How does one begin cache hunting?

[Just_curious]

I'm not talking about legendary gold caches, but some village/towns people's caches that they hid during the civil war or great depression. I have been pondering this for a while. I guess what I should ask is, is there a method to getting good at cache hunting? For the people that have been successful, what's your strategy?

 

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[Jason in Enid]

I'm not talking about legendary gold caches, but some village/towns people's caches that they hid during the civil war or great depression. I have been pondering this for a while. I guess what I should ask is, is there a method to getting good at cache hunting? For the people that have been successful, what's your strategy?

You will spend 99% of your time doing research, not hunting. You have to look through every scrap of information available from your town's history. The truth is that lots (if not most) people had a cache of some sort. Most were small savings from selling extra eggs and such. Most were not buried, just hidden inside the house or outbuilding (out of sight was hidden enough). Most were recovered.

So you have to look for sets of clues.
1) someone who would have had extra money to hide
2) someone who died suddenly, so they couldnt recover it
3) someone without family who would know its location
4) some place that still exists today.

Research is more about finding reasons NOT to hunt for a cache. If you should happen to find a person who meets all the criteria, then you need to try to research the person. Absolutely anything written about them could help. hobbies, likes, dislikes, land holdings.... everything.

Years ago I knew someone who dated a bookie's daughter. She told him about her dad hiding money and having land he owned where he hid it. Now, if I had been smart I would have made a record of that. If the bookie died suddenly and the land was sold off, there could still be caches there. It would be a simple matter of finding land owned then tracking modern owners and trying for permission to hunt.

 

[Just_curious]

There is one man that I have been trying to track down his name and confirm he existed. I have also been trying to confirm the property and if it existed. So far, I have come up with nothing. How have you been going about tracking down historical names and land plots. I've scoured literally everything and it hasn't done me much good.

 

[Jason in Enid]

There is one man that I have been trying to track down his name and confirm he existed. I have also been trying to confirm the property and if it existed. So far, I have come up with nothing. How have you been going about tracking down historical names and land plots. I've scoured literally everything and it hasn't done me much good.

Not sure what sources you have available to you. I have had great luck tracking people with period phone books (if your prey is recent enough). There also would have been plat books from the period which should show who owned what land. The county courthouse would have had records of all land sales and deeds, but the problem here is that over time many of those record books were destroyed from fire or flood or rotted by keeping them in damp basements or leaking attics. Many times the local newspaper would list peoples address during wedding, birth or death announcements.

ETA - if you think you know when or where someone was, dont be afraid to go to the county tax assessors office and ask them about trying to research the person/place. You should be able to sit and search their records, or they should be able to direct you to where they are.

 

[gunsil]

Cache help?? Get yourself a copy of Karl Von Mueller's Treasure Hunter's Manual #7, can often be found on Amazon books. Most comprehensive book on the subject, long out of print.

 

[RW]

Find and get permission to hunt a hundred year old farmhouse, standing or not, and hit all of the usual places. Look for Sanborn map if possible learn the layout. Under fence posts, looking out master bedroom window at any landmark, chicken-coop etc. Books, library, internet... Keep success quiet. Good luck.

 

[cactusman]

It's nice to see someone ask how to begin vs asking which detector to use for it. (That comes later.)

There are a few books on the subject, KVM's Treasure Hunter's manual # 6 and # 7, a couple by H. Glenn Carson, and one by Charles Garrett that are all well worth the read.

Jason in Enid gave some great advice -- you need to go back through old records, court/county, and newspapers, look for sudden death, and research the people. Also don't forget court records, as they often will have tales of stolen loot that was never recovered as well as people who were suddenly arrested for say embezzlement and then you need to follow the money trail; if there wasn't one, or it didn't add up, then further investigation is warranted.

Plan on spending a LOT of time reading, and finding tons of dead ends. But if you have the patience and persistence it can (and most likely will) pay off.

 

[Just_curious]

The person I am trying to locate was a property owner (plantation) during the mid-1800's. I have been unsuccessful in finding proof that he and his property existed. I guess it falls into the "legend category" whereas my question was aimed towards just common caches hidden out of fear of the government/banking system. But this man supposedly buried a sizable fortune during the civil war to prevent union troops from uncovering it. I have found zero reference to the man, or anything pointing towards a plantation in the area. Thanks for all the replies so far. I'm lovin it!

 

[cactusman]

The person I am trying to locate was a property owner (plantation) during the mid-1800's. I have been unsuccessful in finding proof that he and his property existed. I guess it falls into the "legend category" whereas my question was aimed towards just common caches hidden out of fear of the government/banking system. But this man supposedly buried a sizable fortune during the civil war to prevent union troops from uncovering it. I have found zero reference to the man, or anything pointing towards a plantation in the area. Thanks for all the replies so far. I'm lovin it!

You might try genealogy records on the man and see if there is anything on him. If memory serves me, KVM mentioned in his books that it's rare to find the big caches, and to be careful of legend types, as well as concentrating on smaller caches. Many people go after the big ones, but there are thousands of small caches that never made the headlines, and those can be (and are) a cache hunter's bread and butter.

 

[Just_curious]

I only know this supposed man's last name though

 

[smokeythecat]

I have found two caches in my life. Both were "accidental" finds, in that I was not expecting either. First one was back in 1989 or so, something like that. I was digging a colonial/early US now long gone town and found 8 American and British coppers all together within 5 feet of each other in a cow pasture.

