Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-12-29
Sixteen Kegs of Gold.
New York Su

| oAhCSSAA IASS9O VI 0OAus
| New York Sun
MILFORD, DEL, November 13.-The
presence in this town Of a foreigner with
the French accent, a courtly bearing, and
a strange lnquisitiveness after details Of
local history, has brought up the Captain
Kidd story of the Delaware coast. This
foreigner, who registers as Henry Mach
eret, gotta liyeryman to drive him over
to the Polk farm last evening. The iv-
| eryman says 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 Mispillion Creek. At eight
o'clock this morning Monsieur Macheret
bought ticket for PHILADELPHIA, and
took the train north.
Upon the Polk farm" thus mysterl-
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 place between the Mis-
pillion and Cedar Creeks and the bay.
Ii is now owned by Peter Torbert. Ac-
cording to the local tradition-threaded
into narrative by Mr.. Torbert-a French
f1lgate was chased in past Cape Henlo-
pen in the R aoh BY an Enghsh
moving along by Le,ves soon after sun.
set on cold December day. The frigate
kept her course up the bay, hugging the
shore until she reached the mouth of the
Mlspillon, fifteen miles above Lewes
AT the creeks mouth the frigate cast an
Choir, and under cover of The darkness
her officers rowed ashore in small boats.
II is recorded in the diary of Ezra Polk
that on the evening of the goth of Deem
Der, 1880, lights danced about his field
for two hours or more. Then the lights
disappeared, and the frigate weighed an
Choir. Next day the man of. war took the
trlgate into Lewes as prize Old Ezra's
diary docs not mention or even hint at a
buried treasure. It refers to traces Of
fresh earth. and intimates the gallant
Frenchman had probably buried a dead
officer there.
Time passed, the war ended, and the
year 1913 came. Then Milford was Wis
tied by two French officers, from whose
actions the notion of treasure trove was
first suggested. These officers lived in a
house near the Milford mills, and spent a
month leisurely traversing the Polk far u
foot by foot. They employed negroes to
dig IN several spots, to which they bad
seemingly been directed by measure.
ments mace from the mouth of the creek.
Three or four times the officers drove
over to the place straight, but it was
not noticed that they brought any thing
with them to the mills. In the early
part of January, 1914, the two men went
away from Milford as light hearted and,
to all appearances, as light in pocket
as when they began the search. Boys
have been accustomed 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 fields.
Whether the mysterious visits of the
old French officers and the French gen
tleman of this latter day may mean any,
thing or not. it is matter of history, as
Alderman Vincent, now City Treasurer
of Wilmington, historian of Delaware,
member of the London Golden Club pro-
prietor of the Anglo American Union
scheme, &c, tells one that there was
such thing as a chased French frigate
and chasing English man-of-war. He
is authority for the statement that during
the revolution and John Halls Captaincy
over the garrison at Lewes French
frigate came booming into the harbo1.
The breakwater was not then inexistence,
but the frigate found good anchorage,
and the officers were entertained for
several days by Captain Hall and his
Delaware command-at that time regi-
ment. The frigate had been q privateer
ing down the coast. and was bound for
Wilmington with several valuable prizes.
The treasure was landed, and the crew of
the vessel marched with it clear up the
State road to Wilmington, Captain Hall
and his troops acting as convey. At Will
mington the French went into
quarters. The officers were housed
in building which was for.
merly on the site where the building &C.
cupied by W. s. McCauly in Market
street, above Sixth, now stands. The
immense Treasure was buried in the eel
lar Of the building and cons family guard
ed One night, several weeks after the
arrival, the treasure was broken in upon
and partly taken away, this robbery be-
ing so bold and altogether mysterious
that the Frenchmen could never make
head CT tail OF it. The thieves were not
caught. French street, now one of the
main thoroughtares of Wilmington. was
given its name by this occurrence. One
of the French officers, upon his return IN
Paris, published book about the trim
through Delaware, and the only copy of
the book IN this country, at the Meroau-
tile Library in Philadelphia, would seem
to bear out the story of the treasure steal
ing.
The POLK Farms" kegs of gold "a
round million of Spanish dollars) are. Ira
the belief of the Milford people. still
being sought for; and the Lewes folks are
occasionally led to think that certain
strangers are about to make raid on the
coast down below Cape Henlopen
About eighty years ago the De Brock, a
large English man-ot war, commanded
by James Drew, was capsized and sunk
wni'e entering the bay: Besides fab
ulous amount of treasure between her own
decks, the De Brock had in charge two
Spanish galleons loaded with specie, and
these galleons went down with the man
of.war. In addition to this, there was
once a Spanish prize ship, loaded with
gold and silver, that tried to pass the
cape in a storm, but was lost off
Synepuxeth beach, near Ocean City,
several miles further down. Treasure
enough was washed ashore from this prize
ship to make rich the wreckers who dwelt
along the shore.