The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1902-10-18
JOHN sTUMP's GOLD.
Baltimore American.

Eighty years ago, after the British had been
repulsed at Baltimore, they pillaged Maryland
towns in quest of supplies for the army, which
was dispatched to the Bermudas after leaving
the lnhospitable shores of the Chesapeake In
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 defenceless residents.
There are also legends of rfed barns, meat
houses and hencoops, while merchandise, wher-
ever found, was taken to the nearest landing
place and thence conveyed to the anchored ship.
One of these marauding expeditions was dis
patched up the SusQuehanna river in quest of
flour. Mr.. John Stump, who had mill on Deer
Creek, Hartford county, heard of the approach
OF the red-coats. he well knew that gold was
accumulation of gold had spread far and wide,
he suspected that the British would hear of his
wealth and would attempt to secure possession
of it. To forestall 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 appropriated
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 treas
ure of which they had been informed. Mr..
Stump did not dig up the buried gold. He feared
another visit by the marauders. He also feared
an attack by thieves. From day to day he post
poned until the morrow the task of recovering
the money. But the morrow never came. He
was taken suddenly Ill anu Qleu without having
revealed to his family the location of the buried
treasure.
After Mr.. Stump's death his family was great
ly surprised to find that the belief 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 Stump's gold be-
came only myth. The family moved away,
though still retaining possession of the home
stead. 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 garrett of the old brick man
sion than he was delving into the land with
pillow or hoe. In one oldtime stained book he
found the diagram which seventy-one years be-
fore Mr.. 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..
Stumps heirs when he died. Young Wilson
went TO work industriously to solve the prob
lem. He unearthed the foundation of the barn
which stood when John Stump was 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 a hole. At the
depth of several feet he found the buried treas
ure. The next day young Wilson went to Gin
cinnati. The amount he recovered has never
been definitely known, but it has been estimated
at $25 600.
Mr.. John Stump, who hid the treasure, was
relative of Col. Herman Stump and of the Archer
family, of Hartford county. He has many de-
ScendantS in the county.