Buried "treasure" in Southeastern Pennsylvania

[Kentucky Kache]

Kentucky Kache - What about the books?

Just that the clues mention a book which guides the way.

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[cw0909]

SEPaMan
cw0909 - How do you determine whether or not a deceased man was wealthy enough to bury a "treasure" ?

SEPaMan,for not being a THer it sounds like your fishing,LOL
THerS dont give away their trade secrets, i will tell you out of 300+ males,that passed
away in the 80s in warrington,after some eliminations,i am left with 143,to look at more
closely.i got lucky,my mothers BFs 1st husband was from there,he left for college at 18,
he went to pen,now lives in AZ im waiting for some info from him,through my moms BF.
i may have accidentally,figed out what a lions tree is too

SEPaMan,thanks for starting this post,so far its still fun,and i havent found anything yet to say its prob a hoax

my condolences,in regards to the double murder, suicide, what a tragedy,for the family and friends and community

[Treasure finder]

Why did he make such a complicated series of directions for himself or for his family if he died before
recovering it? Was it a book that they had at home? Doesn't seem logical to me. I live on the left
coast, so I am doubly out.
Rich

[MinerGirl]

Hey...

[SEPaMan]

cw0909 - I know right! This stuff turned out to be much more exciting than I expected. Maybe I have the "bug"? I'll check and make sure the grandfather actually died in Warrington to help you narrow the search, from what I was told his death went unreported and he was buried in secret with the knowledge of only a few people, although if an old man suddenly disappears "for good" it seems pretty obvious what happened. In such a case how do you find the death certificate? I had a great aunt who did the same thing, her husband died and she buried him in the backyard but told the family he ran off, which everyone believed until her son was renovating the home years later and stumbled upon the body! Now that caused some family feuds I can tell you.

Treasure finder - My neighbor's grandfather loved treasure hunting and apparently spent years setting up a worthy hunt for his children and grandchildren, working steadily until his death, with the intention of leaving behind a great adventure for his family, as it was his hobby and passion, not to mention an entertaining means of distributing surplus wealth. He was rich and eccentric, what else was he going to do with his money, invest it sensibly?

MinerGirl - I had considered the county treasure hunt was the reason none of the local newspapers published the letter, unless there were other motives. Our papers print the most asinine stories, for instance a cat that fell down a well was front page news recently, so I assumed the media might actually be interested in real news for a change. After a week or so of watching the headlines and seeing nothing, I noticed one of the treasure hunt ads and facepalmed, and chalked it up to bad timing. If my neighbor had decided to break the story sooner we might have had a better chance.

Thanks for all your input, and tell your colleagues!

[SEPaMan]

Frankn, I don't presume to guess at the grandfather's motivations, everyone has their reasons for the things they do, and it's not up to others to validate their actions. As for tourists, Warrington doesn't even have a hotel (though there might be a motel) and no decent restaurants to speak of in my opinion, much less anything else worth seeing, so if anyone is dumb enough to come here on vacation they'll leave disappointed. I hardly think a rumor of buried treasure will bring in enough spenders to turn around the economy. If that were the case, Dent's Run would be full of millionaires!

[sciflyer25]

Since this tread is more popular than the PA thread, I will post here. The area has really been built up with housing developments and shopping over the last 20 years. I know the area quite well, have family that lives within walking distance of the reservoir, although I have never walked through it myself.
My time to actually get out in the field is limited due to work, family, etc. But I drive through enough and would probably be able to help out.
Looking at an 1891 map, the plots of land around the current reservoir inslude the names "Thos Bradfield", "Chas Krause", "John Griffith", "J Thompson", "E Arnold" and "Deiter", with the Neshaminy Creek branching out in multiple directions.
Historic Map: Warrington Township,, Atlas: Bucks County 1891, Pennsylvania - Historic Map Works, Residential Genealogy ™

[MinerGirl]

hi again...

