in 1888.” The website does not say where exactly the original grave was, nor when the removal took place. This site must have been where I read about the grave being moved.
    One of the names Mr. Reeves gave me to contact was “somebody Scarbourough, in Towson.” On the DAR website I also read “The Colonel John Streett Chapter of the NSDAR was organized by Katherine Streett Davis Scarborough on October 12, 1964. Mrs. Scarborough, the Organizing Regent of our Chapter and the Streett Family Historian, is a direct descendant of Colonel John Streett (July 30, 1762 - May 7, 1836).” So Mr. Reeves’ memory was good.
    At the Maryland Department of Natural Resources' web site on Rocks State Park I read, “The Falling Branch Area of Rocks State Park is a 67 acre parcel of land which is home to Kilgore Falls, a scenic and tranquil section of Falling Branch, a tributary of Deer Creek, which is tucked back into the ravines of Northern Harford County, creating Maryland’s second highest vertical drop waterfall.” Loie and I have been several times to the main part of Rocks State Park, which was originally land owned by the Streetts. We’ve walked up to the King and Queen’s Seat there. “Once believed to be a ceremonial gathering place of the Susquehannock Indians, the King and Queen Seat soars above Deer Creek at a height of 190 feet. There are many vertical rock faces on the outcrop some of which are as high as 94 feet.”
    Of course we walk up the easy trail on the back of the outcrop. The view over Deer Creek is beautiful. We’ve hiked the loop trail around the park twice. But we’ve never been to Kilgore Falls. That part of the Park is not at the main part; it’s a separate bit, which is indeed only about two miles northwest of Holy Cross Episcopal Church. The main part of the park is a few miles south of the church. And the church itself is only a mile west of the little town of Highland, also know as “Street,” which is the post office address. The Post Office was named after the Streetts.
    So there are plenty more places to visit, and many reasons to return with Loie’s camera to northern Harford County, ancient home of Colonel John Streett.

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