Buried Pots Of Gold / NC

[LJ]

I read a story concerning buried pots of gold in N. Carolina by confederate soldiers along a set of RR tracks in 1864. Supposedly there was two flat cars loaded with iron pots filled with gold coins with the lids wired shut. They buried 3 pots per hole exactly 100 paces off of the tracks. The CW was nearing it's end & the reason they were buried is because Union forces were closing in on them & they didn't want this to fall into the hands of the Union.

A version of this story of buried treasure was published in a magazine in mid 1990 and a few weeks later a man contacted the author for any additional information which the author provided. The inquiring gentleman stated he was a professional treasure hunter and was convinced he could find some of this treasure with a revolutionary new type of metal detector he constructed.

Three months later this gentleman contacted the author and stated he had found 6 of the pots of gold and mailed a sizable check to this author for his "consultation fee". During the next three years he found another 6 pots!! Again, the author received a sizable check. The treasure hunter supposedly passed away in 2001 leaving his family an impressive inheritance.

Has anyone heard of this story or have any different information or details concerning this? There seems to be some validity to this story since some of it was actually found.

I am curious about this revolutionary new type of metal detector he supposedly constructed also. Shouldn't it be on the market?? Maybe it is.

The story did strike my curiosity. Any information would be appreciated.

 

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[RKinOI]

I have been told its all B.S. I rode around and checked it out a few years ago and the big no trespassing signs that are all over even tell that over 80 people have been arrested for trespassing. Ask Goldhunter, I think he is the one with some facts.

 

[LJ]

SWR,

I have no details on the "revolutionary" new metal dectector. I am trying to contact the author of this story for more details/information. If I am able to contact him I will let you know what I find out.

LeJeuene

 

[LJ]

"I am POSITIVE that the electronics in this fraud crap does not work. The electronics (or lack of electronics)
WILL NOT transmit a resonating frequency 1 inch, let alone 1 mile.
The electronics (or lack of electronics) WILL NOT sniff out floating gold ions." -Me

What is this Is this how the "revolutionary" metal dectector is suppose to work? I am trying to get more information on the story....not the detector.

RKinOI - When you checked this out this, did you go along the tracks any?

LeJeuene

 

[LJ]

SWR - Oppps.... . Didn't look at it good enough the first time I guess. Thanks for clearing that up.

LeJeuene

 

[LJ]

Do you know how deep these pots were supposedly buried? Did Goldhunter tell you by chance? Do you think they would be too deep for a metal detector?

I am trying to get in touch with the author of the story I read. I don't know how much luck I will have with that but I am trying. I am still doing research. This story is very intriguing. If you get any more information, please let me know. Thanks alot.

LeJeuene

 

[LJ]

In doing this research I saw some post back in 2004 saying they thought this story was not true. I can't find JW Duchase anywhere in the CW records that I have searched. Maybe the name was misspelled over the years. I can't seem to find much on company C of the 4th Mississippi Infantry either. I am still searching.

I never heard the story about the college group. What happened after you were asked for an ID? If they were buried 2-3 feet deep a metal detector would not be able to detect them right??

The author of the story I read is W.C. Jameson. If you come across anything else let me know. Thanks for the information.

Happy New Year!!

LeJeuene

 

[LJ]

It sounds like you do alot of researech beale.

I realize treasure tales sells books and magazines but when an author states he was contacted by a professional hunter for further details on the locations & story and then states that the guy actually found 6 pots within 3 months and he sent this author a check for his "consultation fee" and another check within the next three years because he found another 6 pots is going a little too far in my opinion.

If the story is not true then I do not understand this at all. I will continue researching this. Thanks for your information beale. You sound like your very knowlegable on this subject.

BTW - When to spoke to Jameson, was it about this tale?

