Buried Pots Of Gold / NC

Darren in NC

Silver Member
Apr 1, 2004
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Hey Tim! I hope you're finding the big kahuna these days, man ;) Yes, I've heard Mr. Jameson is quite a guy. I sure wish I knew the story behind his involvement in this story. Maybe we should give him a call, eh?

Darren
 

Darren in NC

Silver Member
Apr 1, 2004
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ChadsMach1 said:
Darren, Long time no see! Hope you and the family are doing well. We should plan another trip back down there to do some investigating and research. I still have friends in the area that I grew up with that may be able to help. We may be able to track down more information. You never know.......

Hey Chad! Good to hear from you, man. For some reason, Tnet isn't notifying me of replies, so sorry for the delay.

You know I don't do much cache hunting anymore unless it's a hot lead. Most of my hunts are in the water now. I did get my dad's old bass boat to outfit for hunting rivers for cannon and rifles. If we can schedule it, maybe we can take a river trip soon to Virginia or Alabama where I know of a few cannon submerged. Feel free to email me when you get a chance.

Godspeed!
Darren
 

jameseddie

Tenderfoot
Dec 23, 2007
6
1
Does anybody really know of any NC caches??? As for the caches in Danville VA and east of Greensboro , does anybody have more details as to general location as I have access to 15 acres in Danville area and 7 acres east of Greensboro.
 

bomber

Bronze Member
Jan 6, 2006
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cool post,hows the coin roll hunting going?i still can't stand looking at all those great finds after getting skunked on those 23 or so boxes :D
 

xXx

Hero Member
Nov 17, 2004
580
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back in Indiana again
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Man, I was just in Greensboro last weekend. We should have hooked up for some hunting. I'll probably be back in the next couple weeks, depending on a couple projects that I'm working here in SC.
xXx
 

treasuretopsites

Tenderfoot
May 24, 2007
8
0
Although my specialty is not in the civil war, I have been an historical reseracher for almost 30 years. I actually did much research on this rumor. There never was a "captain duchase" in the confederate military. In fact I could never find a duchase of any rank. Or any variation of the name.

I believe this is a fabrication for other reasons too. For one, boxcar loads of gold is a lot of gold, ha, ha. Especially for a military that was broke!! If the south really had that much gold they may have won the war? lol.

Seriously, that's alot of gold. I went to the area and it looked like it had been bobmed for a hundred years there were so many holes around.

I did find a story a few years ago that some confederate money was found in the basement of the old station by a worker. it had been stored there in a box and forgotten, but it was a VERY small amout of money.

also it was convienent that everyone involved in it's burial died. Boxcar loads of gold would have taken more then a few people to bury. Just imagine you and a handful of buddies had the task of burying metal from that many boxcars full! How long would it have taken you to bury it? And they were on the run!

Of course ANYTHING is possible, but ......................

If there ever were any pots buried there is was probably a very limited number, and the legend grew from there. and grew....... and grew until the amount became ridiculous. (the 4th ms WAS in this area at the time, and I would think Michael Paul Henson did HIS research, but where did he find a "Captain Duchase"? Maybe he just reprinted everything he heard previously? Many stories are written like that.)

Just my opinion and nothing more, ha, ha
 

I

iron-cross

Guest
a thought i have had on this..... are the tracks in the same place today as they were then? i know in the place i live in in Texas we had the tracks move almost 2 miles about 5 years ago. if they moved the tracks then it might be a bit harder to find. i have been trying to find an old map of the area and haven't been able to find one, ma by that's the key
 