Second cache was much more recent. Friends of mine purchased a farm with a 200 + year old history. My digging partner first found a cache of late 19th to ca 1945 US silvers, and I found a second smaller cache less than 100 feet away shortly thereafter.

In our case, it was just being at the right place at the right time. My cache was under a small tree which had recently been uprooted. If the tree had not been uprooted, I don't think I would have been able to swing over it. The coins were not "collector grade", they showed lots of wear. They were buried in small jars, which had been broken. Our thoughts were children buried them around WWII for reasons unknown.

 

[Jason in Enid]

The person I am trying to locate was a property owner (plantation) during the mid-1800's. I have been unsuccessful in finding proof that he and his property existed. I guess it falls into the "legend category" whereas my question was aimed towards just common caches hidden out of fear of the government/banking system. But this man supposedly buried a sizable fortune during the civil war to prevent union troops from uncovering it. I have found zero reference to the man, or anything pointing towards a plantation in the area. Thanks for all the replies so far. I'm lovin it!

Yep, many stories of sizable treasures are re-tellings. It may have a true base but somewhere else. That one of the things about research these things. You are really looking for reasons to end that particular search. Put it on a back shelf because years later a new clue could come along that renews your search.

 

[gunsil]

There are certainly many more tales of folks stashing goodly amounts of valuables than there are actually such caches. Many speak of some old hermit or such having buried or otherwise hidden a trove, but like Jason says, most folks years back had little money and could hardly afford to lose it. Rich folks on the other hand usually passed their money down to relatives and they also very seldom lost any. If I had a dollar for every story of lost loot I have read in magazines, books, or hearsay sources, I would have a sizable fortune.

 

[Just_curious]

Well honestly, the only treasure legends I give the time of day are the ones that are located in a conservation area, WLM area, national forest, national park, state park, archeological site, government areas, restricted areas, and military installations lol. If the legend doesn't fall into one of those categories, I don't believe it much.

 

[smokeythecat]

And remember caches can be any size. One of the recent banners here was a cache of silver and gold rings. It was quite the sight. I think most caches are accidental finds. Like the rings in the banner and mine and others. I think your best bet is to find a place where a house stood a long time ago and just detect it heavily. Another cache my partner and I found was a scattered cache of silver coins. They were spread out over an area about 30' x 50', as a plow had snagged either the bag or jar they were in and scattered them around. Most people never let on they hid money, that's why it remained hidden. Those are the ones you need to go after.

The publicized ones, well, that's really rolling the dice. It's kind of like finding a mention of a Civil War camp on the internet. If you found it researching it, I guarantee someone else found it first and dug it. It's the unpublished ones that will get you the goodies.

 

[cw0909]

There is one man that I have been trying to track down his name and confirm he existed. I have also been trying to confirm the property and if it existed. So far, I have come up with nothing. How have you been going about tracking down historical names and land plots. I've scoured literally everything and it hasn't done me much good.

you prob have done this,in case you havent
most of the genealogy sites hold old records
some states counties have a genealogy society
sometimes free online, sometimes film go look
free, a search for @ cost, local county libraries
have a genealogy dept source, records


i see you have ga and al, listed as location
i did georgia
USGenWeb Project - Always Free
Georgia Records, U.S. Data Repository, USGenNet Inc.
USGenNet's Searches


search term: georgia genealogy records online
Georgia Genealogy and History Guide
https://thegaproject.org/
https://www.raogk.org/georgia-genealogy/


georgia genealogy society
https://www.gagensociety.org/research/societies


persons land may now be a park city state ect
land search
Headright and Bounty Plats
http://bigenealogy.org/land-records/

 

[Tommybuckets]

I have always been fascinated with caches. The house I grew up in was bought at auction after being taken from a drug dealer wholesaler. The police searched it expecting to find between $750,000-$1,000,000 and came up almost empty. There was a huge safe built into the wall that had been cracked open in the raid and we found some really cool stuff in the house as we renovated but no cash. I am sure some of the stuff was valuable but my parents just gave it away or put it in the trash. Years later I had a dream where the money was hidden and it made so much sense. It was in a place I never thought to look.
The guy should have gotten out of prison fairly recently if he survived his incarceration. I went back to the old house once before he was out and the new owners allowed me in to see inside. I was going to ask them if I could check the spot from the dream but didn't know how to approach it. Once you tell someone there could be cash hidden in their house I imagine its hard to get them to let you look for it let alone split it with you. There are lots of small caches out in the world and some big ones. I like collecting stories from people who have found them as it fuels my dreams of finding one.

 

[b3y0nd3r]

Secretively.

 

[RW]

100 years ago, even less, VERY FEW immigrants (1st-2nd generation) used banks.
Those 2 clues alone will get you going.
1 - home site at least over 80 years old.
2 - immigrants house - Polish, German, Russian...
* Bonus points if died a sudden death or had no surviving family.
Once you find those places, then apply the search tactics in all of the books.
Do that 10 times then share results.

 

[Joe-Dirt]

My theory on cache hunting in the American south would be to hunt in the path of an oncoming Army (Sherman in GA./S.C.), you know the poor folks who’s houses and farms were looted and burnt to the ground had to know they were coming. If I was lucky enough to live in Dixie, I think I would start my cache searches within 200 yards of any existing standing chimneys. There has to be some left out there, I’m sure some of the guys on here from the south could attest to that.