LeJeuene

 

[gldhntr]

this story has circulated and been recopied over and again since at least 1902...if someone sent a check to jameson over it they evidentally haven't read many treasure type books as its in almost all large works and many smaller ones...hensons, terrys, many others and all type treasure mags have retold the story....there are newspaper accounts telling of the black man finding two pots in the field, but they are dated much earlier than the 20s-30s and not where youd expect.....the black man turned the 2 pots he found in the same hole over to the landowner he worked for and never sold a single coin anywhere...the landowner found an additional {reported} 1 pot. it is not known if he found it in the same spot or another...there is basis in the story, there is also much other in it i am not going to go in to. you will have to figure that out on your own....the story says they buried the pots 3 at a time 100 paces from the track...all evidence says they buried 2 at a time any short distance from the track...i have found two seperate holes, each with the imprint of two 30 quart iron cooking pots with three feet..neither was even close to 100 paces...the top of the pots would have been approximately 10-12 inches under ground...being large and iron and being buried 140+ years, any half decent detector should be able to pick them up due to leaching...my brother has dug many single rr spikes at greater depths with his 199.00 whites detector..a local old timer told me of a fellow who recovered two of these pots..he told me where he lived and i went there..he had passed away, his wife wouldn't talk about it other than to say the pots were in the yard....in the side yard, used as decoration, were two 30 quart cooking pots with 3 feet each.......the story relates the caches were not marked...there are private papers saying they were and telling how...its not my info and i am not at liberty to pass along the info so we will leave it at that.....i can say that if they were marked in the way the papers say that the markers would have been useless after a very short while as they wouldn't be there anymore...another thing to consider is the fact that in 1864-1865 the tracks through this area were laid upon the top of the ground....starting 2 years after the war and taking about 1 year, this rr bed was graded, cut, and filled before changing the gauge of the track from narrow gauge to the present gauge....so, the markers would have been gone and the whole area around alot of the track changed considerably within around 3 years which would have made recovering the caches quite a feat for the cachers......a real good reason you might not be able to find any Confederate records relating to duchase might be the fact that before leaving richmond judah benjamin burnt all known records relating to the Confederate secret service...they wouldn't have just intrusted such a job to any captain i don't think...there are many connected people to the dissappearances of the Confederate treasuries that you can not find out a single thing on in Official records...logical reason being in their title '' secret'' as in secret service........case in point, research the soldiers from ga killed between richmond and danville when the train car floor fell through...you will find no records relating to these fellows even though from their supposed deaths you can find info on eachs unit...they are not on any rosters or in unit histories other than telling of their deaths..reason most likely is that they were also secret service, as they were definantly being a part of a secret mission.....are they buried beside the tracks in va ? maybe...there are ''secret'' ceremonies there every year for the ?dead?.....can you call anyone anywhere and find where these burials are ? NO......but certain members of a certain organization still to this day go there once a year............i have searched nearly all of the 16 mile of tracks, some of it with a fine tooth comb...in this whole distance i was granted permission from only 2 land owners...one of these let me search his property for 3 days before telling me that the whole area i was interested in and looking over had been filled with about 20 feet of fill dirt in the early 1940s......the balance of the property owners are some of the most unpleasant people i have had the pleasure of meeting...i have been hollered/screamed at, cussed out, escorted from properties, once by a gun toting fellow with several days worth of tobacco juice dried to his face..i have had the sherrifs department called on me countless time, for parking my car on the side of the road, for walking the tracks, and for tresspassing on unposted land....one fellow, who happens to be a guilford county detective owns a very large property where everyone wants to start their search,,,his signs the last time i was there are about 8 feet square and proclaim that so far 200 and something people so far have been arrested tresspassing on his property.........is the story true about the 6 recoveries ? maybe but i do not think so.....i have only seen one recent excavation, it being approximately 6 ft by 6 ft by 6 ft...all dirt removed from site, no indentions of pots in the bottom...i seriously think the hole a bit much for soldiers digging with hand tools while also being in a great hurry to hide such small pots......i did hear a few years back that a couple recoveries had been recently made, but chalk this up to braggiocondo either from an unsuccessful hunter or an equipment salesman......are there any pots left ? maybe, but be advised you will have several obstacles to overcome in your search for them...............gldhntr

 

[LJ]

Beale...That was in a book that I purchased from Barnes & Noble. It was a book of different stories and this story is the only one in the book that had an "author's note" in it explaining what I mentioned earlier about him receiving this check from the treasure hunter.

I am continuing my search. I just love the history and mystery. If you come up with anything let me know.

LeJeuene

 

[LJ]

Thanks SWR. I am still on the hunt....ha. This research stuff is not very easy as it pulls you in different directions but I am a novice at this but it has been fun.

