lost confederate gold in alabama

While sitting at the store Morris Slater was gunned down by Constable Leonard McGowin and some other posse members. When he is not sitting in front of a laptop, Todd enjoys soaking up everything the Jersey Shore has to offer with his wife, two sons and American Foxhound, Wally. If you are venturing on to State or Federal lands. He was very skilled at evading the police. Morris started robbing trains because he was angry with the Louisville and Nashville railroad because a brakeman found him on a train ride that was headed for Mobile that he didnt pay for. The area was then abandoned around 1830. If you ever get out to Dauphin Island speak with the natives there and they will tell you about all the history and treasure stories that went on on the island. It was an E-mail he sent to someone and it found it's way to being an article on several sites. "From the outset, it seems as if the FBI is doing everything it can to avoid answering the question of whether they actually found gold," Weismann said. The phrase "Lost Confederate Gold" has a romantic ring. Visit here for more information on State laws regarding relic hunting, treasure hunting, and artifacts. One of his readers showed him a Mexican silver coin dating to the 1850s, which he said was uncovered by a logging crew in the 1940s near a Georgia spot where Davis party is known to have camped. He was worn out, saddened by the devastation that existed in his part of the state, and the difficulty he and his neighbors were having in restoring their lives and properties. Hansen ended up killing one of the Union scouts. your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable. What happened to the Confederate money? However, the treasury increasingly became an encumbrance on his flight, and Davis had disbursed the treasury along the way, among others to General Joseph E. Johnston in order for him to pay his troops at Greensboro, North Carolina, and to several banks for safekeeping, with the remainder paid out to Joseph Wheeler's accompanying cavalry men before dismissing them from their duties. Long story short it is said that Levi Colbert buried some of his savings from the inn and ferry operations in what is now Colbert County Alabama. Its unclear what happened to the money. Keel Mountain is located in Madison County in Alabama not in Belleview, Tenn. I did not know of this event until I had moved to California, but I have retired and have relatives and land in the area. If you are venturing on to State or Federal lands you should know the laws of that State. The gold and silver coins are said to be buried east of his old homestead. Confederate States of America currency circa 1865. The total amount of money and gold that left Richmond with Davis is unknown. They left Richmond with a bunch of money, and when [Davis group] was captured six weeks later, they didnt have it. The story of this lost treasure dates back to 1540 when the Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto was in this part of the New World. He sketched the symbols . The plantations were called Vale Royal and Springfield. Keep in mind most of these lost treasure stories have been handed down by word of mouth over the centuries. Captian Seigneur de Beauchamp was able to get her anchored in the harbor without any damage. In the 1938 book, Flight Into Oblivion, by A.J. [1] The gold was temporarily stored at the Iron Bank by William H. Young. The Associated Press contributed to this report. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Apparently in 1865, $100,000 of gold and silver was put into two large metal boxes by Confederate troops, and then thrown into the swamp. WATCH: Full episodes of America's Book of Secrets online now. He returned to relative obscurity in his native Virginia, near where he was born in New Kent County, and turned his attention to earning a living. An aspect of the treasure that Clark omitted concerned the fate of 39 kegs of Mexican silver dollars. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc, or its affiliates. Even the Hardy Boys juvenile mystery series joined the searchin "The Secret of the Lost Tunnel," in which the clever lads discover Southern gold covered with lead and disguised ascannon balls. Oak Island the Strange, the Bizarre, and Maybe the "Truth! These states were opposed to the abolishment of slavery. Knowing that he was wealthy and owned half of the town the legend has it that the gold could be buried anywhere in Fort Payne. They filled two wooden boxes full. Posted on December 5, 2020 December 31, 2020 by Terry W. Platt. JavaScript is disabled. There is no record that anyone ever found the gold, sowhat happened to it? There seems to have been a great deal of attention placed on finding the "Lost Confederate Treasure" which has spanned the last 154 years since the capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis on 10 May 1865 at Irwinville, Ga., which brought the Civil War to a close. His anger turned to crime and robbing the L&N trains was the outcome. It happened between the Confederate Armory which was not over run during the war and present day, Wall Street . They were active in Louisiana, Texas, Florida, and Alabama. Those two boxes of gold could still be buried deep in that bog near Athens, Alabama. The Fenian Brotherhood, which was preparing to attack Canada with a growing army, seemed to be an opportunity; and with the apparent blessing of Jefferson Davis, with whom he was somehow able to exchange messages, though Davis was securely locked up in prison at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, Semple became a courier for the Fenian movement. This ended in the Trail of Tears that forced the Indians out. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. During the months he was trying to stay ahead of his would-be captors, Danville became an encampment for the Union army. Semple was drawn to Julia, and she to him, by circumstances of war and the aftermath. He told his friend all about the story of the two wagons, treasure, and the fight with the Union soldiers. Union troops closing in on the Confederate capital. One theory suggests it was stolen by the Michigan Cavalrymen. That was some years ago but since then the guy has found out from several old timers that the story they heard about this boat was that it was a grain or cotton barge that began taking on water and was beached. The lost gold also played a key role in the legendary 1966 Western film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. It never got there. In the 1939 movie "Gone With The Wind," the Union Army believes Rhett Butler to have the missing Confederate gold, and they threaten to hang him. On May 4, after Davis and the few advisers that remained with him made the decision to disband his government, they entrusted some $86,000 of the remaining treasury funds to two Confederate navy officials tasked with smuggling it out of the country to Britain. Check it out today its available on Amazon! Im not sure of the accuracy of this story but here it goes. And like all good stories of lost treasure, this one has staying power. After meeting with the treasure hunters in early 2018, the FBI brought in a contractor with more sophisticated instruments. One day a rebel soldier came by and Hansen decided to lead him to the lost treasure so they could