WARD BASED HIS STORY ON ORIGINAL "THE BEALE PAPERS" PUBLISHED 1850

[Rebel - KGC]

That is a tough one because Paschal Buford's father at one time owned over 6,000 acres in North Goose Creek. He had three other brothers that owned properties in the surrounding areas so you are looking at a possibility of over 24,000 acres to check which is about all of Goose Creek Valley and the mountains surrounding that.

Paschal did sell some land to his brother in law and later they sold it back to him. This property is right at four miles from the town of Montvale or back then Bufford's.

MOST ppl DO look at Buford's Tavern as the "center"... AND! PB also owned FANCY FARM (house... 1822) on Rt. 43 at the base of Peaks of Otter. "Legends" are: "BT" is buried at BOTTOM of Bedford County Lake (now, PRIVATE Property)... VERY near Fancy Farm. AND! Within "4 miles of Buford's" (Fancy Farm) is the "site" of the Lion's Head... on FED LAND (Peaks of Otter); BRP! HA!

 

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[bigscoop]

I think it's best to take the adventure portion of the Beale story with a grain of salt, as it is "unlikely" that all of his companions were from the immediate area, but it is possible that a few "could have been". In the case of this having possibly been the Thomas Beale of PA then this could explain why nobody knew him during his 2 trips to Morriss Inn. For instance, if this is something George Graham arranged during his visits at Galveston Island then it is possible that he would have used something along the lines of "Beale's Sharpshooters" to carry out the transfers. So if this is the case then who were they and where did they all hail from? What happened to "all of them?" On the other hand, if these transfers were arranged through sources at Galveston Island then it is doubtful that they would have used faces well known to the region. But either way, "there had to be a secure location" that was already prearranged. Franklin, I suspect, as you are now curiously entertaining, that the author did indeed have that pamphlet published with the hopes of rattling the bushes, offering just enough to the general public to make for a good treasure tale but offering more then enough to gather the attention of those who knew better. I believe that pamphlet was the bait, a last resort, if you will.

 

[bigscoop]

Maybe Tat will share with you some interesting information in regards to why the mention of "a cave" was possibly made in the Beale adventure portion of the story. The connection, if accurate, which we feel it is, will floor you. If might actually represent the one big tell-tell in the entire pamphlet.

 

[ECS]

WHY WAS THE BEALE PAPERS WRITTEN AND PUBLISHED?

I think it's best to take the adventure portion of the Beale story with a grain of salt ...I suspect that the author did indeed have that pamphlet published with the hopes of rattling the bushes, offering just enough to the general public to make for a good treasure tale but offering more then enough to gather the attention of those who knew better. I believe that pamphlet was the bait, a last resort, if you will.

You brought up a very good point.
It is human nature to have a motive and/or purpose in any endeavour.
Was it bait to gather attention of those in the know?
Was it for a Freemason benefit to aid the victims of the Lynchburg fire?
Was it a western dime novel for profit?
Was it an altruistic aid for intrepid treasure hunters?
Was it a practical joke or hoax?
Time and money were spent in writing and publishing this pamphlet,so what was the end gain for the writer,publisher,and copyright holder?
"There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact"
What was the real motive behind publishing the Beale pamphlet?
Discover the motive and all will become clear.

 

[bigscoop]

You brought up a very good point.
It is human nature to have a motive and/or purpose in any endeavour.
Was it bait to gather attention of those in the know?
Was it for a Freemason benefit to aid the victims of the Lynchburg fire?
Was it a western dime novel for profit?
Was it an altruistic aid for intrepid treasure hunters?
Was it a practical joke or hoax?
Time and money were spent in writing and publishing this pamphlet,so what was the end gain for the writer,publisher,and copyright holder?
"There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact"
What was the real motive behind publishing the Beale pamphlet?
Discover the motive and all will become clear.

