The daily gazette., 1878-11-18
From the n: Y. Sun.
sixteen Kegs Of Gold.
Treasure Buried by French Officers IN
in 1850 TO Hide IL from, E,o,JjsL,,a,,


u in 17S0 TO Hide II from Eaglishmen.
MILFORD, DEL, Nov. 13.-The pres
ence IN this town of a foreigner with the
French accent. courtly hearing, and a
strange inquisitiveness after local history.
has brought up the Capt. Kidd story of
the Delaware coast. This foreigner, who
registers as Henri Macheret, got a livery
man TO drive him over to the Polk farm
last evening. The liveryman saws that
Monsieur Macheret walked for an hour
about the premises, paced up from the
Delaware bay shore four or five times,
stopping at different spot at the end of
each trial, and then gave orders that he
should be shown the mouth of Mlspillion
Greek. AT O'Clock this morning Mon
sieur Macheret bought ticket for Phila-
delphia and took the train north
Upon the "Polk farm" thus mysteri-
ously visited there is said to be buried a
royal treasure of sixteen kegs of gold.-
The farm is situated few miles east of
this place, in what Is known as Cedar
Neck, swampy strip between the Mis-
pillion and Cedar Creeks and the bay
1t is now owned by Peter Torbert. Ac
cording to the local tradition-threaded
, into narrative by Mr.. Torbert-a French
frigate was chased in past Cape Henlopen
in the Revolution, by an English man-of-
: war, both pursued and pursuer moving
along by Lewes soon after sunset, on a
cold December day. The frigate kept
her course up the bay, hugging the shore
until she reached the mouth of the Mis-
:: pillion fifteen miles above Lewes. At
the creeks mouth the frigate cast anchor,
, and under cover Of the darkness her Off
J GERS rowed ashore in small boats. 1t is
! recorded in the "iary of Ezra Polk that
on the evening of the goth of December,
l17S0, lights danced about his fields for
two hours or more. Then the lights dis
appeared, and the frigate weighed anchor.
0 Next day the man-of-war took the frigate
4 into Lewes. Old Ezra's diary does not
mention or even hint at buried treasure.
1t refers TO traces of fresh earth, and in
" Inmates that the gallant Frenchmen had
probably buried dead officer there.
, Time passed, the war ended, and the
year 1918 came. Then Milford was
visited by two French officers, from
whose actions the notion of treasure trove
was first suggested. These officers
a lived in house near the Milford mills,
1
, the Polk farm foot by foot They en-
y ployed negroes to dig in several spots,
to which they had seemingly been direct
:, ed by measurements made from the
mouth OF the creek. Three or four
y times the officers drove over to the
place straight, but 1t was not noticed
!. that they brought anything with them to
the mills. In the early part of January,
/. 1914, the two men went away from Mil
}, ford, as light-hearted and, to all appear
ances, as light in pocket as when they
beganehe ST arch. Boys have been accus-
toned to look upon the Polk farm as
the abiding place of some bonanza, and
more than once parties have used the
spade in the old Ids.
Whether the mysterious visits of the
~ old French officers and the French gen.
o tleman of this latter day may mean any
10 thing or not, II is matter of history
as Alderman Vincent, now City Trea
= surer of Wilmington, historian of Del
aware, member of the London Colder
= Club, protector of the Anglo-Americar
n Union scheme, &C., tells one there wal
+ such thing as chased French fiigatt
: and chasing English BaA-of-war. III,
J. is authority for the statement that during
l. the revolution and John Hall's Cap
y taincy over the garrison at Lewes {
N frigate came booming into the harbor
o The breakw ater was not then in eXis
tence, but the irigate found good anchor
age, and the officers were entertained
for several days by Capt. Hall and hi
!, Delaware command-at that time
u regiment. The frigale had been |
I,.xtuataarinn fnun fh.a anh m n
bound for Wilmington with several val
liable prizes. The treasure was landed
aud the crew OF the vessel marched will
it clear up to the Slate road to Whining
L. ton, Capt. Hall and his troops actin
as convoy. At Wilmington the Frenul
went into quarters. The officers wer
nj housed in a building which was formerl
on the site where the building occupies
III by w. S. McCaulley, in Market stree
Id above Sixth now stands.
The immense treasure was buried in tn
+ cellar of the building and constant
q. guarded. One night, several weeks afte
Id the arrival, the treasure was broken i
nj. upon and partly taken away, the robber
% being so bold and altogether mysteriou
Id that the Frenchmen could never max
head or tail of it. The thieves were III
caught. French street, now one ofthe mai
thorough fares of Wilmington, was give
. its name by this occurrence. One of tn
of French officers, upon his return to Pari
Ter published book about The trip throug
In. Delaware, and the only copy of the boo
in this country, at the Mercantile Libri
~ ry in Philadelphia, would seem to bel
A out the story Of the treasure stealing.
Il The "Polk FARMS" kegs of gold
- round million of Spanish dollars) are,
I'll the belief of the Milford people, still b
ing sought for; and the Lewes folks a
occasionally led to think that strange
are about TO make raid on the Goa
I down below Cape Henlopen. Abol
. eighty years ago the De Brock, a lar!
English man-of-war, commanded
James Drew, was capsized and SUI
- while entering the bay. Beside fab
Ious amount of treasure between her ow
g's, decks, the De Brock had in charge tv
" Sanish galleons loaded with specie al
ire, these gaIleons went down with the ma
'ty. of-war. In addition TO this, there W
n'' once Spanish prize ship, loaded wi