there weren't many mints in the south east. After leading the South for four years, he had high hopes to escape the country and rebuild a new Confederacy. Chilton County has gold in Coosa River, Blue Creek, Mulberry Creek and its tributaries, and Rocky Creek. There are a few instances of the plantation ruins that still remain to this day including the spring where the cotton gin was. Original: Feb 28, 2018. 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. As heir to the Mumford estate, Miss Gertrude allegedly made provisions to return the balance of the Confederate treasure to Southern hands after her death. I live n the the ala state line and have pulse and gpr if anyone is interested in searching, Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. There are rumors that caches of coins and silverware are buried on and around the plantation ruins. According to most news accounts and his website, hes been fighting for the right to dig there ever since. A man by the name of C.E. . Jesse James the legendary outlaw of the west and in those days Alabama was considered out west had hideouts in and around the areas of Dawson, Guntersville, Gadsden, and Mentone Alabama in the Sand mountains. There you go its all about rights again. Win McNamee/Getty Images. It may not display this or other websites correctly. They filled two wooden boxes full. Sep 27, 2005. 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 . The Nunez Ferry ran for 47 years from 1815-1919. Here's how this gold war began, according to a Pittsburg Post-Gazette article about a 1983 story in Lost Treasure magazine. So Davis took with him the entirety of the Confederate Treasury, a Somewhere near Primm Springs, Tennessee. 10 Lost Treasures of Tennessee (Civil War Gold) He came to Alabama in 1815 and set up a ferry for crossing the Perdido River that has banks of the Alabama and Florida side. Louina by all accounts was a wealthy Indian woman. Puckett claimed that when Miss Gertrude decided that the remainder of the Confederate gold should be returned to the people to whom it belonged, her personal lawyer, Judge J.P. Highsmith, suggested that an educational trust be established for the descendants of the Confederate soldiers. Buried treasure in Alabama may be located in ghost towns. 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 . This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Supposedly, Nunez buried a treasure of approximately $200,000 somewhere A load of gold worth up to $54 million went missing during the Civil There were , also, over 2000 Tallassee Carbines hidden and never recovered. It is said that he would only accept gold coins as payment for the ground corn and flour that he sold. Here we go! Matthew Paulson / Flickr. Then you will want to check out the Garrett AT Pro. While on the route to Columbia the wagons and horses started to get bogged down on the marshy ground 4 miles North of Athens, Alabama. #1. This small island holds many lost treasure stories. Also while feverish, Castleton made the mistake of telling the troops about the gold. Rocky Springs, MS 39086, USA. In 2012, Finders Keepers members said they'd found the location of . It is said that some of those wine casks of gold and silver coins are stilled buried near his home. The Outlaw PresidentJefferson Davis was an unlikely traitor to the United States. Residents of Wilkes County who witnessed the event said that the bushwhackers waded knee-deep in gold and silver coinage before loading it in all kinds of bags and sacks and riding away. The gold never made it and various conflicting accounts of what happened confounded ever finding it. You see the Civil War was going on and many plantation owners were worried that their wealth would be looted if Union soldiers came around. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. They loaded the two boxes of treasure onto two wagons and headed for Columbia. I grew up in Prattville, Alabama. If you are venturing on to State or Federal lands. Lost Treasure In Mississippi Is Out There Waiting For You - OnlyInYourState By Hans KuenziThe Cleveland Civil War RoundtableCopyright 2008, All Rights Reserved, 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. Lost Confederate gold near Tallassee, Al.?? Looking For a Top Rated Metal Detector That Wont Cost You Thousands of Dollars but works like a $2000 machine? He put the wagons back up to make it appear that confederate troops had come by and took the contents of the wagons with them. As soon as they spent all the gold and silver they came back for more. He allowed both sides to use the ferry free of charge in hopes that he would be allowed to continue his ferry operations. She questioned whether the agency is "acting in good faith.". Legend of the Lost Gold of the Confederacy The main house of Chennault Plantation. The image of stacks of gold bars imprinted with "C.S.A" is tantalizing. "If gold was . Union forces were strong in the area north of Alabama so Hansen and two confederate soldiers decided to take the two boxes of treasure to Columbia where General Hood of the rebel troops was held up. In conclusion, historical research has determined only $70,000 of the gold belonging to the banks in Richmond is missing, but not lost, as it was accounted for in the robbery during its shipment back to Richmond. Sharps Buried Treasure: Sacks of gold coins: Near Florence, Alabama south of White's mill: The McGillivray Plantation Treasure: Plus, as others have pointed out, gold weighs alot. JavaScript is disabled. It definitely would be worth taking a metal detector to the beach, Two