Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1898-06-17
WEALTH OF PIRATES.
MYSTERIOUS HoAR0s RECENTLY Dis
COVERED IN ST. AUGUSTINE.

BLACK Cfeenr ana HIS Grew OF Cut-Ihronts
Ravaged the Florida Coast and Then
Buried Their Plunder-A Romance Of
the Biach Flag.
Some negroes engaged recently In re-
moving the coquina walls Of an old
Spanish casa at st. Augustine, Fla,
that had been demolished to make
room for a modern structure, found
few Spanish doubloons in a little niche
that had been cut into the wall The
date on one Of the coins showed it to
be 100 years old. Il is supposed that
the coins were placed in the hole In the
wall during the Seminole Indian war
of half century ago Every man was
his own banker in those days, and they
hid their gold in the walls. chlmueys.
under the houses, and those who be-
lieved that ghosts would keep bad peo-
pie away hid their gold in the grave
yard. Periodically there is a revival Of
gold hunting many of the early settlers
believing that the old town is rich in
gold deposits, and whenever an old
building is to be torn down many vol
unteer TO work for "iust what they can
find" Within the past few years sew
eral sums Of gold have been dug up on
Anastasia Island, opposite St Angus
tine, by fishermen. This led to organ
ized parties, whose prospecting was
guided by visions from clairvoyants.
who can discover fortunes for others,
but not for themselves.
That there Is a great deal of hidden
treasure In Florida there can be little
doubt, but the secret of the hiding
place died with the Spaniards, who
were killed by the ferocious Seminoles
and the pirates who infested this coast
In earlier times Anastasia Island was
frequently visited by Laftte, the pirate
of the Gulf coast, whose voyagei;
extended to Galveston, Texas, and the
lakes of Southern louisiana The
Government finally ran him down, and
he left buried gold at many points on
the coast. Drake sacked and burned
the town shortly after its settlement,
and the bloodthirsty Blackboard" took
what he could find when his piratical
vessel landed there. Morgan and Floyd
also paid visits to St. Augustine, and
BLACK Caesar" negro, also scourged
the coast, and 1t is believed buried
some of his stolen treasure on Anasta-
sia Island His negro crew mutinled
over division of the spOils and some
were killed Two or three deserted
and they have left a tradition that
large sums were buried and landmarks
taken so that the treasure could be
found on the return Of the vessel But
Black Caesar and his long, low, rakish
craft never returned. The landmarks
soon disappeared Certain II is that
several farmers who located upon this
island shortly after Florida was ceded
to the United States have become
wealthy. The yield of their farms was
not very large, and the supposition
Is that they accidentally stumbled upon
Jars of gold in digging foundations for
houses.
Black Caesar was the most blood
thirsty pirate that visited this coast
not excepting the drunken rufTlan
Blackboard He invariably burned any
vessel that he overhauled. and either
cut the throats OF the crew or let them
90 down in the burning vessel. There
Is creek in Southern Florida bearing
his name. It Is a deep creek, its out.
let almost hidden from view. Up this
creek he would sail and secrete his
booty, repair his vessel or wait fol-
vessels to come along the coast, when
his black painted vessel, flying the
black flag, would suddenly appear, as
II vision from the Internal regions. In
the center of this creek is a rock
known as Caesars rock, which still
shows evidence of the visitation oi
Caesars vessel--rusty pieces of iron
an anchor and part of an old can.
non.
The crews of wrecked vessels alsC
buried their money along the coast ant
were either killed by the hostile Indi.
ans or fed for their lives In either
event. the treasure remained buried
and its location forgotten or the sailors
never returned
The stories of hidden treasure or
the coast Of Florida and In this ancient
city are not myths based upon stories
of early Spanish residents, as many
lucky finds will testify An exploring
party, under the guise of tourists, re-
Gently took a trip down the coast
touching at the various islands an(
putting in at the inlets, ostenslbly fish.
ing and hunting. While this is part o.
the programme, they are out more fol
profit than for pleasure.