I don't know who Albert & Todd are. If they are gldhntr & beale, yes, great posts. I had to laugh at gldhntr's post about the gun toting guy with several days of tobacco juice on his face. The image that instantly popped in my head was hilarious. Sorry for laughing gldhntr. I am quite sure at the time it happened it was NOT funny at all but I just loved that story.

Thanks for your input guys & anymore would be appreciated. Take care.

LeJeuene

 

[elkman13]

I believe Clive Cussler Who has done more research about the civil war than most of us put together. He said in one of his books he never ran across gold on the ships or in any other areas. The army of both sides payed their troops with paper money. I just personally don’t think they ran around with wagons, trains, cannons or anything ells full of gold. To many stories are to far fetched to believe.

 

[nc-joe]

This story is referenced in the "UNITED STATES TREASURE ATLAS" Volume 7 by Thomas P Terry.

Per this story, the pots are buried spread out over a 16 mile portion of track East of McLeansville.

One pot was found by a farm hand, and 3 more by the farmer in the early 1900's.

It also states treasure authority Robert Nesmith vouched for this story, but died before he could search for any of the gold.

This book was published in 1985.

 

[elkman13]

It would be nice if you could really get some solid historical info. I have read thing on state web sites, maps, publications and found little info that really matched the real thing. nice to be able to get your teeth into something solid. I'm starting a new thread about a story in Jarbidge that the real story is not not what you read.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

If they were buried 2-3 feet deep a metal detector would not be able to detect them right??

LeJeuene

I believe my Pulse Detector would easily detect 2-3 feet pot full of gold.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Here is my pot at the end of the rainbow. he he

 

[LJ]

bigcypresshunter.....that is funny.

LeJeuene

 

[Darren in NC]

Hello Lejeuene,

Sorry I'm late for the conversation. You're from my neck of the woods. I grew up in Baton Rouge. I sure miss the food

I now live in NC. I wrote the thread you refered to earlier. I have been on site in McLeansville several times. I researched this story extensively. I do believe Robert Nesmith may have been the one who wrote the article under the alias PH Black. The article written in Lost Treasure mag in the late 70's and then later reprinted in the early 90's. It has appeared in numerous treasure books (what was the name of yours?). The original source was a Raleigh newspaper from 1927 in an article entitled "Trailing the Gold of the Confederacy." It gives several accounts of interviews of guards who were on the train. There is confusion as to which train is being referred to - Jefferson Davis' or the treasure train (they were not the same). There are a few reports from hearsay that a farmer and a negro found some pots in their respective fields (not together). I can find no earlier documentation that the Raleigh article.

Problem is, if anyone found anything they'd have to keep their mouth shut. It may be true, maybe not. I doubt it. Most gold on that scale would have been carefully marked thru signs carved on trees, carefully placed rocks and the like. I have seen nothing like that. I doubt the Confederacy would bury such a large sum with no way to get back to it. The story about the soldiers all being killed except for Duchase just doesn't make sense. The regiments didn't fight there according to the records. I have seached for many variations of Duchase's name and nothing comes up in the records. But maybe I still have missed an important clue. Whad'ya think, Todd? (long time, no see).

I sure hope the mystery will be solved one day. As far as a metal detector, you don't need a special one. Just use a regular handheld one and it will pick up just fine - especially with a 14" coil. It will pick up the iron, not the gold.

Let us know if you find anything...or not

Godspeed!
Darren

 

[Darren in NC]

P.S. - Here a real Confederate Gold story from just down the road from McLeansville. Good reading...

