The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-06-30
HIDDEN TREASURES.
Gree Lewis and His Gold-Fruitless
Search for Buried Money.


Search for Buried Money.
From the Madison (GdJ Madisonion.
In the old ante-bellum days, when our
people lived in peace and plenty, the village
of Salem, Oconee county, was a flourishing
little town of several hundred inhabitants
Forty or fifty years ago Salem was re-
sort for the prominent men of all that sec
ton contiguous to the place comprising por-
tions of Oconee then Clarke, Morgan,
Greene and Oglethorpe furnishing
school OF several hundred pupils was located
there. and few of the old men now living
in that section spent their young DAYS at
this school, AS the railroads were built in
the country, Salem's citizens followed the
wake of the iron horse, and her population
gradually decreased. At a period just be-
fore the war, there lived in this quiet little
village an old negro who was known as
Free Lewis" What his real name was, it
is now hard to say, as he is only remem-
bered by few old people as Free Lewis"
He was an honest Woodworking negro, and
had the knack of making money and still
the greater faculty of saving it. He had
once belonged to a Mr.. Sweeney of Salem.
One day he carelessly asked his master
if he could buy himself free. His master told
him yes, and named the price $1,000.
Lewis then began saving his money, earned
he had accumulated the amount. Joyfully
he went to his master and paid the sum.
Freed from the letters of slavery, Lewis
began his trade, for he was a carpenter and
blacksmith, and by hard work and close
living he soon had a small amount Of money
laid aside. This pile never diminished, but,
on the other hand, daily increased, as his
wages were added to it.
Just at the approach of the late war,
La N
is said to be fact well known. "My
father" said Mr.. Sweeney Smith to re-
porter, "had counted this money over time
after time for old Free Lewis, and he had
just "a, 900 at the beginning of the war;
AS the war was drawing nearer, and while
yet the thunders of artillery were ready to
peal forth at Fort Sumter, Lewis was sud-
denly taken i'll one day and died in a few
hours after his attack. In his dying
breath he tried to tell his white friends
where his money was, and all they could
catch of the dying mans words were
money in ground"
The thunders of war shook the heavens
and Salem's sons marched off to do battle
for their country. Calamity they fought
for the cause of the right, and many lost
their lives for the southern confederacy.
The war over the warriors returned to their
desolate homes. The men of Salem,
stripped of their property, remembered the
words Of Free Lewis, and at once began to
work for the buried treasure. Knowing
that Lewis had not kinsman in the world.
and that the finder would be entitled to the
money, the men worked with all their might
and power. Acre after acre of land was
turned up by pillow, shovel and pick, and
and every rock was upturned, but the
treasure was never found. Years have
passed away, whose flying periods have
witnessed other efforts upon the part of
Salen's people to discover the hidden treas
ure, still the spot is unknown.
To-day 81, COOLIES hidden in the quiet little
village of Salem, just beyond the pictur-
esque Appalachee river. in Oconee county,
| and Free Lewis secret Is sleeping in his
humble grave with his moldering remains.
The memory of Free Lewis and his treasure
| only exists in the minds of few old people
of that section, and his name is rarely ever
| heard.
| That the treasure is buried in Salem nc
one doubts, but the exact spot no one
knows.