[sciflyer25]

After reading ALOT if history/info. on Montco. and Bucks counties (on the internet from historical websites) with the timeline of Penn's land grants, through the mid 20th century, something points across the County Line road into Montco, not far at all from the reservoir area. I did not realize how many historical figures either lived in the area or used some residence's as summer homes.
Anyone local, familiar with the area and cares to share info. around shoot me an email, as I would be able to get back to you quickly.
sciflyer25@gmail.com
Jim

[SEPaMan]

lorddean13, I was thinking the same thing! But I believe I can answer a few of MinerGirl's questions. My neighbor has an idea of what the treasure(s) might be: precious metals and old coins. He claimed as much in the letter. Apparently that matter is "settled" among his family, as the linen trunks did indeed vanish in the years before his grandfather's death. Other rumored treasures include silver bars, a collection of gold watches, old volumes that may or may not have some value, bags of paper currency, savings bonds, jewelry, large quantities of scrapped copper, a small marble statue from Italy & other art, crystal ware, fine china, an estate ruby, and deeds to unnamed properties, all scattered across Warrington. I imagine the treasure could be "confirmed" (your words) as the true treasure by simply following the clues. If the Lion's Tree were actually found, it would be the first in the sequence of clues and would lead on to everything else. The family tradition holds that each set of clues leads to one of the treasures, and each treasure leads to the next set of clues, revealing a network of clues and treasures that point the way to the final treasure, that being my neighbor's grandfather in a barrow interred with his most precious personal belongings. Supposedly the locations of the treasures, if plotted on a map, would reproduce the image of a constellation, my neighbor believes Orion is a likely candidate. This is a "short cut" built into the network that would allow someone to bypass the clues and pinpoint the location of every treasure simply by matching certain landmarks in Warrington with certain stars in a constellation, overlaying an image of the constellation on a map, and plotting where the unmatched stars lie. The key to this is of course identifying the landmarks and the corresponding stars, not to mention using the right constellation. According to my neighbor a second constellation must be observed from a specific location as it passes through the sky, and at certain times it will be above certain landmarks, which match with the stars on the first constellation that gives the layout of the treasure network. Whew! Sounds a lot more complicated than just following the clues, don't you think? Thankfully he didn't insist on describing all that in the letter. Anyway I hope that answers some of you questions MinerGirl, you lost me where you lost lorddean13. Again, thanks for all your interest, and tell your colleagues.

[MinerGirl]

Sepaman, Just quick

[MinerGirl]

Sciflyer25 and All...

[SEPaMan]

Wow, great research MinerGirl, I don't want to be repetitive but I really posted this info in the right place it seems! As for the word "hoarde" I just assumed it was a British English spelling. The legend to which I was referring is a local folktale that combines stories about the American Revolution, forest spirits conjured by the Lenni-Lenape Indians, haunted trees, a wild man living in the woods, ghostly soldiers from various wars, a curse, and a giant serpentine monster that lived in the Neshaminy Creek before it was dammed, now trapped in the Reservoir. Not sure about the Egptian connection though, I'll have to ask my neighbor. And as for the constellation map, I'm pretty sure it's a dead end, none of the clues survived unlike what was published in the letter, but I'll still see what I can find out.

[MinerGirl]

Sepaman,...

[releventchair]

Note to self , pack taller boots,#2 shovel,bearspray,(crowd control). Frankn we were given the township! Heh. Being recently publicized keeps it off possible lead for now. I,ll just sit back in the weeds and watch. Wasn,t me. H.H. all.

[SEPaMan]

Well Frankn that's why my neighbor decided to spread the word, so other treasure hunters could collaborate and solve the mystery! He seems confident that the first clue, the "Lion's Tree", is located in the area of the Bradford Reservoir. So all the speculation in the world won't solve anything without looking. Online posting will only settle so much. If you don't have much faith in the story maybe your time would be better spent on other threads?

MinerGirl, keep up the good work! I'll look into the family crest possibility. Also, do you know any astronomers?

Again thanks everyone for your input!

[SEPaMan]

releventchair, I appreciate your input, I think if enough of the posters here put their heads together we can crack this thing. Let me know if there's any way I can help!

[MinerGirl]

SEPaman,

[SEPaMan]

MinerGirl, just thinking that an astronomer might be able to provide some perspective on methods of using stars to mark locations on Earth, and maybe give historical examples. Meanwhile I'll get in touch with my neighbor and see about this constellation business. At the very least it will give me an excuse to go stargazing!

[sciflyer25]

OK, I'll throw out some names relevant to the area, close to the reservoir across County Line Rd. into Horsham. Sir William Keith, the Penrose-Keith Mansion, Graeme Park. The mansion is documented to have 2 large sycamore trees still standing today. Around 1920, Welsh Strawbridge purchased the mansion. It was sold in the late 50's to be preserved as a historic site. There are tours year round, and stories of the mansion and the grounds being haunted. There are many other details and names pertaining to the history of the area, including "Friend's Meeting House", Davis Grove, etc. I have not included all details here, but they can be easily found online.
I have no idea whether this is useful or not, but when I eventually get my tesoro, I have more information as far as where to hunt in general.
Jim