Matthew Paulson / Flickr. There are stories that the Islanders tell of buried pots, jars, and treasure chests full of gold and silver. January 6, 2022 / 11:11 AM It is said that he would only accept gold coins as payment for the ground corn and flour that he sold. If you ever dreamed of finding a treasure hidden by an outlaw, gangster, or a wealthy person, but was not sure where to start. As the story goes, Thomas Jefferson Beale and a team of 30 men . Numerous unnamed drainages will also produce placer gold for a hard working prospector. I have also researched the legend of Keel Mountain, I agree the O.R. 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. #26. This is the tale of what happened to the Confederate Treasury. This means that certain products that you may see advertised on this site I get paid a small commission if that product is clicked on AND purchased by you. In November 2004, they claim to have found a fire pit in Dents Run where human skeletons were allegedly discovered in 1876. Her book alleged that New York native and Confederate sympathizer Sylvester Mumford was present at the Confederacys final cabinet meeting in Washington, Georgia, and claimed that Jefferson Davis divided the gold among those present and instructed them to use the money as they felt best. From lost confederate Civil War gold to lost Indian gold to plantation owners and their lost treasure we have a little bit of everything in these stories. The Outlaw PresidentJefferson Davis was an unlikely traitor to the United States. The town of Louina grew to 2,500 residents with 30 homes, two churches, two schools, eight stores, and even a Masonic Lodge. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. Just imagine if you were the one to discover all this loot! The balance of the captured treasure was assembled and loaded into wagons for transport to Washington, D.C. I got the Keel Mountain story from a treasure hunter in west Tennessee, and it was a small, one-paragraph statement. Moving to the southwest, Parker and the wagons zigzagged across the South Carolina-Georgia state line several times to evade capture. The Mystery of New York's Renegade Subway Psychic, Forget About What We Know About Roswell: It's What's Missing About the Case That We Need to Look For, Archeologists Discover Another Secret Corridor Inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, Self-Driving Robot Cars Claim Their First Human Victim, Bigfoot Bathing, Godzilla Egg, Five-Legged Toad, Presidential Hair in Space and More Mysterious News Briefly, About That Time Astronaut Buzz Aldrin Supposedly Saw Aliens on the Moon, Royal Time Traveler, Illuminati Psychic, Human with a Tail, Drug-Sniffing Squirrels and More Mysterious News Briefly. No one else knew where the box was buried and it hasnt been found to this day. Millbrook, Al. Is There Treasure Waiting For You In Alabama? Pitts, who arrested the pirate before his hanging in 1857. These legends are fueled by the fact that the state was a hub . Several legends, actually. Mystery Gulf Coast shipwreck. Keel Mountain is located in Madison County in Alabama not in Belleview, Tenn. The troops were trying to keep the gold and silver away from Union soldiers. In the Civil War-era movie, Gone With the Wind (1939), Rhett Butler, played by Clark Gable, is rumored to have stolen the treasure. He tried to locate the treasure but the landscape had changed so much over the years. In April 1865, the Civil War ended for most Americans. However, the new civil war wont be between the North and the South this one will be between the government and the treasure hunters who claim they found the location of the buried gold as far back as 2005 and have been denied their rights to it. So the treasure has never been found. 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. Having his ferry there solved this problem. The Union Cavalry came upon them and they were both killed. Well, there you have it the 15 lost treasures of Alabama. 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. 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. Most if not all of them take place well into the war, and by then the confederate had serious cash flow issues. 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. / CBS/AP. The Treasures of our past that still have yet to be found. The lost gold also played a key role in the legendary 1966 Western film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. 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. Over the years the trapper kept trying to find Red Bone Cave and the treasure without avail. La Bellone ran aground at the entrance of Pelican Bay in September of 1724 which is on the east end of Dauphin Island. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. So get your picks, shovels, and metal detector ready as we go through the 15 lost treasures of Alabama. 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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. More information on where and how to research for lost treasures. Due to the moral and legal concerns about restricting the fund to white orphan girls, the church then petitioned the court to open the scholarship to all ethnic groups. By all accounts, $100,000 in gold and silver coins was being transported by wagon in two wooden crates. 