Lost Confederate Gold in North Carolina
In the spring of 1865 Gen. Isaac R. Sherwood was stationed with his regiment near Salisbury, NC. He recounts the following incident in his 1923 book "Memories of the War":
Bankers and business men of the South never were unanimous for the Southern Confederacy. The drastic conscription laws, drafting into the army all able-bodied men from 18 to 50, crated wide opposition. Many leading bankers failed to surrender their gold and silver for Confederate bonds. For instance, the bank of Newbern, North Carolina, took $75,000 in gold and silver at the outset of the war and buried it in jugs in a grove near Salisbury, N.C. Nearly all that gold drifted into Ohio after the war and the story is interesting, even after a lapse of 58 years.
On Sherman’s famous march through Georgia and South Carolina his foragers lived on the country and they contracted the habit of grabbing everything in sight, from a silver spoon to a brindle cow. And prudent people on the line of march adopted a habit of burying silverware and gems. Hence the soldiers contracted an early habit of digging for things.
An Ohio cavalry regiment in May, 1865, while the peace angel was brooding over the fair fields and forests of North Carolina, went into camp near Salisbury in the grove where the $75,000 was buried. Digging was still a habit and while one of the cavalrymen was running his sabre into the earth he struck something metallic, which induced him to dig – and he struck a brown jug – well corked. He knocked off the neck of the jug with his carbine and $4,000 in gold and silver was discovered. News of the discovery spread through the camp. There were 17 jugs and a wild scramble ensued among the soldiers of the regiment for the treasure. Comrade Harkness of Norwalk, OH, told me after the war that this was the most exciting, enthusiastic and joyous day the regiment ever experienced. When a new jug was dug out there would be a wild scramble for the gold. About $15,000 was in one dollar gold pieces and the sand and earth and torn sod would all be flying in the air together. It was a case of the survival of the fittest. The strongest and most alert cavalryman got the most gold. Colonel Sanderson of Youngstown, OH was colonel of the regiment. He arrived at the exciting contest when nearly all the precious stuff had been muscularly distributed.
Some friends in Salisbury telegraphed the bank of Newbern of the discovery of the treasure and three days later the officers of the bank appeared in Salisbury demanding the gold. At that time gold was scarce in North Carolina. Of course there was an investigation, but no laws were in force in North Carolina then. There were no courts, no sheriffs, no recognized machinery of civil government.
Our army (the Second Brigade) was encamped six miles from the previous grove. A few days later I received an invitation from Colonel Sanderson to enjoy a Sunday dinner with him in camp. As I was leaving his camp a captain of his regiment from Northwestern Ohio called me into his tent with the inquiry “How much greenback money have you?” I told him I was short, as the paymaster hadn’t arrived. He said: “I will give you gold dollars for every dollar you have in greenbacks.” He took me to the rear of his tent and showed me a cavalry boot nearly full of gold dollars.
There was an investigation by a body of military officers, but so many of the investigating committee were encumbered with this gold that they failed to find any amount to return to the bankers. Comrade Harkness, who gathered a valuable bunch of this shining stuff, told me after the war that nearly all the boys who dug up the treasure landed it safely in Ohio at the muster out.
The ethical quality of the argument for keeping the coin never appealed to me. The claim was that as the bank had refused to surrender the gold to the Confederate government, as required by law of the Confederate congress, and buried it, it forfeited all right to recovery. The soldiers claimed the money by right of discovery. They also said the bank lost nothing, because if it had accepted Confederate bonds for the gold it would have lost just the same, as Confederate bonds were worthless.

 

[LJ]

Darren - Welcome to the conversation. Yes, the food is great here as you already know. I'll send you some crawfish....HA! I am not too far from BR.

I belive this was the "treasure train" and not the Jeff Davis train. It sounds like the same article from mid-1990's.
At the end of the story, the author had an "author's note" section. This is what I read below.

A version of this story of buried treasure was published in a magazine in mid 1990 and a few weeks later a man contacted the author for any additional information which the author provided. The inquiring gentleman stated he was a professional treasure hunter and was convinced he could find some of this treasure with a revolutionary new type of metal detector he constructed.

Three months later this gentleman contacted the author and stated he had found 6 of the pots of gold and mailed a sizable check to this author for his "consultation fee". During the next three years he found another 6 pots!! Again, the author received a sizable check. The treasure hunter supposedly passed away in 2001 leaving his family an impressive inheritance.

The story I read stated that Duchase and one lieutenant eluded capture and hid out in the woods several weeks before they evetually were also captured, interrogated and sent to prison for the remainder of the war. The story states the CW was nearing it's end & the reason the pots were buried is because Union forces were closing in on them & they didn't want this to fall into the hands of the Union. Who knows?

I could not find "Duchase" in any CW records or prisoner records. I also tried different spellings. Like I said in a previous post, when the author makes a note like he did in this book, that is going a little too far to me. I realize this is what "sells" books.

Unless someone happens to find a pot of gold coins, this will be a mystery forever.

LeJeuene