Knights' Gold . . . 5,000 Gold Coins . . . Largest KGC Treasure Ever Discovered

[PhillyJack]

Correct, Franklin. Didn't Breckinridge pay for passage on a boat or ship with gold coin when he was fleeing the U.S..? I believe to Cuba (before going to Europe)?

Even if 35 pounds of Mexican silver went missing, that still left nearly 9,000 pounds worth that would have had to be buried in or around Danville, and buried quickly.

 

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[ECS]

Breckinridge and Wood sailed south on the St Johns River and the intercoastal, reaching Fort Dallas (Miami) where that gave $20 gold coin to the commandants daughter, highjacked a Cuban fishing boat to Cuba where they stayed with the relatives of Lola Sanchez.
CSA Capt John Taylor Wood was an able seaman, having served on the CSS VIRGINIA during its battle with the USS MONITOR, and was the Captain of the Confederate raider, CSS TALLAHASSEE.
Wood's grandfather, Zachery Taylor was commandant of FORT KING (Ocala) during the 2nd Seminole War, and Wood has the distinction of being related to both as US and CSA President.

 

[franklin]

Some of those Mexican silver dollars made it to Florida with CSA Sec of State Judah P Benjamin, CSA Sec of War John C Breckinridge and Jefferson Davis's nephew, CSA Capt John Taylor Wood.
500 of those were given to Lola Sanchez, CSA spy from Palatka by Benjamin while fleeing from the Union.

There were other Mexican Silver Dollars in the Confederate Treasury. When Yankee General Butler took over New Orleans for the US he found hundreds of kegs of Mexican Silver Dollars that belonged to France. They were supposedly shipped back to France. General Butler and later another General stole from the New Orleans Mint or the Banks of Louisiana and later in the 1880's the US Government had to pay back over $1.5 Million Dollars.

The keg of Mexican Silver Dollars that John Hendren busted the head off of in Danville, Va to pay out for paper money was paid out along the way in Greensboro and later in Jamestown to General Johnston's troops. General Johnston's troops surrounded President Jefferson Davis and demanded back pay out of the gold and silver he was carrying and this happened in Greensboro. Some of these men were paid out of the Virginia State Gold of $2 Million Dollars. They were paid to escort the Virginia State Gold which was donated to the CSA in Richmond by the State of Virginia. It is recorded in the Official Records and in the diary of JohnBeauchamp Jones. But anyway the troops were paid $7 for each 6 men. They did the same in Charlotte, N.C. I have that on an official document also.

There are some things I could tell you about Danville that is ongoing and I can not say anything at this time. It will come out in the near future. There was a lot more than the Mexican Silver Dollars left in Danville. A lot more.

Before the Civil War began there was over $56 Million Dollars in specie in the Southern Banks. About $17 Million in Louisiana alone. Not much of this was spent. Then there was all the specie gathered and put away during the four years of the war. There is literally hundreds of millions still out there buried. Also there were over 300 KGC Treasure Vaults before the Civil War and double that many after the war. I have 358 of them listed in my new book which I have not published yet. I am waiting on a treasure recovery before publication and I may go back and put the FACTS in the book I had to leave out initially.

 

[PhillyJack]

Franklin, you might as well add the 5,000 gold coins found in Baltimore on Eden St. as another KGC "treasure vault." They were in a copper pot or can and were buried under the home of an "ardent Southern sympathizer" of the Civil War period Found in 1934 by two boys, the coins were turned over to the authorities, cleaned, counted, introduced into evidence at trial, catalogued, and sold to the public at auction. This is a no-doubt-about it find. The two owners of the treasure home in the mid-1800s were both connected to the pro-South, anti-Lincoln Baltimore politicians of the day, two of whom were jailed by Lincoln without trial. The owners of the treasure site were mariner Captain John Mattison and candle/soap executive Andrew Saulsbury. Mattison had his ship seized by the English for African slave trading, which was likely done under the auspices of the Order of the Lone Star, the precursor to the KGC. Mattison was also on the board of directors of an Armstrong company along with Saulsbury's bosses, James Armstrong and Charles Webb. Webb was the Grand Master of Maryland Freemasonry and was sponsored in that position by none other than Albert Pike. Another Armstrong executive, nephew Thomas Armstrong, lived at a small local hotel under which, when torn down years later, another 2,000 gold coins were found. The coins in Baltimore link directly back to the KGC's Baltimore castle and it's politically connected secessionists. A junior member of the group who helped with the April, 1861 bridge burning to prevent Union trains from transporting troops to D.C. was John Wilkes Booth, whose family townhome was four blocks from the Eden St. treasure site.

