Old Homestead Wells

[NLINE SIXX]

Thinking out loud has anyone found any valuables, relics, Homesteader stash submerged in a well for safe keeping at the time. I know years ago people use to bury their money and such, but I was just curious if anyone has retrieved any thing from a well like jars of coins, etc. I know a lot of wells have been filled in with junk and covered up, but I have seen a few local to me that still look useable. There again on private property and how would you go about checking or retrieving it.

I remember a few years ago my Dad had found some money MD for some people that they believed their relatives had buried on the property. It was jars filled with coins.

NL6

 

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[Monty]

This is a question I have had reason to ponder recently. I couldn't think of a feasable way to recover such a cache. First of all how would you know for certain that there was something valuable down in a well. Secondly, I can't imagine someone stashing valuables in a well without taking into consideration how they would recover it. If it was an old fashioned dug well I suppose a person could be lowered down into the well to search but it certainly wouldn't be a safe undertaking. At any rate it would take some very expensive and professional equipment and know how to do it safely. If it was certain that several hundred gold coins or something similar was stashed down there, it would be worth the expense and effort. Anything less, I'd say forget it. Just my take on it. Monty

 

[NLINE SIXX]

First all thanks for the reply Monty. Your post was my thoughts exactly. I'm sure that most of the stash of cache was probably buried, but it has crossed my mine at times of the old pioneer stashing his savings in a well for safe keeping. Of course with it being a new well and full intentions of recovering it himself. There again sudden death or other misfortune can arise and it ends up like the buried treasure that is found at times by some lucky metal detectors.

Being new myself to the hobby of MD I had to ask this question of any sort of detection devise to check or recover possible goodies out of a well. As posted thinking out loud.

NL6

 

[Burdie]

Monty this may interest you. It happened in your general region. Here is the story from excerpts in various news papers.
A WELL STORY !!!!

Duree promptly jumped bail and accompanied by his pals, Terrill, Williams, and Campbell went on a tear knocking over the banks of Catoosa, Maramec, Lamont, Bristow, Sparks, and Hoffman, Oklahoma as well as six financial institutions in Kansas.
According to the authorities, the gang?s MO was to drive up to a small town bank at a time when only cats and stray dogs were about and the town constable in his slumbers, (generally 2 or 3 am), park the truck in front of the building, unroll the cable, hook it to the front door and pull the door off it?s hinges. Next, they would attach the cable and hook to the strong box and winch it onto the truck, drive to an isolated barn and open the safe at their convenience. The gang was so successful in their ability to slip into small ?one horse? communities and rip off the bank safe without disturbing a soul, newspapers began calling the gang the phantom burglars and the groups leader, the ?Ghost Bandit.?
On the afternoon of August 9, 1924, a posse of officers raided a small farm near Granola, Kansas where Duree and his younger brother, Charlie, were hiding. In the ensuring gunfight, Charlie was slain by a well-placed .44 caliber slug while Jeff was able to escape the clutches of the law and disappeared into the dark night on foot. Some lawmen suspected the outlaw had possibly suffered a grievous wound during the Kansas ambush and crawled off into the vast prairie and died. On receiving no word of the outlaw? whereabouts for a period of months, one outspoken lawmen proclaimed, ?Old Jeff is most likely buzzard bait by now.? Now the rest of the story! One more guy was with them that escaped before the gunfight. He was caught with a broken arm after trying to robb the Grenola Bank a month later. When he got out of Prison he settled in Grenola. He told my grandfather that the gang threw a saddle with two money bags and a saddle bag tied to it in a well. That well is in Elgin Kansas. My Grandfather said that all the money was not recovered. Here is what I know and what I suspect. My Grandfather had a saddle hanging in his shed and no horse. "Skinny" the robber, bought a clothing store after getting out of prison.(paid in cash) Jeff Duree lived to rob again.
I might add my Gandparents were allways flat broke all their lives. I think one bag is still down there or Duree got there first. If so he probably could only get one bag out by himself. HH Burdie

 

[Monty]

Interesting story Burdie. Obviously they didn't have time to plan on how to recover it. I think the biggest hazard with those old wells is accidentally falling into the darn things if covered with old rotting boards and vegetation. There are a lot of old cisterns around here too. Monty

 

[Burdie]

I will second that big time!!! I just got chills thinking about it again. Wheeeeez!!!! Burdie

 

[Gypsy Heart]

Well Stan ...thats a great story....now why havent you gone back and gotten that other bag

 

[FredMaxwell]

I might be kind of crazy but I think if I suspected a well I would take headphones with nice long wire (might need an amplifier) and lure a MD down there to the floor and see what I could find out

 

[catfishterry]

Time to get out the ole underwater fishing cam. I knew it could be used for somthing.

 

[pgill]

I have heard of a couple of pot of roman coins found in old wells in England..... But in my thoughts why go to all the trouble of hiding my riches down a well when, there are a thousand other places to hide it that are easier and safer to recover?

This seems to be one of those questions that gets everyone thinking

God bless
Peter

 

[m.robins]

hi everyone,

there are plenty of things to consider when in a well or other confined spaces.
apart from getting in and out safely, gases from decaying vegetation or animals
is the no 1 killer in a situation like this. You should always check with a gas meter
before entering any confined space, one breath of the wrong gas and your asleep
for a very long time

m.robins

 

[NLINE SIXX]

Catfishterry I believe has the right idea. I did not think of the fish cam,I've seem them advertised in the fishing catalogs before. Most of these have a pretty long cable with a camera mounted at the end of the cable for under water use. I've never checked one out before but was wondering if the camera has a light attachment. If so this would be great I believe to look around the bottom. Of course figuring a way to retrieve the item if found would take some thought. I would never attempt going down in a well no matter how valuable the item. Just this afternoon while at work I thought about this thread after passing two old homestead wells out in the country and wondering what possibly could be down there.

NL6

 

[stefen]

In my formative years, I was raised on a farm in Farmersburg Indiana. Our home place was a turn-of-the-century rural school house converted into a small 3 bedroom home. Having all of the then modern conveniences such as post & tube wiring, no running water and of course, the standard Sears Model No. 14 outhouse (single seater).

As an added description, the basement was dirt floored and all of the barns and outbuildings were cinder floored due to a high water table. How high do you ask? Well, lets say when you pulled a fence post you had a gusher.

We had an old brick lined cistern in the yard near the kitchen with a hand pump (also plumbed into the kitchen). This cistern had a small cast iron cover for filling and cleaning purposes. As a kid I frequently played in the cistern and when full, would drop whatevers into it.

Can you imagine what may be at the bottom that was deposited by the kids from the school times.

Old cisterns (shallow wells) and dry cellars were used to keep valuables. Houses had a way of burnings due to faulty electric systems, coal oil lanterns, candles, wood stoves and frequent lightning strikes. We experienced several major fires, and since neighbors were a half mile or more apart, the family is left to be self sufficinet in solving problems.

I, personally, would not place my head or even my entire body in a cistern or deep well. Thats why we have the buddy system motto...let Buddy do it!

Think again about stepping onto some old boards lying on the ground, because you may as well as put your head between your legs and kiss your butt goodbye. In fact, a person needs to be conscience of stepping into any depression. May be a partially collapsed well, septic tank, cesspool or even a sink hole.