The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1902-1905, 1902-07-31
TREASURY MYSTERY At MOlLTRY.
.DeOIh OIL Mrs. FIICh ReC0IIS The
story.
Her Search for Hidden Gold Was
Unavalling.

Old wives tales of buried treasure
deposited on the Florida coast by
bold buccaneers of We olden time
have been handed down from mouth
to mouth for generations and many
midnight search has been made for
hidden gold inspired by dreams,
sooth-sayers revelations and other
methods which served to arouse the
cupidity of the credulous.
The death of the late Mrs. Futch,
an aged lady, of Moultrie, whose
funeral occurred in this city yester-
day, recalls real story of buried
gold which now lies undiscovered,
probably upon the old farm on which
she spent many years of her life, and
in quest of which she devoted many
hours.
Her husband, the late Joshua
Futch. was man of secretive habits,
one who told little about his own af-
fairs. and who did not even divulge
TO his own family his financial con-
dition. He was a thrifty cattleman,
and, like many woodmen, had a hOr-
ror of modern methods of banking.
A number of years ago Mr.. Futch
sold to Mr.. VIM. J. Sanchez a bunch
of cattle, for which he received 81 300
in gold. Mr.. Sanchez and his father,
Mr.. Vanacio Sanchez, enjoyed the
confidence of nearly all the country
people of St. Johns county, with
whom they had dealings. In "a burst
of confidence Mr.. Futch told Mr.. San
chez that the gold received from him
at the time. he had buried and that
no living person knew of its hiding
place. He also stated that whenever
he received money that he did not
need in his business he converted it
into gold and made another deposit
| in Mother Earth. He was tempted
to reveal to Mr.. Sanchez its hiding
place, but the latter gentleman beg
ged him not to tell him, for if, by
any possibility. some person should
track him to his hiding place and
make way awith the money, he
would perhaps always suspect Mr..
Sanchez as the only person who knew
| his secret. Mr.. Futch was urged to
| inform his wife of the secret. This
he declined to do but promised Mr..
Sanchez that if at any time he be-
came ill or anything serious happen
ed he would send for him and tell
where his money was hidden.
About four years ago Mr.. Sanchez
received a hurried summons to go out
to the Futch place, which is about
seven miles from town. He mounted
II horse and gallOped out to the place.
Mr.. Futch lay there speechless and
almost unconscious and the secret
died on his lips.
/ Mr.. Sanchez told the story to Mrs.
I Futch, who has since been unceasing
until her death to discover the treas
ure.
The news gradually got abroad and
one day Mrs. Futch was visited by
an aged white man, who assured her
that he could with a divining rod dis
cover the money. A party of young
men accompanied him, one of them
/ being Cornelius Dupont, who still
| lives in the neighbOrhood. The trip
was made in accordance with the
approved tradition, in the dead of
night. After tramping over the counss
| try for nearly two hours, the divin-
ing rod bent suddenly toward the
ground. Amid great excitement,
/ the old man pushed a steel rod in the
earth. At depth of few feet a
/ hard substance was struck. Dupont,
/ to make sure. took an axe and drove
the rod firmly into the obstruction.
After vigorous digging they found
/ the rod had been forced through a
/ live oak root.
The whereabouts of Mr.. Futch's
gold is still a mystery, and as the
couple died childless, the chances of
its being recovered are, to say the
least, prOblematie'-St. Augustine
| Record.