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. Others suggest he buried it underneath his home or by the cotton gin. (Bibb Co.) buried a bag of gold to hide it from the invading Yankees. Legend. 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. But during heavy rains, the river would rise fast and recede slowly so during those times people could not cross. 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. If you are venturing on to State or Federal lands. CBS News affiliate WTAJ-TVreported members of the Elk County Historical Society say they believe the gold is just an old wives' tale. In recent years, the number of students receiving tuition assistance has fluctuated between ten and twelve. 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. He wanted to trap game on the tribal land so he asked the chief permission. The legend of the Confederate gold is referenced in many films. A battle took place on one of his plantations in central Alabama in October 1779 and the plantation was destroyed. The FBI has long insisted the March 2018 dig came up empty, but the agency has consistently stymied the Paradas' efforts to obtain information. However, his business fortunes suffered great losses throughout the course of the war. This Metal Detector Has all the top features you would expect in a quality metal detector. But the runway incident is a real one. While they fought the commander detailed a couple of men to hide the gold. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Henry knew he could make a fortune with his ferry because the Perdido River was a popular crossing spot for people going from Alabama to Florida and vice versa. One day a Union Officer became privy to Henry Nune and his buried treasure. The lost confederate payroll and The fabled lost confederate treasury. 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. Confederate gold refers to hidden caches of gold lost after the American Civil War. Two more Union soldiers were killed along with the two rebels that had been with Hansen. Some people speculate that the valuables and money that railroad Bill stole during those 6 years of robbing trains could still be hiding in the caves between Atmore and Bay Minette Alabama! However, their work created great doubt that any lost Confederate gold ever existed in the first place. Your email address is safe, and unsubscribing is easy. Captain Kelly's Buried Gold. The FBI initially claimed it had no files about the investigation. The area was founded by exiled followers of Napoleon Bonaparte in the early 1800's. Lewis graduated from Thornwell High School in 1958 and then from Clemson University in 1962 before serving on active duty in Germany and Vietnam with the U.S. Army. "If gold was . Other Confederate gold, remains of the treasury evacuated from Richmond, did ultimately reach Georgia. 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. Frank W. Pandozzi is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, Clickbank, and MyTopo affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, mytopo.com, and clickbank.com.Please visit my Affiliate Disclosure below for more information. Waters in the Chulafinnee Mining District will all produce gold. JavaScript is disabled. 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. Three children and two men drowned but the rest of the passengers were saved by a brigantine sailboat that was nearby. Indeed, no one who was an eyewitness to the events ever documented that the gold was actually lost. FBI spokeswoman Carrie Adamowski told CNN that the FBI personnel were "carrying out court-authorized law enforcement activity in Elk County." The Nunez Ferry ran for 47 years from 1815-1919. If its there Im all for digging it up. Louinas gold and silver could still be buried under the ground in that old ghost town! Alabama lost treasure sites are listed on this page. This was not actually supposed to be an article. With its rich history of lost treasure, there is no wonder that we have 15 stories pertaining to lost treasure in Alabama. First published on January 6, 2022 / 11:11 AM. It may not display this or other websites correctly. Bushes envelop the pig farm, and the cemetery is wooded over. 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 . It may not display this or other websites correctly. May 17, 2014 at 12:00 am. They ended up in a large cavern and when they took the blindfold off of the trapper he saw that the cave was filled to the ceiling with gold and silver bars, coins, and jewels. The trapper ended up not marrying the chiefs daughter and he went away freely although he killed two braves to make sure he was able to leave. Supposedly, Nunez buried a treasure of approximately $200,000 somewhere near a point where route 90 crosses the river. The area itself was founded followers of Napoleon Bonaparte who . The combined hoard is believed to be between $500,000 and $600,000 in gold, the combined values of the Richmond Bank & Confederate . All but about $70,000 was recovered and transferred to Augusta, Georgia, where ownership of the funds was tied up in court until 1893. De Soto demanded that the Chicksaw Chief who had a camp nearby furnish him with squaws for his trip into Mississippi. La Bellone didnt make it and sank near the entrance to Mobile Bay near Dauphin Island. $15,000 in silver dollars. Byron Campbell. 