wooden boxes full of gold and silver bullion and coins, Buried deep in a bog nearAthens, Alabama, NearFlorence, Alabama south of Whites mill, Hardy Clemens plantation ruins nearCoaling, Alabama on the shores of Big Sandy Creek, Dawson, Guntersville, Gadsden, and Mentone Alabama in the Sand mountains, Ghost town of Louina inRandolph County Alabama, the caves between Atmore and Bay Minette Alabama, N 3030 38 W 872651 which is close to U.S. Highway 90 bridge that now crosses the Perdido River, 40,000 crowns of gold and silver bullion and coins, Near the entrance to Mobile Bay near Dauphin Island, Cave full ofgold and silver bars, coins, and jewels, Underwater cave near Muscle Shoals, Alabama along the Tennessee river. One of Georgia's most lingering and possibly lucrative mysteries is that of the lost Confederate gold. Perhaps the best-known tale of lost treasure in Virginia is the legend of Beale's Treasure. 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 . They picked 3 men to bury the box full of gold coins somewhere near the courthouse. The legend of the Confederate gold is referenced in many films. The town of Louina grew to 2,500 residents with 30 homes, two churches, two schools, eight stores, and even a Masonic Lodge. North Ga Treasure - TreasureNet The Original Treasure Hunting Website Had he known that in April of 1865 he, his cabinet and about $700,000 in gold and specie would have to evacuate Richmond to avoid capture during the waning days of the Civil War, he might have elected to remain in Montgomery. I doubt very seriously that any of the phantom confederate gold myths are real. It also carried bullion, donated jewelry, and 7Isaac W. Avery, The History of the State of Georgia From 1850 to 1881 (NewYork . Dr. Clive Cussler a historian attempted to find the wreck of La Bellone in September 1989. But with 100 acres to cover and now metal detectors back then it was never found. Humankind: Amazing moments that give . Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. The Indians thought this request to be outrageous and attacked De Sotos camp. The wreck of an unidentified wooden ship that was initially uncovered by Hurricane Camille in 1969 can be found about 6 miles from Fort Morgan along Alabama's Gulf . The first was given to the Presbyterian Church, headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, in trust for the maintenance and education of white orphan girls of Brantley County. Postal Service in 2000 and still has family and friends in Brantley County. (Note: specie describes money in the form of coins, usually gold or silver, as opposed to paper money. What Confederate Money (paper notes) that they had was burned at Washington, Ga. in the middle of town by Brig. Author Robert Scott Davis, Wallace State College, Hanceville, Alabama. This video is two stories passed down over the decades . 28. 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. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. But is a hidden fortune really waiting to be found? Finders Keepers filed a federal lawsuit against the Justice Department over its failure to produce documents on the FBI's search for the legendary gold, which took place nearly four years ago at a remote woodland site in northwestern Pennsylvania. . Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. Some of the most valuable placers in Alabama are found in Cleburne County. Paul likes to add a bit of humor to each MU post he crafts. 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. The balance of the captured treasure was assembled and loaded into wagons for transport to Washington, D.C. He resigned his commission as a captain after almost six years and he retired from the U.S. Some think its on the Alabama side while others say its on the Florida side. "From the outset, it seems as if the FBI is doing everything it can to avoid answering the question of whether they actually found gold," Weismann said. JavaScript is disabled. The Stolen Lost Confederate Gold: A Historical Analysis of Duluth, Minnesota's Development Abstract: This paper explores the historical claim that Duluth, Minnesota was built using stolen lost Confederate gold. . 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. His wife sold the ferry and went to live with relatives in Georgia. 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. 11 Treasures That Are Still Hiding In Kentucky - OnlyInYourState This Metal Detector Has all the top features you would expect in a quality metal detector. More Controversy on the Roswell Affair: An Alien Accident? You are using an out of date browser. Hansen then used the horses to trample the boxes deeper into the mud. Still feverish, Castleton took over and made a number of course changes, including a plan to build a raft and float down the Susquehanna River to Harrisburg. However, his business fortunes suffered great losses throughout the course of the war. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, The troops were trying to keep the gold and silver away from Union soldiers. Jean and his older brother Pierre stole a lot of loot over the years in and around the Gulf of Mexico in the early 1800s. Keel Mountain is located in Madison County in Alabama not in Belleview, Tenn. Demopolis is an abandoned town on the Tombigbee River, near the intersection of rout 43, and 80. After some minor resistance from roving Confederate bands, on April 11, 1862, his Union troops marched into Huntsville and occupied the city. So I can't totally discount the story. 