Silver Bars

[starsplitter]

Greetings:

Has anyone heard of a cache of silver bars hidden in a cave or mine around Uniontown, PA? Thanks.

Starsplitter

 

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Confederate Silver

During the American Civil War, Confederate raiders captured a Union convoy heading from West Virginia to the Philadelphia Mint. The convoy's treasure - some 15 tons of silver bars - was stolen and hidden inside a cave north of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. The rebels sealed the mouth of the cave and never returned for the booty. Some say it's still out there waiting to be discovered.

 

[starsplitter]

Thanks for the response. This is interesting. Is there anything in the historical record to support the story? A few years ago I did some research on another PA treasure, only to discover that no mention whatsoever existed in the record (primary sources). Thanks again!

 

[DCMatt]

Thanks for the response. This is interesting. Is there anything in the historical record to support the story? A few years ago I did some research on another PA treasure, only to discover that no mention whatsoever existed in the record (primary sources). Thanks again!

Look for this book:

Buried Treasures of the Mid-Atlantic States: Legends of Island Treasure ... By W. C. Jameson

There is an excerpt on Google books. It says there was a train loaded with silver.

I've done some research on a couple of the treasure stories. I've found that most of them have been greatly "enhanced" over the years.

Good luck,

DCMatt

 

[Tubecity]

My family has been in that tri-state area of the mountains since the
mid 1700's & that's one story I've not heard anything about. Sorry.

 

[starsplitter]

Thanks for the info... I will probably be ridiculed for being realistic, however, my feeling is that if nothing can be found in primary or contemporary sources any 'treasure story' amounts to just that - a story.

Reference the Civil War gold near Uniontown: I delved into mutli-state archives, the Library of Congress, even the Pinkerton collection (records dating back to the Civil War period). All that I could find was the 20th century 'story' I started from... all this is part of the process, but it goes to show you - take any treasure lead with a bucket of salt, especially if it comes from some magazine.

Besides... how the hell do you lose a train load of silver? The answer: you don't. Just like all that Nazi gold - whatever is left, somebody knows about, they (for whatever reason) just aren't talking.

 

[Tubecity]

I wouldn't say it's not possible, that is a pretty mountainous , remote area.
Laurel Caverns are there & who knows how many other caves & it was a
huge coal mining region. Route 40 from Uniontown to the Maryland border
has only started becoming commercialized in the last roughly 20 years or so.

 

[Tubecity]

The reason I think this may be possible is, as you travel over the mountains above Uniontown on the National Road (rt. 40) , you are only a few miles
from Preston County, West Virginia. In fact at the base of the mountain in
Hopwood before you start the climb, if you turn right it will take you to
Point Marion. This is about where the Monongahela River crosses into Pa.
from W.V.. If you travel out Rt. 40 from Uniontown, you will soon be in
Maryland. I would guess 15 to 20 miles. There are many stories about the
Confederates either being in this area or fears of attacks. I would say people
in this area back then could be sympathetic to either side & think it possible
the Confederates could pass easily through this area with little alarm.

 

[starsplitter]

Your post brings to memory an article I read so many years ago that I can't remember where. The location was somewhere along the border states. Below a shed type structure (in the crawl space) all sorts of Civil War era stuff was found (US stamped harnesses, etc.). The author's take was that the stuff was hidden away by sympathizers to keep their neighbors out of the loop. I wish I could remember more. So, your idea is well taken.

 

[tokenhead]

hello everyone,read my post reply to"potter county treasure story from 1908"posted by potter count girl(?)...on this page.

 

[DennyCrane]

Found this in The United States Treasure Atlas. Although I haven't found any articles on the bars turning up.

 

[wildheart]

I have that book and will share what it says. Here's a paraphrase of the story from the book "Buried Treasures of the Mid-Atlantic States" by W. C. Jameson, published in 2000 by August House. Would have posted the complete text, but that's copyright infringement:

Title: Tons of Lost Silver Ingots
Sometime during the Civil War, a train carrying tons of silver ingots was robbed in NY state on its way to the Confederacy (no indication where from or on which railroad). Supposedly "hundreds, even thousands, of 10-in-long silver ingots was loaded onto 18 wagons and carried into PA, where it was hidden in a cave." Estimated total weight between 20-115 tons (quite the range) was moved to the cave. No word of how they silver ended up near Uniontown, but 20 years later, a "hermit" named Dobbs, who lived in a shack near some caves southeast of Uniontown, came into town and purchased som goods at a hardware store, paid for with one of these silver bars.