 

[PhillyJack]

The Baltimore Find Was Very Real and Very Well Documented

From Knights' Gold





View attachment 1369871

 

[franklin]

From Knights' Gold


View attachment 1369875




View attachment 1369871


View attachment 1369873

I have plenty of photos of gold coins and Ebay is full of them and the Internet is full of them. The photo of the gold coin proves nothing. I do not believe they had color photos in 1934. Here is an actual CSA Gold Coin Found and documented. You want to see some of the Mexican Silver Dollars?

 

[PhillyJack]

KGC Treasure Recovery

Franklin, you miss my point. You mention some 358 KGC and Confederate treasure vaults. Can you please list them and show photos of gold recovered from these vaults?

I am only talking about one site, which was at 132 S. Eden Street in Baltimore, MD. In the 1860s this was known as 55 S. Eden, but the numbering system was changed. Some 5,000 gold coins were recovered in 1934. The coins were photographed, logged into evidence, presented at trial, and later sold at auction. The find is as well documented as it gets. Not myth, not legend, but fact.

I do believe there were other vaults and burial locations, but how many and where I don't know.

 

[franklin]

Franklin, you miss my point. You mention some 358 KGC and Confederate treasure vaults. Can you please list them and show photos of gold recovered from these vaults?

I am only talking about one site, which was at 132 S. Eden Street in Baltimore, MD. In the 1860s this was known as 55 S. Eden, but the numbering system was changed. Some 5,000 gold coins were recovered in 1934. The coins were photographed, logged into evidence, presented at trial, and later sold at auction. The find is as well documented as it gets. Not myth, not legend, but fact.


I do believe there were other vaults and burial locations, but how many and where I don't know.

View attachment 1369945

I am not denying the coins were found. Your attachment of the 1850 did not come from the 5,000 gold coins found? Correct? My coins however were found in Danville, Va. I found three of the Mexican Silver Dollars and my brother in law still has one of them and one of the other two I gave to my friend and partner as well as an 1862 Indian that was AU. The other coins of the 18 I found I sold on Ebay except two and I still have those two. I gave a certificate of authentication out with the coins I sold.

 

[PhillyJack]

Franklin, yes, the 1850 photo was a sample photo that shows a similar coin from one of the years in the hoard. Same denomination, same year.

The black & white photo showing the badly corroded container with the gold coins spilling out is an authentic photo of part of the boys' find. And the newsreel picture is also authentic from the period. The boys did actually make national news for a short period of time.

The Mexican silver dollars found in Danville plus the 1862 Indian in AU condition are fabulous finds. How do you think the small quantity of Mexican silver dollars got separated from the 39 kegs, and do you believe they are clues to where the main hoard is located??

 

[franklin]

Franklin, yes, the 1850 photo was a sample photo that shows a similar coin from one of the years in the hoard. Same denomination, same year.

The black & white photo showing the badly corroded container with the gold coins spilling out is an authentic photo of part of the boys' find. And the newsreel picture is also authentic from the period. The boys did actually make national news for a short period of time.



The Mexican silver dollars found in Danville plus the 1862 Indian in AU condition are fabulous finds. How do you think the small quantity of Mexican silver dollars got separated from the 39 kegs, and do you believe they are clues to where the main hoard is located??

Yes they are clues to where the main hoard is located. Actually there are only 33 kegs of Mexican Silver Dollars and 326 out of the keg that John Hendren busted open in Danville. The other 6 kegs went to pay General Johnston's troop in Greensboro and Jamestown, N.C. along with a barrel of 40,000 large pennies and some US Silver Coins. The gold left behind to pay Johnston's troop was hidden in Greensboro, N.C. I wrote a story on it in Lost Treasure magazine. One of the CSA Officials came back and got it after things calmed down after the war.

The CSA Coins were fabulous fines. I wish I had kept them all but could not. I gave another gold coin to my friend and partner it was a gold coin from France----I believe a 20 franc I have a photo of it somewhere.


