So as you can tell it was a great hiding spot for soldiers. There are a few instances of the plantation ruins that still remain to this day including the spring where the cotton gin was. He's been published in The New York Times" and "Huffington Post and has co-authored numerous collections of trivia, puzzles and humor. In the movie, the characters are hunting for $200,000 worth of gold that is rumored to be . Posted on March 11, 2021 by Terry W. Platt. Louinas gold and silver could still be buried under the ground in that old ghost town! In early 1865 when the Yankees under Gen. James H. Wilson were burning Selma, and it was pretty much a given that they were coming to Montgomery next, the local polititians and civic leaders had two steam barges loaded with all of Montgomery's (the Capital of Alabama) money, gold, valuables, and even silverware and jewelry from shops and . To avoid Confederate troops, Union troop leader Lt. Castleton was ordered to first travel to Harrisburg and then to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. The Army sent Pinkerton detectives disguised as prospectors and lumbermen to clandestinely look for the gold, but they obviously never found it. However, although the banks and the Confederacy had shipped their gold on the same train, each had its own security forces and the gold was never commingled. Those two boxes of gold could still be buried deep in that bog near Athens, Alabama. Searching for more lost treasure? Should Ken Burns start working on a new special? I did not know of this event until I had moved to California, but I have retired and have relatives and land in the area. It was then settled by wealthy plantation owners and then vacated around 1860. buried treasures may be here. Is There Treasure Waiting For You In Alabama? Perhaps the best-known tale of lost treasure in Virginia is the legend of Beale's Treasure. Near Athens, Alabama, in Limestone County Alabama, there may be a Confederate treasure. In late May 1861, Jefferson Davis, the former Mississippi Senator and the reluctant president of the seceding Confederate States of America, moved the capital of the CSA from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, Virginia to boost the morale of the Confederate troops and weld Virginia to the Confederacy. If you ever get out to Dauphin Island speak with the natives there and they will tell you about all the history and treasure stories that went on on the island. Will the FBI abscond with it? For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. near a point where route 90 crosses the river. Lachlan McGillivray was a wealthy fur trader back in the mid to late 1700s. circa 990-995. In recent years, the number of students receiving tuition assistance has fluctuated between ten and twelve. In Washington, Georgia, a small town untouched by the war, he was entrusted with $86,000 in gold coin and bullion (about $1 million in today's money) and disappeared into the night. With slightly less than a thousand men in his command, Duke transferred all the treasure into six wagons and began his journey south with eight of his veterans on each wagon as guards and the rest of his command, along with the midshipmen, as escorts. The treasure was placed into all kinds of containers that had once been used for sugar, coffee, flour and ammunition. 3. Egill Skallagrmsson 's silver. Explore Alabama - ALABAMA TREASURE LEGENDS Table of Contents: Alabama Treasure Legends, Legend of the Lost Confederate Gold, Old Flint River Settlement Gold, $30000 in Gold Coin Buried in Bridgeport Alabama, Loot Buried by Levi Colbert in Buzzard Roost Alabama , Rumors of Buried Treasure in . All the Confederate officials would board the first train, while the second train would hold special cargo. La Bellone was a French merchant ship that was in the area of Dauphin Island to pick up merchandise from the French Colonials in Louisiana. He didnt even tell his son. Here's how this gold war began, according to a Pittsburg Post-Gazette article about a 1983 story in Lost Treasure magazine. The entrance of the town has a historical marker at the entrance that explains the towns history. Near Athens there may be a Confederate treasure. The lost gold also played a key role in the legendary 1966 Western film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. His wife sold the ferry and went to live with relatives in Georgia. Given this claim that the source of these scholarships was in fact a portion of the lost Confederate treasury, researchers throughout the years sought to confirm the veracity of the Mumford legend. Treasure hunters in the area believe his house was located at the following coordinates: N 3030 38 W 872651 which is close to U.S. Highway 90 bridge that now crosses the Perdido River. . The brakeman subsequently threw him off the moving train. It may not display this or other websites correctly. So Hardy decided to bury the treasure late at night when everyone was asleep. Also while feverish, Castleton made the mistake of telling the troops about the gold. Through a critical analysis of primary and secondary sources, including the research of historian Peter S. Svenson, this paper argues that the city's development was aided [] The FBI has long insisted the March 2018 dig came up empty, but the agency has consistently stymied the Paradas' efforts to obtain information. His wife gave in again and told the soldiers where another cask was buried. In April 1953, he and his three brothers were the first children from Brantley County to derive benefit from the