Time & cost is an interesting subject in this mystery. When you look at all the ads, the lack of pursued sells once it was published, it makes no sense. I don't think it was ever meant to sell a lot of copies. I think the large number of ads prior to its publishing was enough to draw upon the curiosities of those few where being sought.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Time & cost is an interesting subject in this mystery. When you look at all the ads, the lack of pursued sells once it was published, it makes no sense. I don't think it was ever meant to sell a lot of copies. I think the large number of ads prior to its publishing was enough to draw upon the curiosities of those few where being sought.

Ads...? WHAT ads? NONE found around HERE! NONE!

 

[bigscoop]

Ads...? WHAT ads? NONE found around HERE! NONE!

There were a bunch of published ads for the pamphlet. I don't recall how many right off hand but there were quite a few.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

There were a bunch of published ads for the pamphlet. I don't recall how many right off hand but there were quite a few.

NO copies of ads found in Jones Memorial Library (Lynchburg, VIRGINIA), nor Reference sections in Bedford City/County Library; Bedford City/County Museum. Hmmm...

 

[bigscoop]

NO copies of ads found in Jones Memorial Library (Lynchburg, VIRGINIA), nor Reference sections in Bedford City/County Library; Bedford City/County Museum. Hmmm...

These ads appeared regularly in the newspaper.

 

[bigscoop]

Bigscoop, You are correct. These ads began on April 10, 1885 and April 15, 1885 as a summary of the Job Print Pamphlet. Then it appeared as a block ad about 2 to 4 square inches in every paper six times a week for a duration of about 5 months. I believe the Job Print Pamphlet or something pertaining to the pamphlet appeared 84 times and the block ad whether included in the previous account or not was 31 times. Most attribute this to John WIlliam Sherman that took over as owner of the Newspaper. It did not seem possible that someone else could have afforded to advertise the pamphlet so much because if everyone in Lynchburg bought a copy at 10 cents each it would not have covered the cost of the advertisements. That is the reasons everyone believed that John William Sherman was the author of the Job Print Pamphlet, he had already written about 20 dime novels and published them.

Exactly. The cost over exceeded the value of the product, so who would do that? Regarding the Sherman possibility, space still equated to money so it would have been costing him the same weather it was out of pocket or not. Based on his past experience as an author/book seller, he would have certainly recognized that the cost of those ads far exceeded the potential return on his investment so it is very unlikely that he was the source behind those ads.

 

[ECS]

Time & cost is an interesting subject in this mystery. When you look at all the ads, the lack of pursued sells once it was published, it makes no sense. I don't think it was ever meant to sell a lot of copies. I think the large number of ads prior to its publishing was enough to draw upon the curiosities of those few where being sought.

John William Sherman "owned" the "LYNCHBURG VIRGINIAN",so I doubt he paid for those 84 ads that ran for 5 months.
The original price of the pamphlet was 50 cents,and then lowered to 10 cents,if you follow the ads.The newspaper whent bankrupt under Sherman's ownership.
During the period of 1870-1885,the "LYNCHBURG VIRGINIAN" ran many stories of the gold and silver discoveries in Colorado,and stories of jewelry found on old farms.
One such story appeared in the "LYNCHBURG VIRGINIAN",April 16,1879 which was about the hidden treasure of Robert O Willis who hid $65,000 worth of gold,silver,and jewelry in a Kentucky cave.Parts of this story were incorporated into the Beale tale.
Also during 1881-1886,Sherman had written many western dime novels,several including treasure.
If the Beale treasure existed outside of the Beale pamphlet,why did John William Sherman and/or J B Ward never search for it?
That answer is very obvious.

 

[bigscoop]

John William Sherman "owned" the "LYNCHBURG VIRGINIAN",so I doubt he paid for those 84 ads that ran for 5 months.
The original price of the pamphlet was 50 cents,and then lowered to 10 cents,if you follow the ads.The newspaper whent bankrupt under Sherman's ownership.
During the period of 1870-1885,the "LYNCHBURG VIRGINIAN" ran many stories of the gold and silver discoveries in Colorado,and stories of jewelry found on old farms.
One such story appeared in the "LYNCHBURG VIRGINIAN",April 16,1879 which was about the hidden treasure of Robert O Willis who hid $65,000 worth of gold,silver,and jewelry in a Kentucky cave.Parts of this story were incorporated into the Beale tale.
Also during 1881-1886,Sherman had written many western dime novels,several including treasure.
If the Beale treasure existed outside of the Beale pamphlet,why did John William Sherman and/or J B Ward never search for it?
That answer is very obvious.

