Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1872-11-01
HIDDEN PLUMBER.
\ Federal Quartermaster Bnrics
$4,000 During the War and
4oncs Nine Years After
to Unearth 1t.
SHEPHEHD>ToWN, JEFER>oN Co,

SHEPEEHD>ToWN, JEFER>oN Co, }
W. VA, September Is, 1872.
Daring the stirring scenes of the late
war this locality saw its full share of that
conflict, AMI WAS disputed ground between
the two armies for 4 long time. 1t is di-
rectly across the Potomac from the battle
ground Of Antictam, and saw Il great deal
OF tho fdrhDuS fight, as well as of many
minor ones near its own Limits. 1t is Il
good place 20 cross The Potomac by ferry.
and, therefore, was generally selected 10y
both armies as an available point from
which to operate.
During the summer of 1S63 il was III tie
thckeSt Of the commOtinn Of the retreat of
our army 10 Cn'' vshIIig, aud subsequent
rttrra' nt the shattered army OF Lee and
the irlti'. II that &'!Gmcr's operations Of
our aim. III tlio >rr;iuir. There wIs
therefore "r.a! rhlnilcr Of army officers
in and about that little town. and during
the Gettysburg campaign much confusion
and excitement prevailed. After this was
all qu;ctcd by The further removal cf the
army, and everything settled 10 almost a
peace standar il became lumored about
that during The Gettysburg campaign
quartcrmastcr Of our army bad buried in
this vicinity large amount of money,
varjOusly estimated at from fifty to one
hundred Thousand dollars. From various
circumstances connected with f1ie report,
much credencc was given 10 the runor
and many attempts made by the
people 10 find the treasure, but without
avail Just after he war hal closed and
the report as TO the hidden wealth had
been almost forgotten, young man
made his appearance in tbs vicinity.
claiming to have been a soldier in 2
New York regiment of Cay airy Ony infor~
mant thinks it the FhtlD. lie remained
about here for some time without am ap-
parent object, except 10 visit the BATH
fields over which he had marched and
fought, and even stated that this was his
only purpose here. Every day he would
take long walk, first in one direction and
then another, and uniformly carried dig
ging Implement with him. This excited
some suspicion, and lie was watched by u
gentleman who had the story Of the buried
cash revived by his appearance and action.
He was found to walk up and down the
different roads in the vicinity scanning
anXiously every tree that stood near the
roadside, evincing such an interest iu his
search as was inconsistent with his story
of Interest only in the war scenes in which
he had participated. For more than a
| week he kept up his visits to the adjoining
country, and toward the close grew
GLOOMY AND MELANCHOLY.
One evening about ten days from the
| time of his arrival lie returned later than
! usual from his walks and declared his in
| tentiOn of leaving on the next day for his
! Northern home. After he had eaten his
supper he called the gentleman with whom
he was staying aside, and told him that
! the object of his visit to this country was
not solely to visit old army scenes, but to
| secure an amount of money that bad been
/ hY,C in ri bo
! of 1863 by quartermaster Of a New York
| brigade, who was an intimate friend of
his. He said that he had been the clerk
! of this officer who secfeted the money, and
| that Sc, 900 was buried amid the roots of
! n large tree somewhere in this vicinity.
| He stated that the officer who hid the
| money was then serving out a term in the
pententiary for embeZZlement, and if the
] money was not found before it EXPIRED he
| Cthe officer) would himself return for his
! hidden plumber. He seemed much cha
! grined at his failure to discover the spot
/ where his defaulting friend hai secrcted
/ his il-gotten cash, and declared his fear
/ that if the money was not found before his
friend got ont Of prison it would be worth
| less. lie said the money was in green
! backs and gold, in 4 tin box, aud when
| buried was encascd in 4 wooden box.
! HIS STATEMENTS
were so clear and positive as to all the de-
+ tails of burial that not the slightest shad-
! ow o. doubt was left upon the mind Of my
| informant that $02 900 lie buried. perhaps
within Il stones throw Of his home but
but where no one could tell, save the one
who hid it. The young mani who thus
gave positive assurance as to The truth of
the rumor Of the money burial is repre-
sented as being young and sentlemally IN
/ appearance, well and neatly dressed, sober
and deliberate in action, Intelligent in
conversation, ana generally correct in
habit and department. He left for home
on the next morning after impauins the
above information, and since that date I'M
til few days ago no knowledge as To is
whereabouts or history has been possessed
by any one here.
a Short time since two we'll dressed gen
tlemAuiy- y-loOking and active men stepped
OF the cars at kcedysvillc, Il little towu
few miles distant from here. directly acros,
the river in Maryland. They secured "A
horse and buggy with the statement that
they were from New York, had been sol
dicrs in tho late war, aud desired to revisit
The battle -field Of AutictaIn, its cemetery
and adjoining army historical points.
They spent some time about the country.
apparently looking at the cemetery, &c,
bu, tTllfbfuly to kill time, and by one or
two PERSONS was this young man, who had
first ComC t" search for the npucy, rccor-
uized. Ees..r s.
HIS COMPANION
i, supposed II have been linn who buried
the treasure lie had searched for yealu ago
/ unsuccesefully, recently out from pIison.
Toward evening they drew near the Toto-
mac river, crossed il and visited tic large
cement mill below the town and spent