ROBBER LEWIS

[sgtfda]

In the early 1800's David "Robber" Lewis on his last stage holdup near Bellefonte stole $13000.00 Shortly after that robbery he was captured near Driftwood, Pa. Lewis had a thing for stashing his loot. Going through some old records I found a old eyewitness account of his capture. Who, what and exactly where. Exactly. This site is near the Civil War lost gold bar site I've been working on. I think I will look the site over in the spring when I am up that way. I have the gold bar site down pat and will go in with a SD2000GPM mod unit with a 25" NF coil for a final search. The unit will pick up my truck engine at 10ft. air test and I want to see how it works of the deep stuff. I had a 2 box but it can't touch the 2000 on depth.
You find info on these old sites in the strangest places.

 

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[jeff of pa]

For more Info on ROBBER LEWIS, Ask your Library IF they have Inter Library Service with the other Counties.

? The ONLY Library I have been able to find this was in a Cumberland County Library,
"Bosler Free Library" I believe.
and Definately in CARLISLE.

The BOOK"The LEGEND of LEWIS the ROBBER" "The LIFE And ADVENTURES of DAVID LEWIS the ROBBER and COUNTERFEITER"

Originally Published in 1890, Is said to be HIS TRUE STORY, including his Confession.

 

[jeff of pa]

HISTORY OF DAVID LEWIS

In the early Nineteenth Century, Indian Caverns was one of the many hiding places of the band of highwaymen associated with David Lewis—popularly known as "Robber" or "Davie" Lewis. A history of the various incidents in the life of this "Robin Hood of Pennsylvania" would be as strange and as fascinating a story as any work of fiction.
Born in 1790, Lewis moved with his family to Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, when he was ten years old. Robber Lewis reportedly made his early fortune by counterfeiting bank notes and through acts of highway robbery as far afield as New England. By his early twenties, Lewis focussed on operating more locally. His activities as an "equalizer", as he called himself, covered the mountain system of Pennsylvania from Lock Haven to Bedford. There are many local tales of Robber Lewis' exploits, robbing from wealthy landowners and merchants and assisting poor farmers and laborers facing hard times, foreclosure, or bankruptcy.
The following is an extract from an article in the Topographic and Geologic Survey Bulletin on Franklin Township by Ralph W. Stone from 1921, the only account of David Lewis to have appreared in print this century:


In the early period of the manufacture of charcoal-iron, Franklin Township was the site of six or eight forges and a woolen mill. Franklinville was at that time one of the busiest places in [Huntingdon] county.
Among the pioneer iron manufacturers at the head of this once flourishing industry we find the name of David Rittenhouse Porter, whose subsequent career as a public man and later Governor of the State is a matter of general history.
Another prominent iron manufacturer was Dr. Peter Shoenberger, whose forges were the beginning of his enormous wealth. His early struggles and noted encounter with the robber David Lewis, are valley history. The meeting with Lewis took place one early morning as Dr. Shoenberger was en route to Bellefonte with $15,000 cash in his saddle-bags. Unless he reached Bellefonte by a certain time, his paper must go to protest and his credit be ruined.
After the doctor had passed by a cave above the Franklinville Woolen Mill, he was suddenly confronted by a large man on horseback, who, with pistol in hand, called on him to "stand and deliver". Facing financial ruin, the doctor started to unstrap his saddle-bags. Suddenly he heard a shout and saw the white covers of a Conestoga wagon topping the hill. In desperation the doctor yelled out "Men, I am being robbed! Help! Help!" Lewis pulled the trigger of his gun, but, fortunately, the old flint only snapped and under fire from the wagoners Lewis rode into the woods and escaped.
From 1816 to 1820, Lewis and his band of robbers used this cave as a retreat and perhaps as a storehouse for their plunder. In a deathbed confession, Lewis is reported to have hidden a forune of gold near the old woolen mill, which the cave overlooked. Long stretches of the cave have been explored, and the remains of ladders that had been nailed together with hand-made nails were found at places of difficult ascent. These had probably been built by a former occupant or treasure hunter.