Hard to work with these attachments but anyone here is one of the Austrian Silver Coins. I believe there were four or more.

 

[franklin]

PhillyJack, Send me a PM how to order the book. I want to read about the Templar's or KGC in Baltimore. Does Powhatan Weisgler mean anything in Baltimore?

 

[PhillyJack]

Ordering Knights' Gold

PhillyJack, Send me a PM how to order the book. I want to read about the Templar's or KGC in Baltimore. Does Powhatan Weisgler mean anything in Baltimore?

Franklin, I'll post the info publicly so everyone has it.

Knights' Gold is available through Amazon. Right now it is just an eBook on Kindle and other eBook readers. I will have the paperback out in a few weeks. Anybody can read the first 5 chapters on Amazon free as a preview.

The KGC members (they totaled 3,000) in Baltimore included:

Charles Webb (grand master of the KGC in Baltimore and the Maryland Freemasons).
George Kane (military leader and Baltimore's police chief)
Cypriano Ferrandini
Andrew Saulsbury (recruiter and sentinel for the group's treasury)
George Brown (Baltimore Mayor)
Thomas Armstrong (recruiter and sentinel for gold stored at the Fountain Hotel)
Patrick Charles Martin (blockade runner)
Captain John J. Mattison (spy and illegal African slave trader)
General Trimble
John Surratt
George Saunders
John Wilkes Booth (courier and blockade runner . . . took over operation to kidnap Lincoln)

I do not recognize the name you posted. It is unusual and I would have recognized it.

 

[senior deacon]

PhillyJack I did a background check on your Charles Webb. The name Webb is very famous in Masonic circles. It appears that the Charles Webb that you are interested in was Charles Webb Jr. His father started the candle and soap business. Charles Sr. Was a member of St. John's Lodge #34. Now it gets tricky Charles Jr. Also joined the same lodge. Senior never was the Grand Master of Masons it was his son Junior. Senior in fact had two sons Charles Jr. And James. James was also a member of St.John's lodge. The boys split up the business after their father died and went their own separate ways but still in the candle and soap business.

Also note that Isaac Trimble at the end of his military career was a supernumberary. A officer without command. He attached himself to Gen. Richard Ewell's command made himself a nuisance to the point he was given a command of soldiers that would back up Pickett's Charge. Was wounded and literally left on the field of battle. Was taken to a field hospital and a Dr removed his leg. Was put up with a Gettysburg family and became a POW for the rest of the war. He was under used as he more than anyone knew about the northern railroads. A opportunity lost by the south. He had built the biggest train station In the United States up to that time in Baltimore, Md. A great civil engineer a terrible War Dog.

Thank you for a enjoyable afternoon of reading and research.

Senior Deacon

 

[senior deacon]

For anyone who is interested less ornate as J.Sterling Morton but still maybe just maybe X marks the spot.
George Proctor Kane (1817 - 1878) - Find A Grave Photos
The grave of George Kane.


Senior Deacon

 

[franklin]

Franklin, I'll post the info publicly so everyone has it.

Knights' Gold is available through Amazon. Right now it is just an eBook on Kindle and other eBook readers. I will have the paperback out in a few weeks. Anybody can read the first 5 chapters on Amazon free as a preview.

The KGC members (they totaled 3,000) in Baltimore included:

Charles Webb (grand master of the KGC in Baltimore and the Maryland Freemasons).
George Kane (military leader and Baltimore's police chief)
Cypriano Ferrandini
Andrew Saulsbury (recruiter and sentinel for the group's treasury)
George Brown (Baltimore Mayor)
Thomas Armstrong (recruiter and sentinel for gold stored at the Fountain Hotel)
Patrick Charles Martin (blockade runner)
Captain John J. Mattison (spy and illegal African slave trader)
General Trimble
John Surratt
George Saunders
John Wilkes Booth (courier and blockade runner . . . took over operation to kidnap Lincoln)

I do not recognize the name you posted. It is unusual and I would have recognized it.

PhillyJack, Powhatan Weisgier was over the Baltimore, MD or the Richmond, Va Templars as I have two letters written to him, one from Danville and the other from Greensboro requesting a cap with a certain size so they could attend a Knight's Templar Meeting in Baltimore. Is what you have the Mason Lodge list or the Knight's Templar List or are they two separate organizations?