If you're so convinced the Beale story was "a very obvious" dime novel then why are you still entertaining these other possibilities? If I was that convinced I'd quickly put it to bed and move on to something else, just as I had previously done once before. The one thing I find so curious about the "dime novel" advocates is that many of them feel compelled to create extremely complicated solutions in regards to why & how the "simple dime novel" was written/constructed. Clearly there are uncertain issues and mysteries and details within the tale that drive them to seek such creative resolutions.
"Very obvious"... apparently not.

PS: Space is money, just as floor space in a retail store is money. In 1885 you didn't just push the print tab on your digital printer, there were no digital files. Those ads required a lot of labor and space = $$$. And since you seem to enjoy quotes, "Obvious is often the grandest illusion."

 

[bigscoop]

Below is an excerpt from the original pamphlet, in it the author is telling us that he had no difficulty in mastering C2 “and the others” but that some “seemingly unintelligible writing” still eluded him. He also explains his reasons for producing the pamphlet. Given that he has already confided that he has solved all the ciphers it is most likely that he did not possess the critical keyword list for the 19 four digit codes in C1.

“It would be difficult to portray the delight he experienced when accident revealed to him the explanation of the paper marked "2." Unmeaning, as this had hitherto been, it was now fully explained, and no difficulty was apprehended in mastering the others; but this accident, affording so much pleasure at the time, was a most unfortunate one for him, as it induced him to neglect family, friends, and all legitimate pursuits for what has proved, so far, the veriest illusion.

It will be seen by a perusal of Mr. Beale's letter to Mr. Morriss that he promised, under certain contingencies, such as failure to see or communicate with him in a given time, to furnish a key by which the papers would be fully explained. As the failure to do either actually occurred, and the promised explanation has never been received, it may possibly remain in the hands of some relative or friend of Beale's, or some other person engaged in the enterprise with him. That they would attach no importance to a seemingly unintelligible writing seems quite natural; but their attention being called to them by the publication of this narrative, may result in eventually bringing to light the missing paper.”