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. Will the FBI abscond with it? On March 7, 1896, he was in a general store in the town of Atmore, Alabama. From 1861 to 1862, it was a Confederate troop training base. there weren't many mints in the south east. There are rumors that caches of coins and silverware are buried on and around the plantation ruins. That is a crazy amount of money even by todays standards. Portions of it are believed to be in Greene & Morgan Counties of Georgia. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. His What in the World! podcast is a fun look at the latest weird and paranormal news, strange sports stories and odd trivia. I grew up in Prattville, Alabama. 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. Mar 7, 2019. It definitely would be worth taking a metal detector to the beach. 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. After some minor resistance from roving Confederate bands, on April 11, 1862, his Union troops marched into Huntsville and occupied the city. 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. 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. The Search for the Lost Confederate Gold. Winter was approaching so De Soto and his men set up camp until spring. Alabama. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. 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. Manage Settings Continue with Recommended Cookies. The folk ballad by Lonnie Donegan was named after him. The treasure was suppose to be hidden under the foundation in the creek at the old Lucille grist mill, so one moonless night he employed the help of his . Here are 11 hidden treasures most people don't know about: 11. Civil War shipwrecks in Alabama were concentrated mostly in and around Mobile Bay. Supposedly, Nunez buried a treasure of approximately $200,000 somewhere An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. 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. Arriving in Washington, Georgia, Lewis reported that the Confederate treasury had dwindled down to about $43,000 in cash. The port of Mobile and Mobile Bay were blockaded by Union naval forces early in the Civil War. 5. His wife gave in again and told the soldiers where another cask was buried. His farm can be found off of Nicholasville Road North of Stone Road. buried near what used to be his house on the Alabama side of the river. 2nd Alabama Cavalry said: 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. You could argue the Delosie Mine belongs to North Carolina AND Tennessee, as it used to lie right on the border. So if youre in Randolph County Alabama look up that old ghost town that was once called Louina. Morris started robbing trains because he was angry with the Louisville and Nashville railroad because a brakeman found him on a train ride that was headed for Mobile that he didnt pay for. Nikki Haley slams potential GOP contenders, and Trump and George W. Bush. Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. 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. General Lee advised Davis that he had until 8 p.m. to load the gold, valuables and cabinet members onto two trains which would travel southward on the only line still open between Richmond and Danville, Virginia. They reserved this land for hunting, as the . The Union soldiers dug up the cask and went and spent the money in Mobile, Alabama. Near Athens there may be a Confederate treasure. Expand. It is said that John Buried $100,000 worth of gold there. Hansen and some other Alabama citizens raised quite a bit of capital in the form of gold and silver bullion and coins. Dr. Clive Cussler a historian attempted to find the wreck of La Bellone in September 1989. The Sound and the Fury: William Faulkners Great-Grandfather. After some minor resistance from roving Confederate bands, on April 11, 1862, his Union troops marched into Huntsville and occupied the city. Many of these treasures are now on private land or owned by the federal or state government. The courts eventually agreed with the federal government, who claimed the funds because the Richmond banks had aided a rebellion by making loans to the Confederacy. 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. The chief had a daughter that he wanted to be married off so that he could have a male offspring to carry on as chief when he died. As fate has it the 3 men that buried the gold ended up dead after the attack. The gold became a lost legend. Until next time Happy Treasure Hunting! Also, a Spanish galleon ship broke up near the east end of Dauphin Island in 1801. Railroad Bill finally met his doom when a $500 reward was issued for him dead or alive. But, the first story sounds very familiar with a post I put on Treasure Legends-"swamp gold." 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. Some of the treasure had been retained by Brig. Mr. Willismith owned most of the town. 6) Lost Delosie Mine. (Note: specie describes money in the form of coins, usually gold or silver, as opposed to paper money. You are using an out of date browser. But with 100 acres to cover and now metal detectors back then it was never found. Well at least these two are actually documented you be the judge! Virginia Hill / flickr. With the Davis party was a navy paymaster, James S. Semple. The treasure was placed into all kinds of containers that had once been used for sugar, coffee, flour and ammunition. Probably. 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. Perhaps the best-known tale of lost treasure in Virginia is the legend of Beale's Treasure. He immigrated here from Scotland. 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. By 1960, this scholarship fund was creating more income from its principal investment than there were recipients for the scholarships. Captian Seigneur de Beauchamp was able to get her anchored in the harbor without any damage. 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. 3. 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. After leading the South for four years, he had high hopes to escape the country and rebuild a new Confederacy. You must log in or register to reply here. Eventually the responsibility for the treasure was passed on to the Secretary of War, John C. Breckenridge, who then placed Brig. . Then you will want to check out the Garrett AT Pro. Legend of the Lost Confederate Gold Posted on December 5, 2020 December 31, 2020 by Terry W. Platt Confederate gold refers to hidden caches of gold lost after the American Civil War. One of Georgia's most lingering and possibly lucrative mysteries is that of the lost Confederate gold. Hardy grew his small acres of land into whopping 9000 acres by 1850. Win McNamee/Getty Images. JavaScript is disabled. He waited there until spring and set off to sail back to France at the beginning of April 1725. Somewhere near Primm Springs, Tennessee. Confederate Gold - New Georgia Encyclopedia. So with no luck finding the treasure he packed up and moved to California. This legend was first advanced by Martha Mizell Puckett, a former school teacher and Brantley County native, who spun her tale of Confederate gold in her book, Snow White Sands. The Hero of Gettysburg Surveyed the Great Lakes. 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. With Union troops closing in on the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, in early April 1865, President Jefferson Davis and the rest of his . Juan Monroy. 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. I guess this happened more often than we would think. But this time Henry died from being beaten. Postal Service in 2000 and still has family and friends in Brantley County. The treasure may be buried near what used to be his house on the Alabama side of the river. Back in the 1800s that made for a huge town. Hansen then used the horses to trample the boxes deeper into the mud. They also covered the boxes with straw and fertilizer to conceal the treasure within. This small island holds many lost treasure stories. The American Civil War may be about to start up again and not for any of the reasons you might think. Military money pokes. In the movie, the characters are hunting for $200,000 worth of gold that is rumored to be . 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. Is Lake Michigan hiding millions in Confederate gold? After meeting with the treasure hunters in early 2018, the FBI brought in a contractor with more sophisticated instruments. The treasure may be It's the site where the treasure-hunting group, Finders Keepers, says as much as $55 million in lost Union gold could be buried. The duo focused on a spot where they say their instruments detected a large metallic mass. He resigned his commission as a captain after almost six years and he retired from the U.S. The two wooden boxes full of Confederate gold fell out of the wagons and sank quickly into the mud. They picked 3 men to bury the box full of gold coins somewhere near the courthouse. So as you can tell it was a great hiding spot for soldiers. They searched and searched for months coming up empty-handed so the trappers friend gave up and went back to Fort Rosalie. Sep 27, 2005. 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. The ruins of the plantation still remain to this day. A very prosperous merchant before the war, Mumford had established a cotton plantation near Waynesville. The gold never made it and various conflicting accounts of what happened confounded ever finding it. Sep 27, 2005. Egill Skallagrmsson 's silver. circa 960. 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. Some of the most valuable placers in Alabama are found in Cleburne County. The remainder of her estate was divided between two scholarship funds. 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 troops were trying to keep the gold and silver away from Union soldiers. 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. Here is an OP that I posted on it a couple of months ago, to include sharing a couple of photos of one of the coins that he was paid on 4 May 1865, once they crossed the Savannah River and Breckinridge was more . He also interviewed local historians and librarians in Washington, Georgia, none of whom had heard of the golds connection to Brantley County. So the gold could have been buried anywhere, or perhaps in different locations. It may not display this or other websites correctly.