possibly retrieve it. Confederate Pots of Gold . This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. That was generally what he had been told to do in May 1865, in what became known as the "Last Order" of the Confederacy. Continue with Recommended Cookies. Almost half a million dollars in reserve gold was also gathered from a bank in Richmond. The trapper ended up not marrying the chiefs daughter and he went away freely although he killed two braves to make sure he was able to leave. Some think its on the Alabama side while others say its on the Florida side. Please do not use this website if you disagree with any of the terms outlined here.Thanks for visiting!Thank You,Frank W. Pandozzi, Website Owner. After the War Between the States,many not only spent time rememberingthe "Lost Cause," they also stayed busy searching for its lost gold. The location was described (by him) as being in northern Alabama, between the towns of Bellview and Booneville, at or near Keel Mountain. Hanna recorded some of the known expenses incurred by Davis group, including $108,000 paid to escorting troops near the Savannah River and $40,000 paid for supplies in Washington and Augusta, Georgia. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. I doubt very seriously that any of the phantom confederate gold myths are real. From lost confederate Civil War gold to lost Indian gold to plantation owners and their lost treasure we have a little bit of everything in these stories. "[2], Amid the collapse of the Confederacy, General Henry Halleck, Chief of Staff of the Union armies, wrote on April 26, 1865, that Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, was fleeing with large quantities of specie. The Rebel and the Rose"" reveals for the . CBS News affiliate WTAJ-TVreported members of the Elk County Historical Society say they believe the gold is just an old wives' tale. Union forces were strong in the area north of Alabama so Hansen and two confederate soldiers decided to take the two boxes of treasure to Columbia where General Hood of the rebel troops was held up. He wanted to trap game on the tribal land so he asked the chief permission. Another theory, says Rawlings: Davis and his group hid it. Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. [6], Last edited on 31 December 2022, at 01:37, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury, "The Georgia Odyssey of the Confederate Gold", "OUR ARMIES. Railroad Bill finally met his doom when a $500 reward was issued for him dead or alive. Having his ferry there solved this problem. So they filled a strongbox full of gold coins that the town had stored up as the treasury. Sorry, I don't know anything about these. Davis and His Gold. The treasure may be The whole of this region was captured by the Northern forces early in the Civil War. The History Channel even aired a preposterous documentary claiming . You are using an out of date browser. They left Richmond with a bunch of money, and when [Davis group] was captured six weeks later, they didnt have it. The gold became a lost legend. He practically owned half of the town of Fort Payne. Two more Union soldiers were killed along with the two rebels that had been with Hansen. That didnt happen, however, and it is believed to have been stolen. With enemy soldiers occupying the town, any effort to dig up the some 160,000 8-reale coins would have certainly been seen. The daughter didnt want anything to do with the braces that her father presented to her but she had an infatuation with the white trapper who recently came around. Many attempts at recovering her gold and silver cache have come up empty. So with Jesse James spending time and hiding out, its only natural that many believe that he would have buried treasure in and around these areas of Alabama. The Nunez Ferry ran for 47 years from 1815-1919. Most if not all of them take place well into the war, and by then the confederate had serious cash flow issues. While they fought the commander detailed a couple of men to hide the gold just in case they lost and were captured. During the autumn of 1864 it was clear the Confederacy was losing the Civil War. AFFILIATE DISCLOSUREI am an affiliate marketer. The trapper returned to the Chickasaw camp and married the daughter of the chief but her father had disappeared and no one in the village seemed to know where the cave was that held the treasure. He ended up in prison until the end of the war. Hansen stayed with his friends for a few days hiding under the floor when Union Soldiers would come by. (Published 1865)", Last Sighting of the Lost Confederate Gold in Georgia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Confederate_gold&oldid=1130607928, A series of western adventure novels written by, This page was last edited on 31 December 2022, at 01:37. The Union soldiers dug up the cask and went and spent the money in Mobile, Alabama. The story goes that when she was forced to leave she had so much gold and silver her horses couldnt carry the load so she was forced to bury the gold and silver where she stood. The Chickasaw Chief and some of his braces took the treasure the Spaniards had left behind and hide it in a big limestone cave which was located on the northern bank of the Tennessee River. Still, over the years I've met people in North and South Carolina, Georgia, and even Alabama and Kentucky, who genuinely believe the "treasure" is hidden there and who've spent decades trying to find it. Before you knew it,others hurried to the scene and began to dig, and another gold rush was under way. Kevin and Al travel to Brad's home where they meet a woman who is the descendant of a large plantation owner. Semple apparently never attempted to recover the Mexican silver dollars in Danville, for various reasons. The ferry was used by Confederate and Union troops during the Civil War. Davis had nothing on him when he was captured in the end on May 10 in Irwinville, Georgia. Dauphin Island held many camps over the centuries including a British army camp, a Spanish army camp, a Federal army camp, and a French army camp. He and his friend decided to head out to recover the treasure. Levi Colbert who lived from 1759 to1834 was the bench chief of the Chickasaw Nation. You see people didnt trust the banks back then because they were often robbed and the insurance programs of the Federal Government were not that good. Most importantly, Davis only has a few dollars on him when he was captured, which led to a long-running question: where did all the money and gold go? They ended up in a large cavern and when they took the blindfold off of the trapper he saw that the cave was filled to the ceiling with gold and silver bars, coins, and jewels. In the other were cash and gold reserves and jewelry, estimated to be worth around $1 million. Its fate has remained a mystery for more than 150 years, fueling a wealth of local legends in the South and elsewhere, and even inspiring Hollywood movies like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) and Sahara (2005), based on the book by Clive Cussler. It would have taken a large amount of troops to dig and hide all the treasure, and as poor as alot of those soldiers were after the war, why not go back and dig up the treasure? The treasure was secured in the false bottom of a carriage. 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