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. The Paradas accompanied the FBI to the site in Dent's Run, about 135 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, but say they were confined to their car while the FBI excavated. Lost Treasure Near Clear Fork Creek. In the Civil War-era movie, Gone With the Wind (1939), Rhett Butler, played by Clark Gable, is rumored to have stolen the treasure. 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. He's been published in The New York Times" and "Huffington Post and has co-authored numerous collections of trivia, puzzles and humor. Of treasure buried in the Florida sand during the civil war. Dictionary of Banking Terms.). 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. The bushwhackers were stragglers from both the Federal and Confederate armies who had heard of the treasure and the handouts being given to soldiers. Finders Keepers' owners, the father-son duo of Dennis and Kem Parada, had spent years looking for what, according to legend, was an 1863 shipment of Union gold that was lost or stolen while on its way to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. By admin | September 15, 2022 | 42. 33 Missing Treasures Experts Say Are Real - Best Life Supposedly, Nunez buried a treasure of approximately $200,000 somewhere near a point where route 90 crosses the river. These legends are fueled by the fact that the state was a hub . Is Lake Michigan hiding millions in Confederate gold? The ruins of the plantation still remain to this day. Lost gold of the Confederacy continues to inspire legends I would think that they would have USED the gold before burying it. Four years of research leads them to believe it's buried under Lake Michigan. Three children and two men drowned but the rest of the passengers were saved by a brigantine sailboat that was nearby. The Rebel and the Rose"" reveals for the . Since the gold standard was abolished in the 1930s, gold coins, aside from their higher intrinsic value and demand as collectibles, no longer have any special worth as a standard of value in world trade. After meeting with the treasure hunters in early 2018, the FBI brought in a contractor with more sophisticated instruments. Apparently in 1865, $100,000 of gold and silver was put into two large metal boxes by . Three academic papers on Duluth and the lost Confederate gold Should Ken Burns start working on a new special? . So Hardy decided to bury the treasure late at night when everyone was asleep. This guard consisted of mostly young navy midshipmen from a training ship on the James River and some of them were only twelve years old. The abandoned town of Demopolis can be found near the Tombigbee River, close to the intersection of routes 80 and 43. Unfortunately for them, their booty leaked and made it easy for a posse to follow. 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. I would keep a close I on the eastern shore of Dauphin Island. Confederate gold refers to hidden caches of gold lost after the American Civil War. Several legends, actually. The Search for the Lost Confederate Gold - Cleveland Civil War Roundtable Nunez being a former pirate had plenty of money stored up so he was able to save most of the money earned from the ferry. The entrance of the town has a historical marker at the entrance that explains the towns history. I have not heard of both of these stories. Is there $54 million worth of Civil War gold buried in Dents Run? Although Jefferson Daviss family was on the train with the gold shipments, Lewis wrote that Jefferson Davis was not. So get your picks, shovels, and metal detector ready as we go through the 15 lost treasures of Alabama. Heirloom Seal of the Realm. Henry Allen Nunez was an early-day entrepreneur. $15,000 in silver dollars. While sitting at the store Morris Slater was gunned down by Constable Leonard McGowin and some other posse members. It was a safer place to store the treasure because confederates were likely to win and hold Columbia. My Special Bundle Package of digital books and the links to my TV series is loaded with information that will guide you toward treasures large and small. 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. The FBI initially claimed it had no files about the investigation. 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. He was very skilled at evading the police. They tried to get the horses and wagons out of the swampy area but the load was too heavy and the wagons got stuck. The church petitioned the court to expand the scope of the scholarships by including residents of counties which immediately surrounded Brantley and by defining an orphan as a child who had lost at least one parent. One of the eight treasures of the Sasanian king Khosrow II. Sharps had a nephew named Grady Sharps who witnessed his uncle go into his 100 acres of forest that he owned south of Whites Mill. Posted on March 11, 2021 by Terry W. Platt. Millions of dollars' worth of gold was lost or unaccounted for after the war, and its possible location has been the source of speculation of many historians and treasure hunters. A member of the society said there is no historical evidence that gold is buried in the area. $13,000 in gold. JavaScript is disabled. Civil War gold: FBI told a judge it had to search a cave before Pa 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. The most famous lost Confederate ship, the H.L. Waters in the Chulafinnee Mining District will all produce gold. The Treasures of our past that still have yet to be found. Mystery Gulf Coast shipwreck. Treasure hunters who believe they found a huge cache of fabled Civil War-era gold in Pennsylvania are now on the prowl for something as elusive as the buried booty itself: government records of the FBI's excavation. Mr. Sharps would take a shovel and sack with him on these treks into the woods. Moreover, he was unable to find any mention of the name Mumford in any record of the period. Hansen and the two soldiers went on their way dressed as farmers. 