ECS

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Mar 26, 2012
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this story has circulated and been recopied over and again since at least 1902...if someone sent a check to jameson over it they evidentally haven't read many treasure type books as its in almost all large works and many smaller ones...hensons, terrys, many others and all type treasure mags have retold the story....there are newspaper accounts telling of the black man finding two pots in the field, but they are dated much earlier than the 20s-30s and not where youd expect.....the black man turned the 2 pots he found in the same hole over to the landowner he worked for and never sold a single coin anywhere...the landowner found an additional {reported} 1 pot. it is not known if he found it in the same spot or another...there is basis in the story, there is also much other in it i am not going to go in to. you will have to figure that out on your own....the story says they buried the pots 3 at a time 100 paces from the track...all evidence says they buried 2 at a time any short distance from the track...i have found two seperate holes, each with the imprint of two 30 quart iron cooking pots with three feet..neither was even close to 100 paces...the top of the pots would have been approximately 10-12 inches under ground...being large and iron and being buried 140+ years, any half decent detector should be able to pick them up due to leaching...my brother has dug many single rr spikes at greater depths with his 199.00 whites detector..a local old timer told me of a fellow who recovered two of these pots..he told me where he lived and i went there..he had passed away, his wife wouldn't talk about it other than to say the pots were in the yard....in the side yard, used as decoration, were two 30 quart cooking pots with 3 feet each.......the story relates the caches were not marked...there are private papers saying they were and telling how...its not my info and i am not at liberty to pass along the info so we will leave it at that.....i can say that if they were marked in the way the papers say that the markers would have been useless after a very short while as they wouldn't be there anymore...another thing to consider is the fact that in 1864-1865 the tracks through this area were laid upon the top of the ground....starting 2 years after the war and taking about 1 year, this rr bed was graded, cut, and filled before changing the gauge of the track from narrow gauge to the present gauge....so, the markers would have been gone and the whole area around alot of the track changed considerably within around 3 years which would have made recovering the caches quite a feat for the cachers......a real good reason you might not be able to find any Confederate records relating to duchase might be the fact that before leaving richmond judah benjamin burnt all known records relating to the Confederate secret service...they wouldn't have just intrusted such a job to any captain i don't think...there are many connected people to the dissappearances of the Confederate treasuries that you can not find out a single thing on in Official records...logical reason being in their title '' secret'' as in secret service........case in point, research the soldiers from ga killed between richmond and danville when the train car floor fell through...you will find no records relating to these fellows even though from their supposed deaths you can find info on eachs unit...they are not on any rosters or in unit histories other than telling of their deaths..reason most likely is that they were also secret service, as they were definantly being a part of a secret mission.....are they buried beside the tracks in va ? maybe...there are ''secret'' ceremonies there every year for the ?dead?.....can you call anyone anywhere and find where these burials are ? NO......but certain members of a certain organization still to this day go there once a year............i have searched nearly all of the 16 mile of tracks, some of it with a fine tooth comb...in this whole distance i was granted permission from only 2 land owners...one of these let me search his property for 3 days before telling me that the whole area i was interested in and looking over had been filled with about 20 feet of fill dirt in the early 1940s......the balance of the property owners are some of the most unpleasant people i have had the pleasure of meeting...i have been hollered/screamed at, cussed out, escorted from properties, once by a gun toting fellow with several days worth of tobacco juice dried to his face..i have had the sherrifs department called on me countless time, for parking my car on the side of the road, for walking the tracks, and for tresspassing on unposted land....one fellow, who happens to be a guilford county detective owns a very large property where everyone wants to start their search,,,his signs the last time i was there are about 8 feet square and proclaim that so far 200 and something people so far have been arrested tresspassing on his property.........is the story true about the 6 recoveries ? maybe but i do not think so.....i have only seen one recent excavation, it being approximately 6 ft by 6 ft by 6 ft...all dirt removed from site, no indentions of pots in the bottom...i seriously think the hole a bit much for soldiers digging with hand tools while also being in a great hurry to hide such small pots......i did hear a few years back that a couple recoveries had been recently made, but chalk this up to braggiocondo either from an unsuccessful hunter or an equipment salesman......are there any pots left ? maybe, but be advised you will have several obstacles to overcome in your search for them...............gldhntr
I bumped this thread for BBD.
 

ECS

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I now live in NC... I have been on site in McLeansville several times. I researched this story extensively. I do believe Robert Nesmith may have been the one who wrote the article under the alias PH Black. The article written in Lost Treasure mag in the late 70's and then later reprinted in the early 90's. It has appeared in numerous treasure books (what was the name of yours?). The original source was a Raleigh newspaper from 1927 in an article entitled "Trailing the Gold of the Confederacy." It gives several accounts of interviews of guards who were on the train. There is confusion as to which train is being referred to - Jefferson Davis' or the treasure train (they were not the same). There are a few reports from hearsay that a farmer and a negro found some pots in their respective fields (not together). I can find no earlier documentation that the Raleigh article.

Problem is, if anyone found anything they'd have to keep their mouth shut. It may be true, maybe not. I doubt it. Most gold on that scale would have been carefully marked thru signs carved on trees, carefully placed rocks and the like. I have seen nothing like that. I doubt the Confederacy would bury such a large sum with no way to get back to it. The story about the soldiers all being killed except for Duchase just doesn't make sense. The regiments didn't fight there according to the records. I have seached for many variations of Duchase's name and nothing comes up in the records...

Another bump for BDD
 

Bigdogdad

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Mar 5, 2012
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ECS-I read it all long before, but thanks anyway. You didn't have to dig too deep for this. Knowing of your past conclusions of what you have read I bet you don't believe any of it. The Confederacy was broke, had no gold, etc. You have done enough of your own "research" that you think you know all the "facts" about EXACTLY how much gold the south had, right down to the penny. Just because you read something does not make it fact. EVERYTHING written is subject to interpretation and should be taken with a HUGE grain of salt. I think you are pretty much convinced that there is NO treasure to be found anywhere. You seem to want to be a bubble burster. If it makes you feel better, go for it.
 

diverdan

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Jun 16, 2011
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BDD what research do you have on this? How much time did you spend in the archives? Is all your research based on what you read on Tnet?
 

