Barrels of english coins buried in Cross City area

[sabre15]

Anybody have information Alexander Arbuthnot and accomplices buried kegs of coins before they were caught by Andrew Jackson and hung?

[sabre15]

Come on people, alittle help here!!!

[CaptJohn]

Next time I'm down that way, I should let you know and we can look for it.

Before his execution, Arbuthnot said the kegs are in hi ground in California swamp which is SW of Suwannee Old Town.
Their Plantation was about 4 miles upriver from mouth of river (name wasnt' given) on the SW fringe of the swamp. The plantation site is not known today.
I think there is a place on the Suwannee or maybe is was the Steinhtchee that has signs posted that say, "NO you can't metal detect here."

[sabre15]

Anybody else out there taht has heard this story, anyone if any documentation that these guys had money. I've heard theories of negotiation right before they were executed but have not found any historical proof. As far as everything else, these guys were the real deal and probably did have some money from trading. Any help here would be appreciated, I live close to the area and want to put an end to this once and for all if it is or isnt true!

[sabre15]

Next time I'm down that way, I should let you know and we can look for it.

Before his execution, Arbuthnot said the kegs are in hi ground in California swamp which is SW of Suwannee Old Town.
Their Plantation was about 4 miles upriver from mouth of river (name wasnt' given) on the SW fringe of the swamp. The plantation site is not known today.
I think there is a place on the Suwannee or maybe is was the Steinhtchee that has signs posted that say, "NO you can't metal detect here."

where did you get the info on what Arbuthnot said?

[Salvor6]

Hey Capt. John, the CA swamp is NW of the town of Suwannee. It is 8 miles S of Old Town. There is no such place as "Suwanee Old Town." I just spent the whole day (yesterday) criss-crossing CA swamp and THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO HIGH GROUND WHATSOEVER. Central FL is in a drought right now and the swamp is barely passible in many areas. You can see the water mark on all the trees. The entire swamp is normally under a minimum of one foot of water. Here is a pic of one of the few dry spots.

[Salvor6]

Here is a buddy of mine in front of the historic marker locating Jackson's camp.

[Salvor6]

Capt. John,
have you ever been to the place in this picture? How about Denvervegas?

[sabre15]

I have to stick up for Capt John, record books do talk of Oldtown Suwannee as one. Although who knows what the heck they meant when the towns are not even close to each other.

[RELICDUDE07]

Shows a old town on the map What did ya find

[RELICDUDE07]

If you look at the map ,i think the california swamp would be the name....santa talosa right hand corner of the map.Thats just me, i have never heard this story....

[ocalasix]

i have customers who come into my store from an old town, this is the one i see



Old Town is a community or populated place (Class Code U6) located in Dixie County at latitude 29.601 and longitude -82.982. The elevation is 23 feet. Old Town appears on the Fanning Springs U.S. Geological Survey Map. Dixie County is in the Eastern time zone (GMT -5). Observes DST? Yes. Current Time. | Old Town, FL ZIP Codes


gregg

[gametalman52]

Lived in Old Town. It is on St. Rt. 19 today. Suwanee is located today on the Gulf of Mexico. Old town is just north of the Suwanee river. When you get to Suwanee there is some high ground just north of Suwanee. Their is an old house just west of Old Town that was on moving blocks and wa an old plantation and I believe a lumber operation. This area was hugh in the manufacture of Turpentine and a lot of the ground is highly polluted. Cross City which is north on Old town has a road going west to the Gulf which goes to a small park and a boat ramp. The local use it for mullet, clam and oyster harvesting. There is high ground there and I have detected it a little. There is some high ground around Steinhatchee, but most of it is close to the town itself as most everything else is swamp. Hope this helps.

[RELICDUDE07]

Could someone copy and paste the story about the kegs?It may help if i knew some history on the legend,the only one i know is the kegs tossed off the gun boat,civil war era.........

[sherpa t]

Relicdude07
Here's the high points of the story, Arbuthnot was a trader who supplied the Indians with powder and lead, Ambrister was English and in the un settled political affairs of the time between US, Spanish, English and Indian nations tried to be a go between the Indians and the English.

Arbuthnot had brought up a shipment of lead and power (which I believe changed hands to the Indians ) when he heard of Jackson and his troops in movement to engage the Indians. Arbuthnot send a letter to his son telling about the troops and to move the goods ASAP, the Indians were gone when Jackson arrived and he was not happy, Blaming the letter as a warning to the Indians Jackson started a military trial . Ambrister gets included sort of as an instagtor stirring up the Indians to fight. The men are to be hung and it is then said they offered the buried gold as a freedom payment, but they were hung, and later Jackson is investigated for his actions, but suffers no long term liability from it as the English do not push the point.

Sort of interesting event, there is alot more to it, but thats the general overview as I recall it.

[sabre15]

Only problem with this story is I have no proof that they ever said that stuff was buried, so far it has been rumor/legend/folklore whatever. Some people seem to think it may be located in the Tampa area if it is true.

[RELICDUDE07]

I would look around charles spring..Old indian area if you can,im not sure if you can look that place maybe close by...

[sabre15]

Where is Charles Springs? Tampa area or Suwanee?
Does anyone have info from library of congress or another entity state or federal or even English regarding the accounts of so called Gold to pay for there freedom to Jackson?

[sherpa t]

wow never had this happen before just "timed out and lost my whole post !!
oh well to late to re do the whole thing..
Has anyone ever looked into the son.. after his fathers death is he poor and fades away suggesting family assets were lost ?
Where was the family's trading business based at, just the "store" on Suwanee which might support a buried keg bank or down at cedar key were the son was directed to head with the assets suggesting a flow of goods in, assets out, or all the way back down to the Caribbean under the English flag where the lead and powder shipped from ??
The lore is buried, but I don't recall any facts in the trial / letters other than directions for the son to move ( don't remember exact wording ) assets across river and make passage down river on a certain boat ( to Cedar Key area) is there a clue in that, are the goods south of a fork and the fork has to be crossed to meet up on the main shipping lane ??
Tampa ?? new to me, unless trade business based at , leads you south, but that might lean more to the, goods in - money out, small amount on hand at "store" and the money offered at hanging - more of an offer to trade life for payment at a future date. ?
This guy had no real reason to think he was going to die when he wrote the letter, I think he wanted to get his stuff out of an up and coming war zone. So the way he operated day to day would help define where his money would be.

[RELICDUDE07]

General Jackson and his men marched to the east of the Suwannee River where Arbuthnot and Ambrister had a thriving trading post near an Indian village (present-day Clay Landing), a few miles from the present-day Chiefland. There he destroyed the post and massacred many Indians.