Gypsy Heart
Gold Member
William Bennet did not trust banks and preferred to carry out all his transactions in gold.It is rumored that he buried thousands of gold coins on his farm in Union County Oregon.
Before his neighbor left for the army during the 1st World War, Bennett came by to tell him goodbye. He asked him to do him a favor. He said he was getting old and might not be alive when he returned. If he was dead, would the neighbor see that his money was taken care of? His children had disowned him and they did not deserve anything, excepting Belle, a deaf daughter. He wanted Belle to have the money. Would the neighbor dig it up and give it to her, excepting for a sum he named that the neighbor was to keep for myself, because the neighbor was his best friend. The neighbor agreed to do this. Bennet told him to go to the north window of his house and to look at Sinai straight in front , then go to the place he saw. A short distance to the right he would find a flat rock beside a service bush where the ground hogs had dug. In a crevice of this rock he would find a wagon bolen (iron part of the axle that the wheel turns on). Some 30 to 40 feet northeast of this place $20,000 was buried securely under a big rock.
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When the soldier returned from the war Bennett was dead. He spent days searching but never so much as located the wagon bolen. He knew he had that much money and that it was hid and knew Bennet would not mislead me. Folks tore the house apart and dug all around it. To the best of the soldiers knowledge they found a total of about $1100, all in small gold pieces and silver.
William Bennet died in Elgin, Oregon on 15 April 1917 at the age of 79 or 80.This Union County, Oregon Pioneer lived through many hardships in his life including a trek across the Oregon Trail, the drowning death of his oldest son John K. Bennett, the suicide of his daughter Elma, and serving time in the Oregon State Penitentiary for murder.
Before his neighbor left for the army during the 1st World War, Bennett came by to tell him goodbye. He asked him to do him a favor. He said he was getting old and might not be alive when he returned. If he was dead, would the neighbor see that his money was taken care of? His children had disowned him and they did not deserve anything, excepting Belle, a deaf daughter. He wanted Belle to have the money. Would the neighbor dig it up and give it to her, excepting for a sum he named that the neighbor was to keep for myself, because the neighbor was his best friend. The neighbor agreed to do this. Bennet told him to go to the north window of his house and to look at Sinai straight in front , then go to the place he saw. A short distance to the right he would find a flat rock beside a service bush where the ground hogs had dug. In a crevice of this rock he would find a wagon bolen (iron part of the axle that the wheel turns on). Some 30 to 40 feet northeast of this place $20,000 was buried securely under a big rock.
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When the soldier returned from the war Bennett was dead. He spent days searching but never so much as located the wagon bolen. He knew he had that much money and that it was hid and knew Bennet would not mislead me. Folks tore the house apart and dug all around it. To the best of the soldiers knowledge they found a total of about $1100, all in small gold pieces and silver.
William Bennet died in Elgin, Oregon on 15 April 1917 at the age of 79 or 80.This Union County, Oregon Pioneer lived through many hardships in his life including a trek across the Oregon Trail, the drowning death of his oldest son John K. Bennett, the suicide of his daughter Elma, and serving time in the Oregon State Penitentiary for murder.
