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Musings on what happened to the stockpile of Confederate gold
Mandy Malone | Book Corner
November 25, 2007
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Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Single page view Reprints Post Comment Text size: In the early '90s, Williamsburg resident Gerald White became intrigued by the story of James A. Semple and lost Confederate gold.
"I started researching it and found out that Semple was from this area," White said.
While researching, White met Massachusetts author Wesley Millett, who was also gathering information about Semple and the gold. Eventually White and Millett decided to collaborate on a book, and their project, "The Rebel and the Rose" (Cumberland House, $24.95), has recently been released.
Mandy Malone Bio | E-mail | Recent columns
"The Rebel and the Rose" traces Semple's story. He was a Navy paymaster who, in May 1865, was entrusted with all the remaining gold in the Confederate treasury: $86,000 in coins and bullion, the equivalent of about $2 million today. After hiding the treasure in the false bottom of a carriage, he and another man, Edward M. Tidball, disappeared.
For White, the story's unanswered questions created a tantalizing mystery.
"History books just ended right there and they didn't continue on," he said.
In developing their theory of what happened, White and Millett describe Semple's journey from the swamps of Georgia to Staten Island to Canada, where he worked with other expatriate Confederates.
Another prominent element in their book is Semple's relationship with Julia Gardiner Tyler, the widow of former President John Tyler and stepmother of Semple's estranged wife.
"A lot of the story is Semple and Julia. To get there we had to place it in a historical context," White said.
"The Rebel and the Rose" is available at Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million and online at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.
kenb
Mandy Malone | Book Corner
November 25, 2007
Article tools
E-mail Share
Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Single page view Reprints Post Comment Text size: In the early '90s, Williamsburg resident Gerald White became intrigued by the story of James A. Semple and lost Confederate gold.
"I started researching it and found out that Semple was from this area," White said.
While researching, White met Massachusetts author Wesley Millett, who was also gathering information about Semple and the gold. Eventually White and Millett decided to collaborate on a book, and their project, "The Rebel and the Rose" (Cumberland House, $24.95), has recently been released.
Mandy Malone Bio | E-mail | Recent columns
"The Rebel and the Rose" traces Semple's story. He was a Navy paymaster who, in May 1865, was entrusted with all the remaining gold in the Confederate treasury: $86,000 in coins and bullion, the equivalent of about $2 million today. After hiding the treasure in the false bottom of a carriage, he and another man, Edward M. Tidball, disappeared.
For White, the story's unanswered questions created a tantalizing mystery.
"History books just ended right there and they didn't continue on," he said.
In developing their theory of what happened, White and Millett describe Semple's journey from the swamps of Georgia to Staten Island to Canada, where he worked with other expatriate Confederates.
Another prominent element in their book is Semple's relationship with Julia Gardiner Tyler, the widow of former President John Tyler and stepmother of Semple's estranged wife.
"A lot of the story is Semple and Julia. To get there we had to place it in a historical context," White said.
"The Rebel and the Rose" is available at Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million and online at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.
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