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A tale of treasure
Susan Elzey
Register & Bee staff writer
February 13, 2008
The mystery of the missing Confederate treasure and its possible location in Danville has once again surfaced.
This time two historical researchers and authors, Jerry White and Wes Millett, have partnered to write “The Rebel and the Rose,” an account of the events at the end of the Civil War that includes the flight of the Confederate government from Richmond and the activities of a Confederate paymaster, James Semple, and his relationship with Julia Gardiner Tyler, the widow of President John Tyler.
The book, which is non-fiction but reads like riveting fiction, traces the missing Confederate treasure and concludes that at least some of it still lies buried in Danville.
“We chose the subject as history books do not discuss the final disposition of the Confederate treasury,” White said recently.
“Most accounts ignore the Mexican silver and do not trace the activities of the two individuals who were given $86,000 in gold by Jefferson Davis.
“Our book documents the travels of Semple and Edward Tidball and describes Semple’s efforts on behalf of the South in the immediate post-war period. It also provides an accounting of the gold on page 250 of the book.”
In addition, the book addresses the relationship between Semple, “the rebel,” and Julia Gardiner Tyler, “the rose.”
Julia Gardiner Tyler was married to John Tyler and was the stepmother of Semple’s estranged wife, Letitia.
Semple and Letitia were separated during the war and never lived together for the remainder of their lives, White said.
“There is strong circumstantial - but not conclusive - evidence that Semple and Julia Gardiner had an affair. For a time, at least, Semple clearly felt he was in love with her and a number of his letters attest to that,” he said.
‘A key role’
The two authors did not start out as partners but got connected through the Internet several years ago as both were pursuing research on Semple.
“We corresponded via e-mail for several years as Millet lives in Massachusetts and I reside in Virginia,” White said. “What began as essentially a hobby for both of us ultimately resulted in the book.
“We obtained a contract with Cumberland House Press of Nashville last year and proceeded to write the book over a period of about four months, using an outline and summary of each proposed chapter. We traded drafts via e-mail and finally submitted the completed draft to our editor at Cumberland.”
Research for the book included trips to Danville and collaboration with other Confederate treasure researchers.
“Danville plays a key role as it was the location of a Confederate Naval Warehouse that was located on a part of Greenhill Cemetery,” White said. “It is also likely that the Mexican silver was buried in Danville. Since the
Confederate cabinet stayed in Danville for several days, the city played a key role.”
The authors also contacted Todd Hall from North Carolina, a researcher who is adamant that he knows the exact spot the treasure is buried.
“Todd and I had a number of e-mail exchanges, and I obtained a copy of a City of Danville engineering map of Greenhill Cemetery in Danville,” White said. “As we did the research on the Mexican silver, our own analysis substantiates the conclusions of Todd.”
The book had its genesis in a line of Jefferson Davis’ book “The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government” in which he indicated that the remaining gold in the treasury was transferred to “Mr. Semple, a bonded officer of the navy, and his assistant, Mr. Tidball.”
“It peaked our interest,” White said. “Who were Semple and Tidball, and what happened to the gold? Everything else came afterwards, after we began the research, including finding out about the relationship between Semple and Julia Gardiner Tyler.”
Although two authors wrote the text, the writing seems seamless.
White explained that the two followed an outline that contained an overview of each chapter and then split up the writing. They passed the completed chapters back and forth through e-mail with Millett “smoothing” out the chapters and an editor completing the process.
“Our analysis of the treasure did not attempt to identify the location of the treasure in Danville, only that available evidence indicates that the remaining Mexican silver did not accompany the treasure train on its journey south,” White said.
White noted that on page 247 the date of the later map should read “1870” instead of 1860.
All in all, the researchers have concluded that 39 kegs of Mexican silver dollars - though the kegs have undoubtedly rotted away - and amounting to some 156,000 coins are likely still buried in Danville.
“We hope that people - not just Civil War buffs, but men and women - will find out about the book and enjoy reading it,” White said. “We hope to gain credibility as historians, and we hope to sell a lot of books.