THE LOCALITY OF THE VAULT

71, 194, 38, 1701, 89, 76, 11, 83, 1629, 48, 94, 63, 132, 16, 111, 95, 84, 341, 975, 14, 40, 64, 27, 81, 139, 213, 63, 90, 1120, 8, 15, 3, 126, 2018, 40, 74, 758, 485, 604, 230, 436, 664, 582, 150, 251, 284, 308, 231, 124, 211, 486, 225, 401, 370, 11, 101, 305, 139, 189, 17, 33, 88, 208, 193, 145, 1, 94, 73, 416, 918, 263, 28, 500, 538, 356, 117, 136, 219, 27, 176, 130, 10, 460, 25, 485, 18, 436, 65, 84, 200, 283, 118, 320, 138, 36, 416, 280, 15, 71, 224, 961, 44, 16, 401, 39, 88, 61, 304, 12, 21, 24, 283, 134, 92, 63, 246, 486, 682, 7, 219, 184, 360, 780, 18, 64, 463, 474, 131, 160, 79, 73, 440, 95, 18, 64, 581, 34, 69, 128, 367, 460, 17, 81, 12, 103, 820, 62, 116, 97, 103, 862, 70, 60, 1317, 471, 540, 208, 121, 890, 346, 36, 150, 59, 568, 614, 13, 120, 63, 219, 812, 2160, 1780, 99, 35, 18, 21, 136, 872, 15, 28, 170, 88, 4, 30, 44, 112, 18, 147, 436, 195, 320, 37, 122, 113, 6, 140, 8, 120, 305, 42, 58, 461, 44, 106, 301, 13, 408, 680, 93, 86, 116, 530, 82, 568, 9, 102, 38, 416, 89, 71, 216, 728, 965, 818, 2, 38, 121, 195, 14, 326, 148, 234, 18, 55, 131, 234, 361, 824, 5, 81, 623, 48, 961, 19, 26, 33, 10, 1101, 365, 92, 88, 181, 275, 346, 201, 206, 86, 36, 219, 324, 829, 840, 64, 326, 19, 48, 122, 85, 216, 284, 919, 861, 326, 985, 233, 64, 68, 232, 431, 960, 50, 29, 81, 216, 321, 603, 14, 612, 81, 360, 36, 51, 62, 194, 78, 60, 200, 314, 676, 112, 4, 28, 18, 61, 136, 247, 819, 921, 1060, 464, 895, 10, 6, 66, 119, 38, 41, 49, 602, 423, 962, 302, 294, 875, 78, 14, 23, 111, 109, 62, 31, 501, 823, 216, 280, 34, 24, 150, 1000, 162, 286, 19, 21, 17, 340, 19, 242, 31, 86, 234, 140, 607, 115, 33, 191, 67, 104, 86, 52, 88, 16, 80, 121, 67, 95, 122, 216, 548, 96, 11, 201, 77, 364, 218, 65, 667, 890, 236, 154, 211, 10, 98, 34, 119, 56, 216, 119, 71, 218, 1164, 1496, 1817, 51, 39, 210, 36, 3, 19, 540, 232, 22, 141, 617, 84, 290, 80, 46, 207, 411, 150, 29, 38, 46, 172, 85, 194, 39, 261, 543, 897, 624, 18, 212, 416, 127, 931, 19, 4, 63, 96, 12, 101, 418, 16, 140, 230, 460, 538, 19, 27, 88, 612, 1431, 90, 716, 275, 74, 83, 11, 426, 89, 72, 84, 1300, 1706, 814, 221, 132, 40, 102, 34, 868, 975, 1101, 84, 16, 79, 23, 16, 81, 122, 324, 403, 912, 227, 936, 447, 55, 86, 34, 43, 212, 107, 96, 314, 264, 1065, 323, 428, 601, 203, 124, 95, 216, 814, 2906, 654, 820, 2, 301, 112, 176, 213, 71, 87, 96, 202, 35, 10, 2, 41, 17, 84, 221, 736, 820, 214, 11, 60, 760.

Notes:
"unintelligible writing"...this would not be an intelligible writing, such as a text, etc.
"the missing paper"....singular.

This is for ECS - the author has obviously detailed what he is looking for, why, and his exact reasons for producing the pamphlet. And if you'll compare the writing style of Sherman's other works to the style of the Beale pamphlet you'll discover that there is a huge difference in those styles. So one could easily conclude, just as Sherlock might, that it is quite obvious that Sherman didn't pen the Beale Pamphlet.

 

[ECS]

If you're so convinced the Beale story was "a very obvious" dime novel then why are you still entertaining these other possibilities?... The one thing I find so curious about the "dime novel" advocates is that many of them feel compelled to create extremely complicated solutions in regards to why & how the "simple dime novel" was written/constructed. Clearly there are uncertain issues and mysteries and details within the tale that drive them to seek such creative resolutions.

I did not propose an "extremely complicated solution to the why and how" it was written,just that the "LYNCHBURG VIRGINIAN" was failing under Sherman,who was in debt.It would seem to be a last ditch effort by Ward & Sherman to keep the newspaper afloat as the motive for writing,copyrighting,and publishing the pamphlet.
You do realize that Sherman wrote 9 western with treasure dime novels,and two of those included a cipher."THE BEALE PAPERS" would make that count 10.I can list the names and publication dates if you wish.
Another aspect of the western dime novels of the period was to use REAL persons in these tales of adventure,such as Kit Carson,Danial Boone,Wyatt Earp,Billy the Kid,etc,though the tales and events in these dime novels NEVER happened.
Did Sherman use local names and locations that would be known to his prospective clientele?Very probable.
The 2 reviews and 84 ads that ran for 5 months were ONLY in the "LYNCHBURG VIRGINIAN".
If Ward/Sherman wanted the attention of "those in the know",would they have not advertised in Baltimore,Philadelphia,or even Bordertown?
Now for "entertaining other possibilities",something was going on with Lafitte,Girard,Lallemand,and Bonaparte,but I do not see any direct connection to the Beale story,only circumstantial speculation.
If you have a direct connection,please share it with us.