The story suggests he was a drinker, only coming into town to buy food and liquor, then disappearing for weeks at a time. Usually he did this after working some odd jobs for the $$ to buy same, but this time, he went right to the store and filled a burlap sack with bunches of groceries. The grocer was stunned and asked Dobbs where he came by such a treasure. Dobbs said he'd found a cave filled with hundreds of them. From then on, Dobbs always paid for his supplies with an ingot, each stamped with the inscription, "Government genuine, New York City."

Sometimes men would follow Dobbs when he went home, but he was cagey and never went near his cache as long as he knew he was being watched. About 2 years after Dobbs first showed up in Uniontown with an ingot, 4 hunters showed up carrying more than a dozen of them, with the same markings. They claimed they'd found thousands of them in a cave a few miles outside of town, and intended to return to get the rest. They left town the next day and were never seen again. Two years later, four skeletons were found inthe woods not far from an area called Laurel Caverns. Many believed Dobbs came upon the hunters "looting" his stash and killed them.

Shortly thereafter, Dobbs again came into town, saying that no one would ever come upon his silver again because he had moved it all to a new location. He'd apparently also abandoned his shack, because on the numerous occasions he was followed after leaving town, he never went back to it. Instead, he would elude his trackers by disappearing into the nearby mountains.

On one supply trip to town, Dobbs had too much to drink in a local tavern and told people there that he'd transferred the ingots from the cave to an abandoned coal mine. He said it was so remote no one would ever find it. He continued to come into Uniontown on his monthly supply trip for two more years, but then he failed to show up. Everyone figured he'd died of old age, and many went searching for the coal mine, but no one ever did find it.

Months later, a man people believed to be Dobbs showed up in Latrobe, about 35 miles northeast of Uniontown. He was now considerably different, a dirty tramp rather than simply a recluse. He now lived under porches and in alleys, soliciting handouts from the citizenry. When he'd panhandled enough for a few drinks, he'd retire to the tavern and get drunk, telling stories of a vast wealth in silver bars he'd lost. He said the coal mine shaft had collapsed, buring his treasure under tons of debris. He'd tried to dig through the rubble, but was unable to reach the cache. A year later, he was found penniless and dead in a Latrobe alley.

Here's how the story ends:
"Considering the available evidence, there is no basis on which to reject Dobbs' claim that he once had access to a tremendous cache of silver ingots. After closely examining several aspects of this tale, a California-based treasure hunting company arrived in SW PA to search for the lost silver. A spokesman for the group maintained there was ample proof of the existence of the treasure, but the team was unable to locate the collapsed coal mine.

It is concluded, therefore, that somewhere in southwestern Pennsylvania lies a tremendous fortunte in silver bars in an old, caved-in coal mine. Which one and where is a mystery that has perplexed searchers for one hundred years."

 

[syntax10]

Great story, who knows how much of it is true though. I do know a few things, those bars have popped up all across the country and they aren't silver. The only cave that could be practical for storing that many bars would have to be laurel caverns. All the other caves in that area are either too small or not easily assessable enough to carry all those bars in. As far as i know, no major coal mines existed in that particular area, however very small mines were very common throughout those mountains. The remnants of these small mines will look like dug out indentations in the hillsides and nothing more. My best guess is that if it really is in one of those collapsed mines, it will never be found.

 

[Tubecity]

I beg to differ. That area is loaded with coal mines & at one time probably had more coke ovens than anywhere in the country due to all the mines in the area.
My grandfather was a fire boss in many mines thru-out Fayette & Greene counties.
And both of these counties border W.V. When my Dad was young, Laurel Caverns
were known as Dulaney's cave & they would sneak in there & look around. They
had no tours or commercialism there at all. Supposedly, the local Indians would
spend the winters living in those caves. And heading out thru Chestnut ridge, the
Laurel ridge & out thru Negro mountain is still some of the wildest country with
the highest elevations in the state. Almost anything could be hidden out there.