Mumford funds at the Thornwell Orphanage in Clinton, South Carolina, after their father died from a heart attack in 1951 at age 47. Jean Lafitte the pirate supposedly buried gold coins on a beach in what is now Bayou la Batre. Several legends, actually. One time in Montgomery, in the late '80s, or early '90s, I was finishing some sheetrock in a small business, in sort of a row of businesses in the same long building. So many of them buried their gold and silver for safekeeping. Union soldiers happened by and demanded that Hansen and his men unload the cargo in their wagons because they became suspicious that the cargo in the wagons might be guns and ammunition. He practically owned half of the town of Fort Payne. FBI agents, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) employees and other unidentified people with shovels have descended upon the tiny town of Dents Run, Pennsylvania, looking for a cache of gold bars lost just before the Civil War battle of Gettysburg that could today be worth upwards of $54 million. The treasure was secured in the false bottom of a carriage. Three children and two men drowned but the rest of the passengers were saved by a brigantine sailboat that was nearby. Mar 7, 2019. Explore Alabama - ALABAMA TREASURE LEGENDS Table of Contents: Alabama Treasure Legends, Legend of the Lost Confederate Gold, Old Flint River Settlement Gold, $30000 in Gold Coin Buried in Bridgeport Alabama, Loot Buried by Levi Colbert in Buzzard Roost Alabama , Rumors of Buried Treasure in Demopolis Alabama (White Bluff), C. Boaz Whitfield . The port of Mobile and Mobile Bay were blockaded by Union naval forces early in the Civil War. In this Sept. 20, 2018 photo, Dennis Parada, right, and his son Kem Parada stand at the site of the FBI's dig for Civil War-era gold in Dents Run, Pennsylvania. The mountain I saw that looked like an overturned boat is just to the east of Belleville, off US 231. He researched the archives of the Thornwell Orphanage and found no reference to the Confederacy or gold in any of the handwritten letters from Mrs. Parkhurst. $15,000 in silver dollars. your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable. That's what an FBI agent was seeking to find out in 2018 when he applied for a search warrant to dig at the site in Elk County, northeast of Pittsburgh, according to a court filing unsealed on . However, their work created great doubt that any lost Confederate gold ever existed in the first place. Dauphin Island held many camps over the centuries including a British army camp, a Spanish army camp, a Federal army camp, and a French army camp. Castleton got the fever (not a good thing in those days) and Connor took over for a while. Expand. They think that they found what could be the wreck site but they didnt attempt to salvage her. On March 15, 2018, two days after the dig began, a plane in Siberia lost 3.4 tons of its nine-ton cargo of gold and silver when the cargo door . If its there Im all for digging it up. I got the Keel Mountain story from a treasure hunter in west Tennessee, and it was a small, one-paragraph statement. Do the Finders Keepers have a right to it, even though they didnt do the final digging? The Confederate escort unit got away, but when they reported to whomever they were supposed to report to in the east and were asked about the gold shipment, they told him about running into some yankees and that it had been hidden to keep the yankees from getting it in case they were killed or captured. Apparently in 1865, $100,000 of gold and silver was put into two large metal boxes by . It was in Washington that the bulk of the treasure was captured along with Jefferson Davis and his staff. . They filled two wooden boxes full. $13,000 in gold. The Outlaw PresidentJefferson Davis was an unlikely traitor to the United States. In the waning days of the war, in April 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis fled Richmond with a trainload of what was left of the Confederate treasury . I was born and raised in the area. It seems tales about long-lost Civil War gold will not go away, even though for the last 156 years people have looked unsuccessfully across the country for it. On March 7, 1896, he was in a general store in the town of Atmore, Alabama. Newton Alabama in Dale County came under attack by the 1st Florida Calvary that was led by former Confederate captain Joseph Sanders who lived in Dale County. A second scholarship, known as the Sylvester Mumford Memorial Fund, was to be awarded to students from Brantley County who attend Georgia College, then known as Georgia State College for Women. . La Bellone ran aground at the entrance of Pelican Bay in September of 1724 which is on the east end of Dauphin Island. Other Confederate gold, remains of the treasury evacuated from Richmond, did ultimately reach Georgia. There is also a story of a cross embedded with jewels that were put in a well by pirates that never came back to claim it. It would be a great place to find all kinds of history and relics that might still be strewn about by all those army camps. Matthew Paulson / Flickr. John Willismith was a rich businessman who lived in Fort Payne, Alabama. These were enormous-sized boxes measuring from 3 deep x 2 wide x 4 long. So with no luck finding the treasure he packed up and moved to California. There are many different stories of where on his plantation the gold was hidden. Navy Captain William H. Parker was placed in charge of the second train and, knowing that the special cargo was comprised of gold ingots, gold double