The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-03-15
COINS FOUND IN
AN ANCIENT HOUSE
Total Of $500 Worth Disclosed During
Making Of Alterations.

Special Correspondence OF The Sunday Republic.
Derby. Conn, March IAN ancient
house the walls 70 which seem to be lined
with gold. needing only TO be tapped to
shower forth coins. is a strange feature of
the little rural village of Huntington Cen
ter. near here.
Six times within the last few years, when
boards have been removed to mane repairs.
gold silver and copper coins nave rolled
out of the apertures.
A total of nearly sl640 worth Of these
has been obtained in this manner. Coins
have been dislodged from both the inner
and outer walls. 1t Is anparen. that some
former owner of misery proclivities con-
eealed his hoardinss in many chnks and
crannies of the building.
just how extensive the deposit is, how
ever. cannot be learned. as the present
owner already well to do. cares more for
tho preservation of the building, which Is
historic. than for any hidden wealth its an
cient tlmbers may conceal
Huntington Center Ia a drowsy, moss
grown village of some 800 people, which
for a century past has slept unm!ndful Of
the thriving manufacturing cities springing
up about il. It's weather-beaten ''saltbox"
houses it's gristmill and Its one broad.
shady street have shown no change in gem
era;ioRs,
Among its ancient farmhouses are some
that are historic. and these include the one
whose combined walls have now made 1t
of twofold interest. 1t was there. local
tradition declares. that Generals Washing
ton and LAFAYETTE, crossing from the Bos-
ton Post road at Stratford To Woodbury..
sought shelter from violent rainstorm and
made their temporary headquarters.
There, too. General David Wooster of IT,
conderega fame spent his last night before
receiving his mortal wound in the defense
of Danbury against General Tryon.
Built in iT73 by Benjamin De Forest a
Revolutionary soldier. the house since has
passed through many hands. Just which
of these deposited the coins no one knows.
The present. owner, Edward ]. Bucking-
ham. Is the storeSeeper and general fac
totum of the village.
He purchased the place in 1886 In 1900,
while enlarging a doorway. he pried of the
cap of an old chimney hole. A shower OF
coins. mixed with SCOT and plaster, fell TO
the floor. The pieces all bore date of 1909
or earlier. A few more of American mint
age but the majority were English. some
dating we'll back in the Eighteenth Cen
fury.
The coins were of gold. silver and copper,
and, aside from any value they might have
from age or rarity. they were estimated to
be worth Sl632 in American money.
The deesyed remains of heavy brown Ia
per showed them originally to have been
securely tied up.
The aperture in the chimney seems to
have been gouged out to ferm a secure rest
ing place fer the money, and the pains
taken Indicate that this was probably the
largest of the various deposits made.
A year later the cleaning Of chimney
brought down some half dozen coins and
scraps of what appeared to have been paper
money. On a beam in the attic . few more
were found.
These, like the others, were English with
few American copper pennies In repiac-
ing window frame more we're discovered.
and a rotten piece Of flooring concealed
still others.
By this time. however. Mr.. buckingham
had become so pestered by coin collectors
that he refused to tell the value of his