 

[syntax10]

Tubecity: Name one major coal mine, or any coal mine with a name near Laurel Caverns. Its supposed to be remote as well so its going to be up on the mountain somewhere, not down near uniontown.

 

[Tubecity]

Sure, Laurel Caverns is located in Wharton Township, & there you had the Wharton Furnace,
an early stone blast furnace that made iron. Highly unlikely they hauled coal up over those
mountains to make coke to feed that furnace. The Rose Mine & Coke Works was in that area.
Behind Laurel Caverns is an old road once known as Mud Pike, it skirts the back edge of the
mountain above a couple of deep hollows. One was called Hardin Hollow which emptied out
into Smithfield which had mines & coke ovens. The other is Cave Hollow ( ? why so named?)
& it leads down to Fairchance which also had mines & the Fairchance Furnace which was blown
in approx. 1794. Also in that area is the Oliphant Furnace which is said to be the first iron furnace
operated in the U.S. . It's unlikely as deep as those valleys are, that some local people didn't
mine those valleys or hollows for coal even to be used for their own use. Nothing in the history
of the lost treasure mentions anything about 'major mines' as we know them today with motor
rooms, tipples & conveyor systems. More than likely it was a cave or some hole dug into the sides
of one of those deep valleys.

 

[Tubecity]

If these caves were south-east of Uniontown, they could have been anywhere from Jumonville out
towards Ohiopyle.(then called falls city) But if they were located that far, some may have been taken
to Somerset, Rockwood or even Grantsville, Md. In those days, that would have been some real remote
country. And not a whole lot of level country.

 

[DennyCrane]

You would think if the story about Dobbs was true, he would of split the treasure up in several hiding places. It wouldn't of been uncommon for private or bootleg coal mines to exist in that area. I think in the 1920s, there was a lot of bootleg coal mines, most made from the striking coal mine workers. If he tried for 2 months trying to dig it out, there should be evidence of that, like a partially dug hole in a hillside. If you knew the date, you could do some research and find out where the dead bodies were found. That should of made the paper. Here is photo from another site of one of the bars that they think may have came from there. They think it is actually made of nickel. But I would assume the company that made these would of made them for several different banks, so there is no guarantee it came from this site.

 

[lmsworks]

Here are two stories my father told me, First...a gentlemen that he and his brother knew used to ask everyone if he could borrow a silver dollar. He would take the silver dollar you gave him and shortly after would return it, looking brand new. He was arrested for counterfieting, but when the silver dollars he was making were tested it was proved that the silver content was much purer then the govt. issued ones. The gentlemen was supposed to meet my uncle and take him to where he was collecting the silver ore...here is the directions he was given, but he never actually went with the man. Coming from where Mud Pike and Skyline drive intersect turn right heading toward rt.40. As you come up "red hill" (so called because the soil in the area is red) and you come to the top of the hill there are several dirt roads heading down the mtn off to the left, down the hill somewhere are old indian silver mines. As I read the older posts about Dobbs, don't you think an old indian mine could be mistaken for a coal mine, there are caverns all over the mountain here. Bartons Cave, Laurel Caverns are the two most notable, but I have been in several one room caves in this area that don't connect to either. The second story is about a hunter from Cleveland who was near Haydentown a small village at the base of the mountain near Bartons Hollow and Hector Hollow. It started to rain so he discovered a a small cave opening...he entered and was sitting in there out of the rain when he decided to take his lighter to see if there were any snakes in there with him. He was looking around and found 4 or 5 heavy bars that he thought was lead, he put them in his trunk where they stayed for 6 months. One day he decided to look at them, he rubbed them off and found they were silver. My father says there was an article about it in a cleveland newspaper.

 

[kudo623]

according to Jeff in a different posting, the silver bars were found some years ago.
of course any Indian Silver mines may be a different matter altogether.