huntsman53
Gold Member
A weird find long ago not recovered, what would you do? Sorry, it's a long story!
Okay TNet folks, I have put this off too many years and now it is time to come clean and ask your opinions!
After moving back to East Tennessee from Mississippi with my' brother-in-law and sister when my' brother-in-law retired from the Navy, I met a friend named Jess. Jess' family raised tobacco for others as share-croppers and for themselves (to sell) and I helped them with the tobacco when I wasn't working from the time I was 15 to 19 years old. They moved from an old house that dated back to the mid to late 1800's before moving just down the road from us. The farm that the old home sat on was also one of the locations where they raised tobacco and we used the old house to cook and eat our lunches and rest. We (the boys) also stayed in the old house some weekend nights, told ghost stories, played poker and talked about the stories of the two old Spinster Ladies that lived in the home from the late 1800's to the early 1900's who hid Gold coins in and around the home. One story was about a gentleman that lived in the home during a bad flood around 1930, who went outside on the side porch (which was on the downstream side of the house in relation to the river) after the water subsided to view the damage. He told of seeing a glint of yellow in the mud and upon inspection found that it was a $20 Gold coin. He was able to follow a trail of $20 Gold pieces from there to a mid-way underneath the home (it was built on rocks instead of a solid rock wall) to a dug out bowl shape in the dirt which contained many, many more $20 Gold coins. Even though we occasionally would search inside the home, we never found anything being that we were boys and had no idea where to look. Before the house was torn down, two gentleman gained permission to search the home and share any finds with the owner. Well, within a few minutes of entering the home, one gentleman entered a closet under the stairs to the 2nd floor, banged on the step's board coverings and found one that sounded different. He pried the board off and there lay a fruit (large canning) jar on it's side that was completely full of $20 Gold pieces. Fast forward to 1973, I came home on leave from the U.S. Army in Germany and after borrowing a metal detector, me and Jess went to the site where the old house used to sit. We metal detected around the rear of the home where we remembered that the old well used to be and after finding nothing, we metal detected where the side porch used to be. Almost immediately, we got a large and loud signal. After digging down about 14 inches, we found another well that we never knew existed and which was previously hidden under the side porch. We dug down into the well about 6 inches and started pulling out old scrap metal, pots and pans and whatnot but then, we started pulling out parts to an old 1955 or 1956 Chevy (I can't remember which). After pulling out the grille, bumper, both fenders and some under the hood parts, I found and had Jess help me pull out the driver's side door. The door had a spotlight on it and had Sheriff's Deputy and the name of the County's Sheriff's Office painted on the side. At the point, me and Jess looked at each other and knew what the other was going to say. We both said that we had seen enough and that we should put it all back and cover it over as we were afraid of finding a skeleton. You see, many folks in the county including ourselves knew the story about a Sheriff's Deputy who was investigating some Bootleggers, had disappeared along with his' Patrol Car and neither had been seen again or found! Well, I don't think that either of us ever told anyone that cared about the story as they did not live anywhere near the location and this has been eating at me for 40 years now. Although it is possible that someone found the well and the car inside, I have never heard of any information about it from anyone. Not knowing who owns the property now and how the Sheriff's Office might react when told the story from so long ago, I have avoided seeking permission to return to see if the well and the car are still there.
So, I am asking for your advice and opinions on what I should do. I understand that I will probably get a lot of grief over this and that is okay, as we (Jess and myself) probably deserve it! However, you must understand that besides serving in the U.S. Army for over 5 years, I worked for Uncle Sam for almost 33 years, spent more than 22 years away from here except for visits during vacation and have lived one county away for almost the past 19 years. So, please let's hear (I should say read) what you have to relay (say)!
Frank
Okay TNet folks, I have put this off too many years and now it is time to come clean and ask your opinions!
After moving back to East Tennessee from Mississippi with my' brother-in-law and sister when my' brother-in-law retired from the Navy, I met a friend named Jess. Jess' family raised tobacco for others as share-croppers and for themselves (to sell) and I helped them with the tobacco when I wasn't working from the time I was 15 to 19 years old. They moved from an old house that dated back to the mid to late 1800's before moving just down the road from us. The farm that the old home sat on was also one of the locations where they raised tobacco and we used the old house to cook and eat our lunches and rest. We (the boys) also stayed in the old house some weekend nights, told ghost stories, played poker and talked about the stories of the two old Spinster Ladies that lived in the home from the late 1800's to the early 1900's who hid Gold coins in and around the home. One story was about a gentleman that lived in the home during a bad flood around 1930, who went outside on the side porch (which was on the downstream side of the house in relation to the river) after the water subsided to view the damage. He told of seeing a glint of yellow in the mud and upon inspection found that it was a $20 Gold coin. He was able to follow a trail of $20 Gold pieces from there to a mid-way underneath the home (it was built on rocks instead of a solid rock wall) to a dug out bowl shape in the dirt which contained many, many more $20 Gold coins. Even though we occasionally would search inside the home, we never found anything being that we were boys and had no idea where to look. Before the house was torn down, two gentleman gained permission to search the home and share any finds with the owner. Well, within a few minutes of entering the home, one gentleman entered a closet under the stairs to the 2nd floor, banged on the step's board coverings and found one that sounded different. He pried the board off and there lay a fruit (large canning) jar on it's side that was completely full of $20 Gold pieces. Fast forward to 1973, I came home on leave from the U.S. Army in Germany and after borrowing a metal detector, me and Jess went to the site where the old house used to sit. We metal detected around the rear of the home where we remembered that the old well used to be and after finding nothing, we metal detected where the side porch used to be. Almost immediately, we got a large and loud signal. After digging down about 14 inches, we found another well that we never knew existed and which was previously hidden under the side porch. We dug down into the well about 6 inches and started pulling out old scrap metal, pots and pans and whatnot but then, we started pulling out parts to an old 1955 or 1956 Chevy (I can't remember which). After pulling out the grille, bumper, both fenders and some under the hood parts, I found and had Jess help me pull out the driver's side door. The door had a spotlight on it and had Sheriff's Deputy and the name of the County's Sheriff's Office painted on the side. At the point, me and Jess looked at each other and knew what the other was going to say. We both said that we had seen enough and that we should put it all back and cover it over as we were afraid of finding a skeleton. You see, many folks in the county including ourselves knew the story about a Sheriff's Deputy who was investigating some Bootleggers, had disappeared along with his' Patrol Car and neither had been seen again or found! Well, I don't think that either of us ever told anyone that cared about the story as they did not live anywhere near the location and this has been eating at me for 40 years now. Although it is possible that someone found the well and the car inside, I have never heard of any information about it from anyone. Not knowing who owns the property now and how the Sheriff's Office might react when told the story from so long ago, I have avoided seeking permission to return to see if the well and the car are still there.
So, I am asking for your advice and opinions on what I should do. I understand that I will probably get a lot of grief over this and that is okay, as we (Jess and myself) probably deserve it! However, you must understand that besides serving in the U.S. Army for over 5 years, I worked for Uncle Sam for almost 33 years, spent more than 22 years away from here except for visits during vacation and have lived one county away for almost the past 19 years. So, please let's hear (I should say read) what you have to relay (say)!
Frank
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