The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1902-09-19
JOHN STUMP'S GOLD.

An interesting article recently appeared
in the Baltimore American, giving a
history of the hiding of about $25, 900 in
gold by the late john Stump, ofStatford.
This article is from the pen of Mr.. Joseph
Y. Brattan of the editorial stall, and we
republisn it for the perusal of our readers.
Eighty years ago, after the British
had been repulsed at Baltimore, they
pillaged Maryland towns in quest ofsup-
plies for the army, which was despatched
to the Bermudas aftcrleaving the inhospi-
table shores of the Chesapeake. III
almost every town and hamlet in the
country bordering both shores of the
Bay there are legends of visits by the red
coats in sufficient numbers to overawe
the defcnscless residents. There are also
legends of rihcd barns, meathouses and
hencoops, while merchandise, wherever
found, was taken to the nearest landing
place and thence conveyed to the anchored
ship.
One of these marauding expeditions
was dispatched up the Susquehanna
River in quest of flour. Mr.. John Stump
who had a mill on Deer Creek, Hartford
county. heard of the approach of the red
coats. He we'll knew that gold was far
more welcome to them than -four, and as
his accumulation of gold had spread far
and wide. he suspected that the British
would hear of his wealth and would at
tempt to secure possession oft. Totorc-
stall the attempt he buried his gold late
at night in his garden. He performed
the task alone, and never informed his
family of the act.
The British visited his mill and appro-
priated all of his flour. They had heard
of his gold, and searched in vain for it.
They departed greatly disappointed that
| they had not found the treasure of which
they been informed. Mr.. Stump did not
did not dig up the buried gold. He feared
another visit by the marauders. lie also
feared an attack by thieves. From day
to day he postponed until the morrow
| lllC ldSh vi lSAONSiiSS ehN AHS
the tomorrow never came. He was taken
suddenly ill and died without having re-
vealed to his family the location Of the
buried treasure.
After Mr. Stump's death his family was
greatly surprised to to find that the be-
lief that he had accumulated gold was
unfounded, since none was to be found,
nor was there any trace of it. The will
contained no mention of it.
AS the years rolled up John Stumps
gold became only a myth. The family
moved away, though still retaining pos
session of the homestead. Tenants were
engaged to till the land. Among these
was a man named Wilson, whose son
was more fond of delving in the musty
books and records in the garnet of the
old brick mansion than he was delving
into the land with a pillow or a hoe. In
one old time stained book he found the
diagram which II years before MIR.
| Stump had placed there. He had heard
OF the tradition of the buried treasure,
and in the slip of paper he believed he had
found the solution of the mystery which
confronted Mr.. Stump's heirs when he
died. Young Wilson went to work in
dustriously to work out the puzzle. He
unearthed the foundation of the barn
which stood when Ohm Stump was a
miller, but which had long disappeared.
From the corners of the brick dwelling
to the opposite corners of the barn, as
it had stood he traced two lines and at
the intersection of these lines, where the
word gold" was marked, he dug hole.
At the depth of several feet he found the
buried treasure.
The next day young Wilson went to
Cincinnati. The amount he recovered
has never been definitely known, but it
has been estimated at $25, 900.
Mr.. John Stump, who hid the treasure,
was a relative of Col. Herman Stump
and of the Archer family, of Hartford coun
ty. He has many defendants in the
county.