$46000 in Gold and Silver Buried in Saltville VA

Gypsy Heart

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Nov 29, 2005
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Ozarks
In Saltville, Abraham Smith and his sons are said to have buried $46,000 worth of silver and gold coins under a roadbed during the Civil War to prevent them from falling into the hands of Union soldiers.
Saltville, Virginia is nestled inside a great valley in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Saltville is a small town, yet it played a key role in America's Civil War. The area had a great abundance of salt, which was vital for the sustenance of the South.

SMITH, Abraham, m: Sarah LINTECUM on 27 Apr.1844 at Smyth Co. Believe this may be father of Cyrus SMITH,b:1841, Pocahontas Co. (now WV) whose parents are named as Abraham and Sally on his marriage certificate.

Saltville, north of I-81 on Route 107 - Salt wells here were crucially important to the Confederate war effort, important enough to be the focus of Union attacks late in 1864. Civil War Trails interpretation at two sites


This taken from the paper this year showing the railbed is being torn up.....Now would be the time to search!
Saltville Trail Plan is Approved / Circuit Judge Rules Against Landowners, Says Town Owns Disputed Railroad Bed

The trail will go through.

That's what Saltville officials say will happen after a circuit judge ruled last month that the town owns the railroad bed through the Clinchburg community.

Some adjoining property owners challenged the town's claim of ownership and its plans for a 13-mile trail from Saltville to Glade Spring on the old railroad bed, similar to the Virginia Creeper Trail...............



Virginia Tennessee Railroad
The road was chartered in 1849, construction began in 1850 and was completed in 1856. It was intended to connect Lynchburg, Virginia to Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tennessee by connecting to the Tennessee roads at Bristol.
The road was essential to the South. It provided part of the Chattanooga to Richmond route, allowing the rapid movement of supplies from the copper mines near Cleveland, Tennessee, the lead mines near Bristol, the salt works at Saltville, Virginia and saltpeter caves throughout the region

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Gypsy, appreciate this info. This is the type of small town that I like! As the town's name might hint....Saltville was the Confederacy's main supply for salt.

Thanks again, Gypsy...you never cease to amaze me.
---Mel

borninok
 

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