“This is a thoroughly researched non-fiction book that reads like a novel. While most non-fiction books rehash well-reported events in history, this book presents a slice of history never before revealed.”
kenb
A tale of treasure
Susan Elzey
Register & Bee staff writer
February 13, 2008
The mystery of the missing Confederate treasure and its possible location in Danville has once again surfaced.
This time two historical researchers and authors, Jerry White and Wes Millett, have partnered to write “The Rebel and the Rose,” an account of the events at the end of the Civil War that includes the flight of the Confederate government from Richmond and the activities of a Confederate paymaster, James Semple, and his relationship with Julia Gardiner Tyler, the widow of President John Tyler.
The book, which is non-fiction but reads like riveting fiction, traces the missing Confederate treasure and concludes that at least some of it still lies buried in Danville.
“We chose the subject as history books do not discuss the final disposition of the Confederate treasury,” White said recently.
“Most accounts ignore the Mexican silver and do not trace the activities of the two individuals who were given $86,000 in gold by Jefferson Davis.
“Our book documents the travels of Semple and Edward Tidball and describes Semple’s efforts on behalf of the South in the immediate post-war period. It also provides an accounting of the gold on page 250 of the book.”
In addition, the book addresses the relationship between Semple, “the rebel,” and Julia Gardiner Tyler, “the rose.”
Julia Gardiner Tyler was married to John Tyler and was the stepmother of Semple’s estranged wife, Letitia.
Semple and Letitia were separated during the war and never lived together for the remainder of their lives, White said.
“There is strong circumstantial - but not conclusive - evidence that Semple and Julia Gardiner had an affair. For a time, at least, Semple clearly felt he was in love with her and a number of his letters attest to that,” he said.
‘A key role’
The two authors did not start out as partners but got connected through the Internet several years ago as both were pursuing research on Semple.
“We corresponded via e-mail for several years as Millet lives in Massachusetts and I reside in Virginia,” White said. “What began as essentially a hobby for both of us ultimately resulted in the book.
“We obtained a contract with Cumberland House Press of Nashville last year and proceeded to write the book over a period of about four months, using an outline and summary of each proposed chapter. We traded drafts via e-mail and finally submitted the completed draft to our editor at Cumberland.”
Research for the book included trips to Danville and collaboration with other Confederate treasure researchers.
“Danville plays a key role as it was the location of a Confederate Naval Warehouse that was located on a part of Greenhill Cemetery,” White said. “It is also likely that the Mexican silver was buried in Danville. Since the
Confederate cabinet stayed in Danville for several days, the city played a key role.”
The authors also contacted Todd Hall from North Carolina, a researcher who is adamant that he knows the exact spot the treasure is buried.
“Todd and I had a number of e-mail exchanges, and I obtained a copy of a City of Danville engineering map of Greenhill Cemetery in Danville,” White said. “As we did the research on the Mexican silver, our own analysis substantiates the conclusions of Todd.”
The book had its genesis in a line of Jefferson Davis’ book “The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government” in which he indicated that the remaining gold in the treasury was transferred to “Mr. Semple, a bonded officer of the navy, and his assistant, Mr. Tidball.”
“It peaked our interest,” White said. “Who were Semple and Tidball, and what happened to the gold? Everything else came afterwards, after we began the research, including finding out about the relationship between Semple and Julia Gardiner Tyler.”
Although two authors wrote the text, the writing seems seamless.
White explained that the two followed an outline that contained an overview of each chapter and then split up the writing. They passed the completed chapters back and forth through e-mail with Millett “smoothing” out the chapters and an editor completing the process.
“Our analysis of the treasure did not attempt to identify the location of the treasure in Danville, only that available evidence indicates that the remaining Mexican silver did not accompany the treasure train on its journey south,” White said.
White noted that on page 247 the date of the later map should read “1870” instead of 1860.
All in all, the researchers have concluded that 39 kegs of Mexican silver dollars - though the kegs have undoubtedly rotted away - and amounting to some 156,000 coins are likely still buried in Danville.
“We hope that people - not just Civil War buffs, but men and women - will find out about the book and enjoy reading it,” White said. “We hope to gain credibility as historians, and we hope to sell a lot of books.
“This is a thoroughly researched non-fiction book that reads like a novel. While most non-fiction books rehash well-reported events in history, this book presents a slice of history never before revealed.”
kenb