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 FBI has long insisted the March 2018 dig came up empty, but the agency has consistently stymied the Paradas' efforts to obtain information. Martha Mizell Puckett, the author of Snow White Sands, had failed to include footnotes, references or even a simple bibliography to support the presence of gold in Brantley County. Another account maintains Jefferson Davis entrusted the entire Confederate treasury into the care of Sylvester Mumford. The Irish Crown Jewels, stolen from Dublin Castle over a century ago, are still out there for treasure-seekers to find today. Mystery of Lost Confederate Gold | History News Network buried near what used to be his house on the Alabama side of the river. A man named Hardy Clemens who was a rich businessman, politician, and farmer bought a few acres of land in Coaling, Alabama on the shores of Big Sandy Creek in 1845. Hunting James Copeland's Lost Treasure - Country Roads Magazine Railroad Bill finally met his doom when a $500 reward was issued for him dead or alive. Subscribe Today! They think that they found what could be the wreck site but they didnt attempt to salvage her. There seems to have been a great deal of attention placed on finding the "Lost Confederate Treasure" which has spanned the last 154 years since the capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis on 10 May 1865 at Irwinville, Ga., which brought the Civil War to a close. 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. The area was founded by exiled followers of Napoleon Bonaparte in the early 1800's. Shipwrecks of Mobile Bay and Alabama 1861-1865 - Admiral Raphael Semmes From 1861 to 1862, it was a Confederate troop training base. The war, and its various aspects . . 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. 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. De Soto demanded that the Chicksaw Chief who had a camp nearby furnish him with squaws for his trip into Mississippi. Finally, in the wake of the treasure hunters' appeal, the FBI said it had located 2,400 pages of records and 17 video files that it could potentially turn over - but that it would take years to do so. Sep 27, 2005. First published on January 6, 2022 / 11:11 AM. CBS News affiliate WTAJ-TVreported members of the Elk County Historical Society say they believe the gold is just an old wives' tale. Winter was approaching so De Soto and his men set up camp until spring. If its there Im all for digging it up. Standing a discrete distance away and watching were Dennis and Kem Parada, owners of Finders Keepers, who still believe well, you known their name. The plantations were called Vale Royal and Springfield. 10 strange Alabama discoveries, from a mysterious shipwreck to creepy Henrys wife gave in and told the soldiers where one of the wine casks was buried. Anyone ever hear of these lost Confederate Gold caches in Alabama Legend of the Lost Confederate Gold. Railroad Bill real name Morris Slater was a black train robber, murderer during the late 1800s. your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable. Hello all, Any of y'all ever read or hear of the Confederates escorting $250,000.00 in gold to the east coast in 1864 being attacked about two miles east of Tallassee, Alabama near or crossing a little creek? The legend states that DeSoto and his men cant to the Bay of Espiritu Santa which is now Tampa Bay Florida. All but about $70,000 was recovered and transferred to Augusta, Georgia, where ownership of the funds was tied up in court until 1893. was the operator of a ferry during the Civil War, on the Perdido River. 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. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. The troops were trying to keep the gold and silver away from Union soldiers. Back during the depression Uncle Byron Campbell got word that during the Civil War the folks of Lucille Al. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. A battle took place on one of his plantations in central Alabama in October 1779 and the plantation was destroyed. var FIX=FIX||{}; Lost Treasure and Tempting Mystery in Alabama Both were published by The Surrat Courier, a . circa 960. Levi Colbert who lived from 1759 to1834 was the bench chief of the Chickasaw Nation. Camp Beauregard once stood just southwest of Mayfield. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Is There Treasure Waiting For You In Alabama? Some say he buried his gold on his pig farm. An unknown amount of gold. Did Jesse James bury Confederate gold? These treasure hunters think so A rich man named Hansen was a Confederate sympathizer who wanted to financially help the Confederate economy that was falling apart at the end of the Civil War. After all, the mysterious doesn't always have to be serious. Also, keep in mind whenever you want to go metal detecting make sure you know the laws of the state in which you are digging in and always ask permission before metal detecting on any private property. Lt. General Richard Taylor would surrender the Department of Alabama . Confirmed. FBI spokeswoman Carrie Adamowski told CNN that the FBI personnel were "carrying out court-authorized law enforcement activity in Elk County."