eagle coins, silver coins, silver bricks and Mexican silver dollars, he gathered the only available personnel to provide a military guard. There are many lost treasures and legends of Alabama and I encourage you to visit this state and enjoy the rich history that Alabama presents. The legend of James Copeland, along with his treasure, is largely drawn from the somewhat questionable account of Sheriff J.R.S. They worked hard to get good lands out west which the U.S. Government was trying to move them to. A town was named after her that once was one of the largest towns in Randolph County Alabama. Alexander Beckham's old plantation about two miles north of Tiptonville, Tennessee. His What in the World! podcast is a fun look at the latest weird and paranormal news, strange sports stories and odd trivia. I am sure some of your readers are from that area and are familiar with the Prattville, Montgomery area and of course, the Alabama River. Here's how this gold war began, according to a Pittsburg Post-Gazette article about a 1983 story in Lost Treasure magazine. Dr. Clive Cussler a historian attempted to find the wreck of La Bellone in September 1989. Over the years the trapper kept trying to find Red Bone Cave and the treasure without avail. Another treasure tale about hidden Confederate gold has the Confederacy moving money to Columbia, Tennessee. Or, a Top Secret Human Experiment Gone Wild? The existence of caches of hidden or lost Confederate gold has been the source of numerous Georgia legends. She was a cargo ship that held deer hides, beaver pelts, tobacco, and 40,000 crowns of gold and silver bullion and coins. Hansen now alone with the two wagons of treasure knowing that the soldier would soon return with more union troops decides to use the horses to overturn the wagons into the deep swamp. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, Civil War shipwrecks in Alabama were concentrated mostly in and around Mobile Bay. Many posses were formed looking for Railroad Bill. The area itself was founded followers of Napoleon Bonaparte who . Then check out 14 Lost Treasures of Wisconsin. There are many legends that surround the place, some saying it was blown up, hidden, or just forgotten deep in the hills. The duo heard about the legend from Kevin and decided to help him in his adventure. The gold never made it and various conflicting accounts of what happened confounded ever finding it. Worth roughly $100,000 in 1865, when it disappeared, it would be a small fortune in today's dollars--around one million dollars. Chilton County has gold in Coosa River, Blue Creek, Mulberry Creek and its tributaries, and Rocky Creek. The French officials seemed La Bellone unsalvageable and didnt attempt to recover the lost cargo. The story goes that when she was forced to leave she had so much gold and silver her horses couldnt carry the load so she was forced to bury the gold and silver where she stood. Humankind: Amazing moments that give . AFFILIATE DISCLOSUREI am an affiliate marketer. There are rumors that caches of coins and silverware are buried on and around the plantation ruins. Many soldiers were said to have buried their money around the base in holes they called money pokes. Long story short it is said that Levi Colbert buried some of his savings from the inn and ferry operations in what is now Colbert County Alabama. He immigrated here from Scotland. Knowing that he was wealthy and owned half of the town the legend has it that the gold could be buried anywhere in Fort Payne. In 1865, $100,000 of silver and gold was placed in two metal boxes by troops and tossed into the swamp in an attempt to keep Confederate money out of Union hands. Somewhere near Primm Springs, Tennessee. In the 1939 movie "Gone With The Wind," the Union Army believes Rhett Butler to have the missing Confederate gold, and they threaten to hang him. Manage Settings The first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the Hunley didn't . An unknown amount of gold. The trapper returned to the Chickasaw camp and married the daughter of the chief but her father had disappeared and no one in the village seemed to know where the cave was that held the treasure. I live in Athens, Alabama. FBI spokeswoman Carrie Adamowski told CNN that the FBI personnel were "carrying out court-authorized law enforcement activity in Elk County." In June 1863, President Lincoln ordered two wagons with false bottoms to carry anywhere from 26 to 52 gold bars weighing 50 pounds each from Wheeling, West Virginia, 400 miles north to Pennsylvania to pay the Union troops stationed there. The daughter didnt want anything to do with the braces that her father presented to her but she had an infatuation with the white trapper who recently came around. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Image from Life and Confession of the Noted Outlaw James Copeland, University of Mississippi Press. Portions of it are believed to be in Greene & Morgan Counties of Georgia. Near Athens there may be a Confederate treasure. Mystery of Lost Confederate Gold. Sometime during the Civil War Confederate soldiers were being pursued by Union troops and they buried $20,000 in gold and silver coins close to a spot named Old Camp Place. General Dukes Brigade. If you ever dreamed of finding a treasure hidden by an outlaw, gangster, or a wealthy person, but was not sure where to start. More information on where and how to research for lost treasures. C.E. was the operator of a ferry during the Civil War, on the Perdido River. The Chickasaw Chief and some of his braces took the treasure the Spaniards had left behind and hide it in a big limestone cave which was located on the northern bank of the Tennessee River. In Danville, the officials handed out a lot of the gold in exchange for Confederate money to help the soldiers when all hopes of saving the Confederacy were lost," Ricketts said. She questioned whether the agency is "acting in good faith.". Continue with Recommended Cookies. Check it out today its available on Amazon! Byron Campbell. Rocky Springs, MS 39086, USA. In 1975, amateur fortune hunters, now called Finders Keepers USA, claim they heard about the gold from a mysterious stranger and began looking, using a map he drew for them. Here are a few of the gems and buried treasure in Virginia that we managed to dig up. Two treasure hunters are hot on the trail of $2 million worth of Confederate gold bullion that went missing in the 1800s. A man by the name of C.E. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. 28. Railroad Bill real name Morris Slater was a black train robber, murderer during the late 1800s. google037df74da6aab727.html The treasure may be buried near what used to be his house on the Alabama side of the river. La Bellone didnt make it and sank near the entrance to Mobile Bay near Dauphin Island. Hardy Clemens died in 1863 leaving no trace of where he hid his treasure. In April of 1862, Union Army Brigadier General Orsmby M. Mitchel left Nashville, Tennessee and moved his small army southward through Shelbyville toward Huntsville, Alabama. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. But this time Henry died from being beaten. This video is two stories passed down over the decades . The McGillivray plantation ruins lie 4 miles North of Wetumpka, Alabama. The whereabouts of his home are under debate. After exhaustive research, Lewis concluded that gold from the Richmond banks and the Confederate treasury had in fact been evacuated from Richmond and shipped south to prevent it from falling into the hands of Union forces. The folk ballad by Lonnie Donegan was named after him. By admin | September 15, 2022 | 42. #26. Some think its on the Alabama side while others say its on the Florida side. Most of the tales revolve around the . But the runway incident is a real one. Digging Deeper: Lost Treasures of Oklahoma. William Pettits Buried Gold Coins: $80,000 worth of gold coins: A few miles from Lexington, Kentucky. This spot was used during the Civil War as you guessed a popular camping area for southern refugees and Confederate soldiers. We are situated in a flat, cotton friendly region which once hosted the Cherokee and Choctaw Indians. Henrys wife gave in and told the soldiers where one of the wine casks was buried. The troops were trying to keep the gold and silver away from Union soldiers. He also owned two plantations outside of what was called Savannah now central Alabama. Well, there you have it the 15 lost treasures of Alabama. Deep in the Everglades is Lost City, a place where mobster Al Capone reportedly produced moonshine to keep a nearby saloon . They are the rarest of any Civil War weapons. One night two braves took the trapper, tied his hands and feet, and blindfolded him. Hanson wounded the last Union soldier but he got away. In 2002, the church awarded $32,000 to qualified women from Southeast Georgia, and in October 2003 there were fifteen women attending colleges or technical schools who were funded by the scholarship program. Looking For a Top Rated Metal Detector That Wont Cost You Thousands of Dollars but works like a $2000 machine? The remainder of her estate was divided between two scholarship funds. This rumor of buried treasure in Wilkes County nevertheless spawned a legend involving a family of local repute, the Mumfords, and the location of the lost Confederate gold. In 2012, Finders Keepers members said they'd found the location of . Pitts, who arrested the pirate before his hanging in 1857. He and his friend decided to head out to recover the treasure. The Justice Department denied the request - and, as of last month, had yet to assign the FOIA request to a staffer for processing, according to the lawsuit. Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. The Ghost Town of Old Cahaba located on route 22 approximately 14 miles southwest of Selma, was used as a Confederate Fort during the Civil War. Captian Seigneur de Beauchamp was able to get her anchored in the harbor without any damage. 27.07 - MU Plus+ Podcast - Flames of Prophecy, 29.07 - MU Podcast - Contract with the Goddess, 29.06 - MU Podcast - Italian Disco Abductions, 27.06 - MU Plus+ Podcast - Secret Vaults of Time, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Queen's Ghost, Small Lake Monster, Space Caterpillar and More Mysterious News Briefly, A Haunted Book and the Most Haunted Bookshop There Is. Subscribe Today! They were active in Louisiana, Texas, Florida, and Alabama. Levi Colbert who lived from 1759 to1834 was the bench chief of the Chickasaw Nation. Imperial Seal of China created by Emperor Qin Shi Huang, lost after the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in the 10th century. The gold and silver coins are said to be buried east of his old homestead. Captain Parker and the treasure, now moved to wagons, were directed to the old U.S. Mint at Charlotte, North Carolina, which was considered the safest storage place. In the 1966 Spaghetti Western film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, the . Visit here for more information on State laws regarding relic hunting, treasure