 

[PhillyJack]

KGC in Baltimore . . .

PhillyJack, Powhatan Weisgier was over the Baltimore, MD or the Richmond, Va Templars as I have two letters written to him, one from Danville and the other from Greensboro requesting a cap with a certain size so they could attend a Knight's Templar Meeting in Baltimore. Is what you have the Mason Lodge list or the Knight's Templar List or are they two separate organizations?

Franklin, I believe the Knights Templar and the KGC were different organizations, although some folks would say that the KGC could trace its lineage back to the Knights Templar.

Senior Deacon, yes, I am talking about Charles Webb, Jr. He was the Grand Master of the MD Freemasons, and his "companion" Mason was suspected KGC leader Albert Pike. The Webb soap and candle factory had merged with the Armstrong soap and candle business. When James Armstrong decided to set up an insurance business, he left Charles and James Webb in charge of the soap and candle enterprise. Charles ran the original Armstrong soap and candle plant, while James Webb stayed at the smaller Webb Family facility.

Charles Webb's two junior executives at the Armstrong plant were Andrew Saulsbury and Armstrong nephew Thomas Armstrong. The 5,000 gold coins were found buried under the home of Andrew Saulsbury. Thomas Armstrong lived at a small local hotel named The Fountain Inn, which was known as a rebel meeting place. When the hotel was torn down, a tin box containing 2,000 gold coins was found.

Charles Webb and George Kane were lifelong friends and political associates. Kane was an outspoken enemy of Abraham Lincoln and was implicated by the Pinkertons in a plot to kill Lincoln in 1861. Lincoln later had Kane jailed for treason. Kane swore revenge against Lincoln for his imprisonment without trial. Kane's friend, John Wilkes Booth, also stated that Kane was his friend and that those responsible for his imprisonment should "meet a dog's death." Booth lived four blocks from where the treasure was unearthed on Eden Street.

There is much more to the story, all detailed in Knights' Gold. After the war, Kane would serve briefly as Baltimore's mayor . . . and requested his good friend Charles Webb be his tax collector.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Been up there for the tour from DC to Eastern Md. country-side; started at Ford Theater to the route of Surratt's house and the site of the barn of JWB's "death". Have family in that area, so had MORE time to do R & I. EAST side Maryland was "anti-Lincoln" in that it was COPPER-HEAD country, full of Peace Democrats against the CW; From Baltimore, Md. to the Va. border (across) the BIG river. Yes, Baltimore had a BIG "Castle"; JWB was a member...

 

[senior deacon]

PhillyJack sorry having not got a chance to get your book yet. Many questions yet to be answered. Was there skimming operation with the taxes? Seems that Mayor Kane was involved in entanglements most of his mayoral career. Interesting character after reading more about him. One of the last true copperheads and KGC. In all my reading he doesn't like most have a Masonic tie either thru family or affiliation just friends. This is odd as most of the big bugs had ties one way or the other.

Yes could well have been a companion of Pike because of being a Grand Master of Maryland. From 1855 onwards Pike was a very big and influential in all Masonic circles. From what I have read of the KGC ritual there is that odd fingerprint of his ritualistic style. Most likely picked up and influenced by his time in New Orleans with the French Scottish Red Lodges. You have to, in these cases, be on the inside and listen to the ritual he wrote to find the fingerprint.

Will be waiting for your book to come out. Please sir do let us know.


Senior Deacon

 

[PhillyJack]

George Kane and the KGC

PhillyJack sorry having not got a chance to get your book yet. Many questions yet to be answered. Was there skimming operation with the taxes? Seems that Mayor Kane was involved in entanglements most of his mayoral career. Interesting character after reading more about him. One of the last true copperheads and KGC. In all my reading he doesn't like most have a Masonic tie either thru family or affiliation just friends. This is odd as most of the big bugs had ties one way or the other.

Yes could well have been a companion of Pike because of being a Grand Master of Maryland. From 1855 onwards Pike was a very big and influential in all Masonic circles. From what I have read of the KGC ritual there is that odd fingerprint of his ritualistic style. Most likely picked up and influenced by his time in New Orleans with the French Scottish Red Lodges. You have to, in these cases, be on the inside and listen to the ritual he wrote to find the fingerprint.