Bigdogdad

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diverdan-What difference does it make to you? Why do you care? Why don't you and your pal with the backhoe go out and dig up the silver at the bridge instead of pretending like you actually tried? Why don't you use the rear scoop this time like you are supposed to? What treasures have you found? Where do you get your facts? Why have you never attempted to contact me? Why do you live in a trailer park? What color are your eyes? How much do you weigh? Whats your net worth? Get my point? Your not interested in helping me on this so why should I answer your questions? I wrote that I was shown the pots location long before I read anything about them.
 

old man

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Aug 12, 2003
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diverdan-What difference does it make to you? Why do you care? Why don't you and your pal with the backhoe go out and dig up the silver at the bridge instead of pretending like you actually tried? Why don't you use the rear scoop this time like you are supposed to? What treasures have you found? Where do you get your facts? Why have you never attempted to contact me? Why do you live in a trailer park? What color are your eyes? How much do you weigh? Whats your net worth? Get my point? Your not interested in helping me on this so why should I answer your questions? I wrote that I was shown the pots location long before I read anything about them.

Then why didn't you dig them up ????:hello:
 

diverdan

Jr. Member
Jun 16, 2011
57
14
Ellenton, FL
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BDD the point I'm getting at is that all you have is a story that some author made up. There is no documented proof that anyone named Duchase existed in the Confederate Army.

As far as the silver bars go, we're planning on finishing the dig soon. Thanks for the advice. Next time we will use the rear scoop.
 

Bigdogdad

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Mar 5, 2012
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old man-I have dug on the site three times over the years. I won't go into a lengthy explanation but the dowser was not willing to trespass back 20 years ago and he only stood at the side of the road and pointed in the direction of the pots. I know this will sound like cow poop to you but that is what happened. I got convinced that i knew where the exact spot to dig was and spent too much time in what was obviously the wrong spot. I have more information now than I did when I started and maybe the fourth time will be the charm. At least I am trying. The location is 650 miles from my home so it is not exactly convenient.

diverdan-If you think all stories are made up and you need documented proof before you dig, good luck. Duchase was part of the Secret Service. Do you think it is that easy to find all the records of everything that happened during the Civil War? The same guy that showed me the pots location also showed me the silver bars location. I have been told the pirate stories are all made up. What makes you so convinced of the silver that you are willing to risk going to prison for committing a third degree felony by illegally digging on state property? Why do you believe I am right about this spot but wrong about another?
 

old man

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Aug 12, 2003
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old man-I have dug on the site three times over the years. I won't go into a lengthy explanation but the dowser was not willing to trespass back 20 years ago and he only stood at the side of the road and pointed in the direction of the pots. I know this will sound like cow poop to you but that is what happened. I got convinced that i knew where the exact spot to dig was and spent too much time in what was obviously the wrong spot. I have more information now than I did when I started and maybe the fourth time will be the charm. At least I am trying. The location is 650 miles from my home so it is not exactly convenient.

diverdan-If you think all stories are made up and you need documented proof before you dig, good luck. Duchase was part of the Secret Service. Do you think it is that easy to find all the records of everything that happened during the Civil War? The same guy that showed me the pots location also showed me the silver bars location. I have been told the pirate stories are all made up. What makes you so convinced of the silver that you are willing to risk going to prison for committing a third degree felony by illegally digging on state property? Why do you believe I am right about this spot but wrong about another?
BigDog, I'll give you this. You have my admiration. You don't give up and I like that. If you know where it is and want to use a professional deep detector with a 1 meter coil that will tell you whether you target is ferrous metal or non ferrous metal. I will be driving from Pa. to Key West this weekend. I'm willing to give you an hour or two for YOU to use my pulse star II without me looking over your shoulder, "IF" you can meet me near your location at day break on Sunday. As I have to be in Key West by Monday morning and don't have a lot of time. That or you can arrange to meet me on the way home the following weekend.:hello:
 

ECS

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Mar 26, 2012
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Duchase was part of the Secret Service. Do you think it is that easy to find all the records of everything that happened during the Civil War?
Actually it is quite easy.Its called the National Archives.
CSA Sec of War John C Breckinridge (he was US VP under Buchanan and ran against Lincoln)saved the records of the Confederacy.Also there are Union reports and records.
BDD,you state that Duchase was a member of the CSA Secret Service.Please state your source,other than a treasure legend book.
 

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