 

[bigscoop]

I
If Ward/Sherman wanted the attention of "those in the know",would they have not advertised in Baltimore,Philadelphia,or even Bordertown?

Of course, here again, you're speculating that Ward/Sherman were the ones making those decisions.

"You do realize that Sherman wrote 9 western with treasure dime novels,and two of those included a cipher."THE BEALE PAPERS" would make that count 10." I am well aware of this, and the other information you have you presented. Seems Mr. Sherman had a long running personal fascination with treasure & ciphers. "Mr. Sherman".....where do we know that name? Ah, yes, but that would take us back to Lafitte, Girard, Lallemand, Bonaparte, and an event at Galveston Island that had to do with a standing promise concerning a secret distribution of gold.

 

[bigscoop]

Here is a little something that might be worth checking into: We know James Beverly Ward filed for a copyright of the Job Print Pamphlet about the treasure buried in Bedford County, Could Sherman have filed for a copyright on his dime novels and just possibly could the Beale Treasure be copyrighted under his name also

According to a website on John William Sherman on Page 24 it lists the names of at least 20 known dime novels by John William Sherman five of these have not been found. They also have the front covers of some of the dime novels photos and where you can read them word for word. I can't copy and paste so if you find them post them for everyone else. Thanks. If you can get into the Library of Congress' copyrights maybe you find out if Sherman copyrighted any of these dime novels and just maybe the Beale Treasure was one of them?

Sherman was obsessed with the though of buried treasure and ciphers, treasure being the core subject to many of his writings. This fascination, or obsession, with codes and numbers accompanied him right up to his death. I still believe, based on everything I have researched, that our finding and isolating of Laffite's "Mr. Sherman" will help provide the missing link to the story. However, thus far, establishing his exact identity has proven to be a very elusive task.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

BEALE'S RIFLES was the "unit" from Bedford, VIRGINIA... according to Peter Viemeister. Ppl from L'burg, Va. also joined... they WALKED/MARCHED to New Orleans and back. In New Orleans, known as ORLEANS RIFLE COMPANY.

 

[bigscoop]

Going to share something with you guys that I've not yet shared, mainly because I'm not yet clear on all the details, but I think I can tell you this much as I'm pretty certain it is accurate.

The first transfer took place along a well established and known route, however, the second transfer required a more direct route due to all the insurgents, traders, parties, speculators, etc., that were now traveling the region. This other route required that the party make the trek across some underbidding lands, hence the reason the author makes mention of "Beale's" apparent, "darker and swarthier appearance, as if much exposure to the sun.." when he saw him again. From this information we can start to gather a lot of insight into how well prepared this enterprise was.

And, I think I can also tell you that the party was called on once a transfer was ready for shipment.

 

[ECS]

The mention of a WARD and SHERMAN at Galveston in Lafitte's memoirs is indeed intriguing,but they would have been too old to have been the Ward/Sherman of the "BEALE PAPERS".
Can a connection be made?

 

[bigscoop]

The mention of a WARD and SHERMAN at Galveston in Lafitte's memoirs is indeed intriguing,but they would have been too old to have been the Ward/Sherman of the "BEALE PAPERS".
Can a connection be made?

I suspect Sherman was, perhaps, just a descendent of the Mr. Sherman at Galveston. Another possibility that I still need to look into is a possible connection/relationship to the C. Sherman Printing Co. So much to do, so little time.