Will be waiting for your book to come out. Please sir do let us know.

Senior Deacon

Senior Deacon,

The book is already out but just on Kindle/EBooks. You can read the first 5 chapters as a preview on Amazon (without Kindle). For anyone with Kindle Unlimited the entire book is free.

As Rebel mentions, the entire Eastern portion of MD was copperhead and pro-South.

Albert Pike sponsored Charles Webb in 1853 . . . was listed as a "Companion Mason" for Webb's becoming Grand Master of Maryland Freemasonry. That is in the Masonic record.

Kane was only Mayor for a few months . . . 1878. He passed away from Bright's Disease while in office. He had gone to Webb, his old backer, to ask for help in fixing the city's finances. Webb agreed to become tax collector, and agreed to stay on even after Kane's death. The new mayor was the son of another MD Grand Master!

The coins were apparently buried in 1856, possibly to finance the planned invasion and takeover of Cuba, which never happened. Captain John Mattison's voyages were often taking him to Cuba, and he was connected to the trading house of a man named Teran, one of the most notorious slave traders in Cuba. Teran's partner was an Englishman named Tyng. After the Civil War, Mattison (who served on the same corporate board of directors as Charles Webb, James Webb, and James Armstrong) sold the treasure house to Andrew Saulsbury, who worked for Webb. Saulsbury was a fiery, outspoken Confederate sympathizer who was threatened by Union troops during the occupation. Saulsbury became the new sentinel for the coins, buried under his house (the house that used to be Mattison's home). Saulsbury passed away in 1873, and his widow lived in the house until 1889.

Understand that Saulsbury named his first born son James Armstrong Saulsbury. And James Armstrong Saulsbury in turn named his sons Thomas Armstrong Saulsbury and Charles Webb Saulsbury. No doubt Captain Mattison would have been their "Uncle John." Thomas Armstrong, Saulsbury's best friend, lived at the "rebel" hotel where 2,000 gold coins would be unearthed.

That three of the Saulsbury sons were named after the three top executives at Jas. Armstrong & Co. tells you what a band of brothers these were. And the man they supported in city government from marshal to sheriff to mayor was George P. Kane. Kane was fingered by Pinkerton as the brains behind the plot to assassinate Lincoln in 1861. And in 1864, it was Kane who Booth sought out with his initial plans to kidnap Lincoln from his carriage. JWB was definitely KGC, and his sponsor in the organization would have been his good friend George Kane.

Saulsbury was dead by 1873, and Kane and Webb did not get into office until 1877-1878. So the coins were not the result of taxes being skimmed. They were dated 1834-1856 and appeared to have been buried sometime in 1856. The KGC was formed in 1854 and merged with the Order of the Lone Star soon after. Baltimore was one of the earliest and largest chapters. Some of the coins may have originally been in the OLS treasury.

Kane was probably not in the Freemasons because of his Irish and possibly Catholic background. He did help an Irish organization (I believe the Ancient Order of Hibernians) to collect money and supplies to relieve the suffering in Ireland during the famine. He was known, however, to have been tough on the Irish immigrants of Baltimore when he was the police marshal.

Some sources say Kane was Protestant, and some say Catholic. I do know his parents came from Londonderry ("Derry" if you are Catholic). My grandmother's grandparents also came from Londonderry, and the family name was Kane (a fairly common Irish surname). So there is a possibility I am related to George Kane.

There is a strong possibility that it was George Kane who would have received the kidnapped Abraham Lincoln if Booth's original plan had worked. I believe Kane may have been waiting in Shenandoah Valley for Booth, his conspirators, and the drugged and tied up President Lincoln. My book will explain.

My best guess is that JWB was inducted into the KGC in the home of Andrew Saulsbury at 138 S. Central Avenue. This would have been in July, 1859 while Saulsbury was living on Central and Captain Mattison was living in the treasure house at 55 S. Eden (132 S. Eden in the 1900s). Saulsbury was the recruiter, and Mattison acted as the sentinel for the gold coins. Later, that job was transferred to Saulsbury at the war's end.

 

[ECS]

CSA Sec of State Judah P Benjamin, was a member of the KGC PICKWICK CLUB in New Orleans along with Albert Pike and John Slidell.
Benjamin ran the CSA spy operations as well as the blockading routes and contacts.