The cave entrance
as it would have appeared ca.1816

In 1820, a Centre County posse captured Lewis for holding up a Bellefonte-bound wagon train on the Seven Mountains road. During the gun battle, Lewis was wounded and, shortly after his capture, he contracted pneumonia and died.
On his deathbed in Bellefonte Jail, he claimed that he had secreted away some $20,000, mostly in gold, where even his confederates could not find it. Not long before his death, he had written to a friend residing on a farm in the Spruce Creek Valley telling him that his loot was hidden in "a dank hideout room" from which he claimed he could see the workmen in the old woolen mill going about their tasks. This woolen mill stood in the center of what is now Indian Caverns' parking lot. So strongly founded was the belief in the bandit's story that numerous treasure hunters have searched in the cave for Robber Lewis' legacy.
Impelled by this same belief, one resident of Franklin Township spent over twenty years in a vain search for the treasure. Armed with a lantern and a ball of twine, used as a trail marker so that he would not become lost in the labyrinth of passages, he kept up his tireless search. Death ended his quest in the 1920s with the robber's hidden gold-bags still unfound.
Treasure-hunters believe Robber Lewis may have concealed or walled-up the entrance to one of the cave rooms opening from the Lost Tunnel in the cave so perfectly that no one has been able to discover its exact location.
David Lewis died at the age of thirty in Bellefonte Jail and, according to records in Huntingdon County Library, was buried in Milesburg, Pennsylvania. Somewhere deep within Indian Caverns, does the mystery room still guard the secret of the bandit's treasure trove?
More information on "Robber" Lewis can be found in the Virtual Tour of the cave—or, of course, by visiting the cavern itself!

http://www.indiancaverns.com/History02.html

 

[gldhntr]

jeff you are better than google ever thought of.......walking library....marc could have used you for a server thanks for your input on all you help with.....gldhntr

 

[jeff of pa]

.

 

[Rich in Central PA]

True confessions of the robber David Lewis from the Bellefonte jail July 12, 1820, Bellefonte, PA. The confession is quite long, however if you read it carefully, you will find clues to 2 or 3 locations where David Lewis burried his caches. Good luck...............Rich

http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/pa/centre/bios/lewis01.txt

 

[jeff of pa]

.

 

[1liquigirl]

Interesting is the part of the article which states about the jewels of John Jacob Astor. Is this the same man who went to his death on the Titanic tragedy? Can't be. That was 1912. Lewis died in 1821. I saw a newspaper cartoon clipping at the Centre County Historical Library about the theft of jewels, so maybe someone added that in the article without thinking that the clipping could have just been poking fun at Lewis' antics.

 

[jeff of pa]

Like the mention here of the Peter Allen house,
There is no mention of this area, in his Confession.
This dosn't mean he confessed all.
he was dying & probably forgot alot.
he may have also purposly left some out.
However it wonders me How anyone would know,
in order to write about it, if he didn't tell.
my guess most of the stories of his caches
are just that. stories, to make local history
more entertaining. sort of like the stories of Simon Girty
however you never know.
I guess that's what keeps our blood flowing

 

[wainzoid]

I stopped at my local newspaper office yesterday to purchase a few books on local history. They gave me a list of all the books they had for sale. They had 'Davey Lewis (Robin Hood of Bedford County)' by Ned Frear. I didnt look at it, its farther down my list to purchase. I dont know what it contains but thought I would mention seeing it. To anyone that may be interested....

 

[ArmyOps]

Hey All.....I live two doors down from the Newville Historical Society. I can burn some copies of the map and other info if anyone would like me to send them a copy. I go to Col Denning State park all the time and that is where the flat rock and the doublin gap cave is. Wow, I live right here in the middle of Lewis the Robber's old stompin grounds and didn't even realize that there may still be hidden loot to find. Anyone wana come over this way, let me know.

 

[bjw]

that was great reading. Thanks to all, particularly Jeff, for posting.
BJW

 

[sgtfda]

Lewis was shot and arrested a couple miles north of Driftwood. I have a account of the capture with exact locations.

 

[1liquigirl]

I now live in Milesburg, PA and live 2 blocks from where Davy is buried. I have read everything in the extensive file on him at the Bellefonte Historical Library. I hunt on the mountain behind Bellefonte at a few old foundations as he had worked on a farm on the mountain during the time he had chosen to leave a life of crime. That was short-lived, and during that time as it was written he spent most of his evenings in the local bars in town. I have been granted priviledge by the owner at Indian Caverns to metal detect there tomorrow, August 10th. I will be searching the area of the parking lot, and not in the cave itself because many have tried and came up shorthanded. Just because he said it was buried in a "dank hideout room" does not mean it had to be IN the cave. Seeing the workers coming in and out of the Mill could be it's basement, and old root cellar if it had been a farm at one time, or even a drinking house for the workers of the mill. I was told many mills had them. I told him I didn't believe my detector would pick up anything under asphalt, but I'm sure Sonar would. If anyone knows how to get a hold of that kind of equiptment please notify me. I'm sure the owner would be down with fronting the funds for one. Because, when I mentioned the fact that it may just well be under the parking lot, he stated, "Well, that gives us every reason to dig it up, doesn't it!?" If anyone reads this and has nothing to do tomorrow, you're more than welcome to meet me there. The Caverns open at 11AM and I plan to be there by Noon. The staff are aware of what we are doing so there won't be any harassments. Wish me luck. ~Michelle

 

[deepskyal]

Yes, your detector should go thru asphalt. Parking lots are usually 4 or 5 inches thick...but the fill underneith would kill you if it's slag. And the fill would also be quite a few inches thick to level the ground.

A large metal mass could give you a signal at a foot or so...but good luck anyhow.

The important thing is you got permission. Maybe future hunting around the area will produce other goodies.

Al

 

[BF750]

Hi 1liquigirl,

I always end up a day late and a dollar short. Wish I woud have check this sooner, I would have loved to check that area with you and any others that have shown up. Like Sgtfda, who started his thread. I have the same modded detector with similar results. If you can get permission again, I would enjoy joining you and anybody else for another try at it.

Tony

 

[1liquigirl]

Hello all, to fill you in, I have permission to come back again. I work 2 jobs besides working this hobby, but day trips are not out for me. I do get lucky and get the same day off every once in a while. Deepskyal, you were right, the Garret Ace 250 does work over asphalt. Surprisingly. Most of the area where the mill sat was only on very rocky ground, which took me a while to dig through. Unfortunately, I only hunted for 2 and a half hours there, because my friend that went along for the ride forgot to mention before we left that she had to get back home around 3pm or a little after. Still, on my own during that time, I focused on the rocky ground and pulled up, an old piece of copper pipe, a lighbulb with glass filament still intact, a large piece of iron, that has an angle of 90 degrees (could it be part of Davy's treasure chest!?), an old pottery shard, and a few stones that looked as if they may have been Native American. Plenty more will come on my next trip, I'm sure. There are other high potential spots there, that I didn't attempt on this trip. BF750, I'd be glad to have you join in next time and anyone else who would like to go. I promise to give more advance notice next time.

 

[1liquigirl]

Hey all, just letting you know that myself and a few other TreasureNeters will be enroute to Round 2 of the David Lewis Gold Search on August 31st, this Sunday. We're meeting at the Tee Pee next to the parking lot at 11am. Hope to see more of you with this interest come along, because the more people we have going the more ground we can search. Thanks for reading. ~Michelle

 

[1liquigirl]

I would like to inform all of you in who are interested in this thread on the finds of the August 31st Indian Caverns search. In the small cave approximately a football field away from the main entrance to the cave, we retrieved an intact miner's shovel head and old animal bones. Just inside the main entrance to Indian Caverns, my detector was yelling like crazy in the high end gold range only. The owner informed me that this was not the original main entrance and would have just been a corner of the cave in David Lewis' days. All the old light wiring was run through the old main entrance. He made it clear to me that there was no chance of any wiring under that spot. There was an old dungeon style door to the new main entrance when it first opened, but I had blocked out everything on my detector within the cave except for gold bronze and silver. So whatever it is under there is not the old iron door, or wiring. So what is it? Sonar could help us a bit in trying to solve that mystery. He will dig if we can get a better idea of what it is first. The 3 original rooms that were the only ones present during David's days were searched over with my detector fairly quickly as to not inconvenience staff and the tours that were going on, but this was the spot of most potential. Could he have peered through a hole in the rocks at that very spot to see the Mill workers at their tasks? The floors are mostly all concrete, as this spot is and if it is dug up, the visitors on tour will have to creep over the digging to get into the cave for a tour. The last and final area searched was around a tree near the parking lot, in the old mill territory. What was found under it's roots was a piece that held a leather strap which ran under a horse's underbelly to keep a saddle tight and right next to it, a box made of metal without rust on it. The top is about one foot below the surface of the ground. A tree root about 3 inches in diameter has grown around the box and has a great hold on it. I can not get proper leverage because the roots that had been growing above ground and above it are of greater size. We were running out of light at this point but I will be returning Tuesday around 4pm to get after it with a crowbar and a pick axe instead of just spades and shovels. It is approximately 7 inches wide and a foot long the depth is unknown as I'm having difficulty with the angle in which I have to dig at it due to the roots. The top of the box is either missing or lodged down into the box itself by a few large rocks which are stuck within its top section. I want to remove the whole box without damaging it, if possible. I will let you know of all the latest developments as quickly as I can. ~Michelle

 

[jeff of pa]

you may need to take something to cut the roots.

As for Lewis Using the Main Entrance.
He would have been smarter to Use a less obvious entrance
and probably did.

Good Luck !

you may be on to something.