hunting, and artifacts. There were , also, over 2000 Tallassee Carbines hidden and never recovered. And Confederate gold did go missing. Indeed, no one who was an eyewitness to the events ever documented that the gold was actually lost. #1. He was very skilled at evading the police. Confederate Soldiers Buried Gold: Gold Coins The Chief agreed but he had other intentions as well. You must log in or register to reply here. Now only Hansens one friend knew about the treasure but his friend was arrested and charged with harboring a fugitive. After meeting with the treasure hunters in early 2018, the FBI brought in a contractor with more sophisticated instruments. Keel Mountain is located in Madison County in Alabama not in Belleview, Tenn. Many names and records have been lost to time. You must log in or register to reply here. "There was a tremendous amount of gold that went missing during the Civil War," added author William Rawlings, who has written about a rumored Confederate treasure of gold and silver that went . Puckett was rather vague about what Mumford did with the gold he allegedly transported to England, except to claim that he ordered enough seed corn from South America, by way of Great Britain, to replant the whole State of Georgia. Please enter valid email address to continue. Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. But during heavy rains, the river would rise fast and recede slowly so during those times people could not cross. They also covered the boxes with straw and fertilizer to conceal the treasure within. Named after one president, Thomas Jefferson, he went on to marry the daughter of another, Zachary Taylor. It is said that he would only accept gold coins as payment for the ground corn and flour that he sold. Arriving in Washington, Georgia, Lewis reported that the Confederate treasury had dwindled down to about $43,000 in cash. He waited there until spring and set off to sail back to France at the beginning of April 1725. He wanted to trap game on the tribal land so he asked the chief permission. Also called hard currency. 6) Lost Delosie Mine. After a rest stop in St. Marys PA, they headed towards Driftwood. The ferry was used by Confederate and Union troops during the Civil War. A message was sent to the Justice Department seeking comment on the suit, which asks a judge to order the FBI to immediately turn over the records. After a long day traveling Hansen ended up at a friends home. Moving to the southwest, Parker and the wagons zigzagged across the South Carolina-Georgia state line several times to evade capture. The really big lost treasure is that of the Confederate Treasury in custody of Jeff Davis upon leaving Richmond, fleeing the Yankee hordes. ****************. Still lost: King Kamehameha's burial chamber. According to reports, the total bounty would be worth more than $1.36 million today. It happened between the Confederate Armory which was not over run during the war and present day, Wall Street . Mr. Sharps became rich after owning the mill. The question that I pose. She made her money by running a trading post and she was one of the only Indian women to have owned slaves. The contractor detected an underground mass that weighed up to nine tons and had the density of gold, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed last year at the request of news organizations, including The Associated Press. And some say its buried amongst the slaves in the graveyard on the property. He resigned his commission as a captain after almost six years and he retired from the U.S. With the Davis party was a navy paymaster, James S. Semple. Norfolk Southern train derails in Springfield, Ohio, At least 12 dead after winter storm slams South, Midwest, Trump speaks at CPAC after winning straw poll, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant to "take some time away" from the team after allegedly brandishing a gun in a club, How Paul Murdaugh testified "from the grave" to help convict his father, Man charged for alleged involvement in 2 transformer explosions, Promising drug could provide alternative to statins, new study finds, Iran to allow more inspections at nuclear sites, U.N. says, NTSB to investigate in-flight turbulence that left 1 passenger dead. (Note: specie describes money in the form of coins, usually gold or silver, as opposed to paper money. Having his ferry there solved this problem. Initially, with one-third of her estate, the will established the Sylvester Mumford Memorial Endowment at the Thornwell Orphanage in Clinton, South Carolina, which was founded in 1875 and is now known as the Thornwell Home and School for Children. Mr. Willismith owned most of the town. In fact, when she died in 1946 at age 99 in Washington, D.C., she bequeathed almost $600,000 to the children of Brantley County through an endowment and two scholarship funds. If you are venturing on to State or Federal lands. 5. So the gold could have been buried anywhere, or perhaps in different locations. The gold became a lost legend. The Curse of Oak Island. So Davis took with him the entirety of the Confederate Treasury, a The Associated Press contributed to this report. Appreciative of the home the Mumfords provided and his opportunity for a college education, he set out to discover the facts behind the Confederate gold. I guess this happened more often than we would think. These legends are fueled by the fact that the state was a hub . According to local lore, the gold was lost or stolen during the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg.