Confederate Gold, North Florida

[achanceforgold]

This may have been answered.
And I am paraphrasing from memory.

But just before Jefferson Davis was captured in South Georgia.
A group of Soldiers split away from him and his wife so that the number of people moving in the group would be smaller.
They crossed into Florida and a few days later heard that Jeff Davis was captured.
They found refuge by the wife if a plantation owner how was sympathetic to the confederacy.

As the commander of the group told the story later, he and his men split some of the gold, gave some to the plantation owners wife, set some aside for Mrs. Davis the president's wife and hide the rest. As the commander told the story, they hide the money in the horse stable. so that the horse would trample down any evidence of disturbance that and along with the hay and horse droppings should keep the gold hidden.

Does anyone know if that Gold was ever recovered?

 

[Michael Karpovage]

This may have been answered.
And I am paraphrasing from memory.

But just before Jefferson Davis was captured in South Georgia.
A group of Soldiers split away from him and his wife so that the number of people moving in the group would be smaller.
They crossed into Florida and a few days later heard that Jeff Davis was captured.
They found refuge by the wife if a plantation owner how was sympathetic to the confederacy.

As the commander of the group told the story later, he and his men split some of the gold, gave some to the plantation owners wife, set some aside for Mrs. Davis the president's wife and hide the rest. As the commander told the story, they hide the money in the horse stable. so that the horse would trample down any evidence of disturbance that and along with the hay and horse droppings should keep the gold hidden.

Does anyone know if that Gold was ever recovered?

From the book 1938 book Flight Into Oblivion by AJ Hanna, this event happened between May 19-23, 1865 on the "Cotton Wood" plantation of David L. Yulee, at the present day town of Archer, Florida, southwest of Gainesville, Florida. Their party arrived with an excess of $25,000 in gold sovereigns, but after expenses, $18,930 was divided out between members of the party and they dispersed. The remainder (book says $6,790 – approximately a quantity of 1,400 gold sovereigns) was retained by Captain Watson Van Benthuysen and to be used to support Mrs. Davis and her children). Jeff Davis's baggage and papers were given to the beautiful Mrs. Yulee to hide in the absence of her husband. She entrusted her 15 year old son, C. Wickliffe Yulee, to perform the task of 'secreting' Davis's personal property and what was left of the CSA treasury ($20,000 in Confederate paper money). So, what I am summarizing is no gold coins were buried in this original stash.

Lieutenant John S. Purviance, a member of the fleeing party, assisted the teenager. The items were buried in one trunk and two chests at midnight in a cow stable, and yes, within a few hours there was no trace anything was buried there.

However, when David Yulee arrived back home, he directed that the items be dug up and transfered with a Mr. Meader in safekeeping to Waldo, FL, where they were placed in the care of M. A. Williams, the agent in charge of the Yulee owned railroad there. The negroes of Davis's original party gave up the plans when Federals soon arrived in the vicinity. They told Union troops that they were at the Yulee plantation. Federals went there, pressured Mrs. Yulee and she gave up the location of Waldo. When in Waldo the troops found the two chests and one trunk "unguarded by even a lock" in a storeroom adjoining the home of agent Williams. The chest and two trunks were transported by U.S. Colored troops to Jacksonville where they were then examined of the contents. Which was a huge list of personal items – and the $20k in CSA paper money. No gold.

Captain Watson Van Benthuysen had the 1,400 gold coins in his possession at the Yulee plantation, we know that. Don't know his story from there. But in 1867 Davis wrote a letter or an order to Watson Van Benthuysen (of Montreal, Canada) telling him to pay $5,000 "in gold coins" remaining from May 1865 to his attorney, Henry J. Leovy, to help cover legal expenses against the charge of treason.

Damn, that was fun rereading all that again!! I had forgotten so much! Glad I could offer you this information. I have a rare first edition of this book. See if you can locate yourself one. I had to go through a rare books dealer.

Michael

 

[sdcfia]

Flight Into Oblivion

 

[achanceforgold]

From the book 1938 book Flight Into Oblivion by AJ Hanna, this event happened between May 19-23, 1865 on the "Cotton Wood" plantation of David L. Yulee, at the present day town of Archer, Florida, southwest of Gainesville, Florida. Their party arrived with an excess of $25,000 in gold sovereigns, but after expenses, $18,930 was divided out between members of the party and they dispersed. The remainder (book says $6,790 – approximately a quantity of 1,400 gold sovereigns) was retained by Captain Watson Van Benthuysen and to be used to support Mrs. Davis and her children). Jeff Davis's baggage and papers were given to the beautiful Mrs. Yulee to hide in the absence of her husband. She entrusted her 15 year old son, C. Wickliffe Yulee, to perform the task of 'secreting' Davis's personal property and what was left of the CSA treasury ($20,000 in Confederate paper money). So, what I am summarizing is no gold coins were buried in this original stash.

Lieutenant John S. Purviance, a member of the fleeing party, assisted the teenager. The items were buried in one trunk and two chests at midnight in a cow stable, and yes, within a few hours there was no trace anything was buried there.

However, when David Yulee arrived back home, he directed that the items be dug up and transfered with a Mr. Meader in safekeeping to Waldo, FL, where they were placed in the care of M. A. Williams, the agent in charge of the Yulee owned railroad there. The negroes of Davis's original party gave up the plans when Federals soon arrived in the vicinity. They told Union troops that they were at the Yulee plantation. Federals went there, pressured Mrs. Yulee and she gave up the location of Waldo. When in Waldo the troops found the two chests and one trunk "unguarded by even a lock" in a storeroom adjoining the home of agent Williams. The chest and two trunks were transported by U.S. Colored troops to Jacksonville where they were then examined of the contents. Which was a huge list of personal items – and the $20k in CSA paper money. No gold.

Captain Watson Van Benthuysen had the 1,400 gold coins in his possession at the Yulee plantation, we know that. Don't know his story from there. But in 1867 Davis wrote a letter or an order to Watson Van Benthuysen (of Montreal, Canada) telling him to pay $5,000 "in gold coins" remaining from May 1865 to his attorney, Henry J. Leovy, to help cover legal expenses against the charge of treason.

Damn, that was fun rereading all that again!! I had forgotten so much! Glad I could offer you this information. I have a rare first edition of this book. See if you can locate yourself one. I had to go through a rare books dealer.

Michael

Super Fantastic research and information sir.

One of these days I'm just going to go double check the barn area.
I thought that was an ingenious way to cover up a dig and hiding a treasure.

 

[Michael Karpovage]

Super Fantastic research and information sir.

One of these days I'm just going to go double check the barn area.
I thought that was an ingenious way to cover up a dig and hiding a treasure.

I'm going to private message you as I, too, hunt in Georgia and Florida. I actually just purchased some land not too far from Archer and all those little towns around the Suwanee River where the last of the CSA escaped through.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Anyone interested in this topic might want to look at one of my posts from several years ago:

Thread 'Lost Confederate Treasure - An Annotated Bibliography'

Feb 25, 2018

Yarns about lost Confederate gold, “the treasure train,” the stolen Confederate Treasury, etc., have been circulating since April 1865. Secretary of War Stanton wanted the Union army to find Jefferson Davis when he fled south from Richmond, supposed to be carrying $3 Million to $5 Million in gold. The Union generals were more concerned with ending the War.

As is true with almost any war, some money was plundered. And most of that promptly spent. Probably there are small plants here and there waiting to be found. The collector value of the “specie” (coin – in the 19[SUP]th[/SUP]...

• Old Bookaroo
• confederate treasure confederate treasury lost gold treasure train
• Replies: 9
• Forum: Treasure Legends

• 
• 

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[achanceforgold]

Anyone interested in this topic might want to look at one of my posts from several years ago:

Thread 'Lost Confederate Treasure - An Annotated Bibliography'

Feb 25, 2018

Yarns about lost Confederate gold, “the treasure train,” the stolen Confederate Treasury, etc., have been circulating since April 1865. Secretary of War Stanton wanted the Union army to find Jefferson Davis when he fled south from Richmond, supposed to be carrying $3 Million to $5 Million in gold. The Union generals were more concerned with ending the War.

As is true with almost any war, some money was plundered. And most of that promptly spent. Probably there are small plants here and there waiting to be found. The collector value of the “specie” (coin – in the 19[SUP]th[/SUP]...

• Old Bookaroo
• confederate treasure confederate treasury lost gold treasure train
• Replies: 9
• Forum: Treasure Legends

• 
• 

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

First of all, great information in your post.
Lots of good reference material.


Second, I'm going to throw a theory out to you guys.
You all have done far more research on this than I have.

Yes, the Confederate treasury was broke. But the South wasn't poor.
There were thousands of gold mines and three mints.
Charolette, Dahlonega and New Orleans.

When Davis and the Gold left Richmond, they headed to Charolette
Then traveled to Fort Mills and Yorkville South Carolina.
Headed down to Abbeville SC and the crossed south and headed to Washington Ga.
Where they do a final split of Gold to some people and headed to Abbeville Ga.
the supposed documented route:

I've heard, when the Union Soldiers did finally get to Charolette, the mint was empty.
Now each Gold mine would process their gold and send it to the mint. Where they would get paid based on its weight then the gold would be coined. So, the Gold mines themselves would have had a lot of processed gold that hadn't been shipped to the mint yet.

Here is Jefferson Davis's route compared to the USGS known Gold mines.
Starting in Charolette, each box and circle is a known Gold mine.
And I've found other gold mines that aren't listed with the USGS.
That Don't appear on this map.

What if they were gathering gold along the way also?
Un-coined gold.
It's a strange route they took.
Why go from Charolette to Fort Mills? "Gold Hill, Fort Mills"
then to Yorkville, now York, was it because all the gold from that area could be accumulated at Yorkville?
Why head to Abbeville SC then Washington Ga.
They could have easily made a B-line straight down to Fort Lauderdale Florida for Jefferson to take a boat to England.
So, my theory is they were gathering gold.
Southern miners had a choice, give the gold to the Confederacy or lose it to the Union troops that were coming.


I know the Whole "Southern Gentleman" role plays well to northerners. Honor, Integrity, etc. etc.
I've lived in the South since 1969. People are People. They may be smiling at you in the south, but they will still stick a knife into you just the same as anywhere else. They just smile and are nice to you while they're doing it in the South.

Your Thoughts?

And another thought/Question.
Why did Captain Watson Van Benthuysen head to the Yulee plantation?
This is in no way in route to Fort Lauderdale, where Davis was supposed to get on a steamboat to England.

 

[Crow]

Hello Advance for gold

Here is more detailed look on Georgia's gold belt.

Gold belt

For me I suspect it is not the confederacy where the best prospects lie. But in dying days of a lost cause many of plantation owners buried their personal gold reserves kept from confederacy. Many of those large slave owning plantations no longer exist.Yet there is the possibility of hidden gold money caches where these plantations existed.

Crow

 

[achanceforgold]

Thanks Mr. Crow,

You have a very skillful brain. Chance has been trying to search on former plantation in these areas.
But he keeps getting rained out. This weekend again, Thunderstorms are supposed to be rolling through.
The red circles show Chance's target areas.
Georgia:

South Carolina:

Both of the men who owned large portions of these areas mined gold and farmed the land.
Using slave labor of course. They both were some of the wealthiest men in the south before the war.
Each was wealthy enough to fund their own regiments of confederate troops during the war.
One of the men, William Dorn, who funded the Fifteenth South Carolina Infantry Regiment ("Dorn's Invincibles"), actually claims his Foxhound dogs found his gold mines for him. He had several mines in South Carolina.
(This is where I got the idea to test Chance's gold sniffing ability. From Dorn's dogs. It is possible for dogs to scent detect the gold sulfide.)

Both men's property covered a large area of those gold belt sites, where they both mined and farmed.
And both claimed extreme poverty after the war. They said they gave all their money to the confederacy.

I don't believe it. That they gave all their money away. Large amounts, yes. All of it. No.
So Chance is sniffing out their old mines and property in the hopes of finding either unknown buried nuggets or hidden gold in the area.

If anybody can find the gold, Chance can. He's become quite skillful in scent detecting large areas.

There is small gold flakes in the scent container next to Chance

So if there is gold or silver on the properties.
I think we are going to find it.

 

[Crow]

Some good research definitely wort further investigation.

A novel approach using a dog. They will be great company in searches and wish you the best. But I would not rely on search to its entirety to just using a dog. Gold is odourless. Gold itself does not have a distinct smell.

Due to its sulfur content, pyrite may emit a faint sulfuric or 'bad egg' smell when struck or scratched. However, pyrite, which is often mistaken for gold, can have a faint sulfuric or "rotten egg" smell, especially when scratched or struck. This is because pyrite is an iron sulfide mineral, meaning it contains sulfur.

However some Gold deposits that contain both real gold and pyrite (fool's gold) are not uncommon, and the two minerals can be found associated with each other in various geological settings. Pyrite, while often a "fool's gold" mimic, can sometimes also contain traces of real gold, and the presence of one can often be an indicator of the other.

Carlin-type gold deposits are a unique type of gold deposit characterized by disseminated gold within sedimentary rocks, particularly in the form of invisible, microscopic particles. These deposits are commonly found in sedimentary basins and are associated with specific geological features like thrust faults and permeable, reactive rocks. The gold is often locked within pyrite and arsenopyrite, making it difficult to detect without specialized analysis. In essence, while pyrite itself isn't gold, its presence can be a valuable clue for finding real gold and can also contain some gold itself. The two minerals are often linked in the geological processes that form gold deposits.

However In Georgia a region known for high-purity gold (near 24 karat) like the one found below. found in eroded rock and quartz veins, gold deposits are primarily of two types: lode deposits and placer deposits. Lode deposits consist of quartz veins within solid rock, while placer deposits are gold-bearing sands and gravels in stream valleys, derived from the erosion of lode deposits. Quartz Veins: Gold is found within quartz veins that cut through the rock or placer deposits. Stream Valleys: Gold is found in the form of gold-bearing sands and gravels that have been transported by streams. Placer deposits are formed by the weathering and erosion of lode deposits. You might get lucky like finder below.

I would be looking for quartz to see if there is an traces of gold. And be search for tell tale mine shafts like the one below.

Old house foundation of original plantation house. old fence lines post hole caches. cellar holes. Any more detailed maps of plantation house might help also to narrow down search areas. Many gold coinage from the day may have been hoarded and buried with in sight of the plantations houses masters bedroom. Hidden from both Armies and never recovered. And pre-civil war maps you can get your hands on might be of help also. Foundations may be very meager but certain detecting in vicinity like the foundations below of a former plantation house.

Hopefully the weather will dry out and you will have fun.


Cheers Crow

 

[achanceforgold]

Some good research definitely wort further investigation.

A novel approach using a dog. They will be great company in searches and wish you the best. But I would not rely on search to its entirety to just using a dog. Gold is odourless. Gold itself does not have a distinct smell.

Due to its sulfur content, pyrite may emit a faint sulfuric or 'bad egg' smell when struck or scratched. However, pyrite, which is often mistaken for gold, can have a faint sulfuric or "rotten egg" smell, especially when scratched or struck. This is because pyrite is an iron sulfide mineral, meaning it contains sulfur.

However some Gold deposits that contain both real gold and pyrite (fool's gold) are not uncommon, and the two minerals can be found associated with each other in various geological settings. Pyrite, while often a "fool's gold" mimic, can sometimes also contain traces of real gold, and the presence of one can often be an indicator of the other.

Carlin-type gold deposits are a unique type of gold deposit characterized by disseminated gold within sedimentary rocks, particularly in the form of invisible, microscopic particles. These deposits are commonly found in sedimentary basins and are associated with specific geological features like thrust faults and permeable, reactive rocks. The gold is often locked within pyrite and arsenopyrite, making it difficult to detect without specialized analysis. In essence, while pyrite itself isn't gold, its presence can be a valuable clue for finding real gold and can also contain some gold itself. The two minerals are often linked in the geological processes that form gold deposits.

However In Georgia a region known for high-purity gold (near 24 karat) like the one found below. found in eroded rock and quartz veins, gold deposits are primarily of two types: lode deposits and placer deposits. Lode deposits consist of quartz veins within solid rock, while placer deposits are gold-bearing sands and gravels in stream valleys, derived from the erosion of lode deposits. Quartz Veins: Gold is found within quartz veins that cut through the rock or placer deposits. Stream Valleys: Gold is found in the form of gold-bearing sands and gravels that have been transported by streams. Placer deposits are formed by the weathering and erosion of lode deposits. You might get lucky like finder below.

View attachment 2210457

I would be looking for quartz to see if there is an traces of gold. And be search for tell tale mine shafts like the one below.

View attachment 2210452

Old house foundation of original plantation house. old fence lines post hole caches. cellar holes. Any more detailed maps of plantation house might help also to narrow down search areas. Many gold coinage from the day may have been hoarded and buried with in sight of the plantations houses masters bedroom. Hidden from both Armies and never recovered. And pre-civil war maps you can get your hands on might be of help also. Foundations may be very meager but certain detecting in vicinity like the foundations below of a former plantation house.

View attachment 2210456

Hopefully the weather will dry out and you will have fun.


Cheers Crow

You are very correct sir.
A dog can't smell the gold or silver.
At least that we know of.

What they are scent detecting is the gold sulfide and silver sulfide.
Dogs have the ability to distinguish between the metal sulfides.
How? To tell you the truth, researchers are still wondering.
But it's not just the sulfide scent they detect; it is the actual metal itself plus the sulfide.

So Chance has been trained to discriminate between the different metal sulfides.
Chalcocite (Copper sulfide), Pyrite (Iron Sulfide), Galena (Lead Sulfide) Arsenopyrite, and several others.
Plus, countless of other distraction odors. Deer poop, chocolate, squirrel bones, etc.

Silver Sulfide (Tarnish) was quite easy for him to distinguish. With-in a day he could easily pick out silver compared to other scents.
Gold Sulfide took a few weeks. It must have a much fainter scent to dogs.
Here is an old video from about 7 months ago.
Chance is picking out a scent container with a gold coin compared with other containers that had distraction scents in them, Iron, Zinc, etc.


Since that time 7 months ago. Chance has been homing his skills.
Winter and work restricted us from traveling to sites to explore.
And lately the rain has been stopping our searches.

But last week we came across an old mine site that wasn't listed.
Unfortunately, Chance was exhausted by the time we got to it.
So, I had planned to revisit the site the next.
Then a massive thunderstorm came through during the night, so we had to bail out of the tent and get out of the woods before I got stuck in the mud.

But the site is full of quartz deposits that is in several piles throughout the woods in the area one of those plantation owners owned.

later I found a sketched map of the area we were exploring that shows it was a mine locate
A location that isn't listed by the USGS. So, I assume it hasn't been explored much.

All those mines were owned by one plantation owner. I also have the approximate location of his house. So Chance will be able to search the old plantation grounds. The house or any remnants of it aren't there.
But chance is quick in his scent detection and can scan a large area a heck of a lot quicker than I can.

Here he is in the training exercise locating some gold in the scent container I show above.



Chance isn't perfect. He will sometimes trigger on zinc. Not sure why yet.
And sometimes he just gets lazy and wants a treat, so he'll trigger on a non-gold or silver object.
maybe once out of every twenty or thirty times.

He's an experiment in the works.
I'm using "Prospecting Dog" training developed by Finland by their government to find Iron Ore.
Also, a Swedish geologist did quite a bit of work with a "Prospecting Dog" named Rex.

But the goal is for Chance to tell me where a bunch of these are.

😁
Hopefully!

 

[achanceforgold]

From the book 1938 book Flight Into Oblivion by AJ Hanna, this event happened between May 19-23, 1865 on the "Cotton Wood" plantation of David L. Yulee, at the present day town of Archer, Florida, southwest of Gainesville, Florida. Their party arrived with an excess of $25,000 in gold sovereigns, but after expenses, $18,930 was divided out between members of the party and they dispersed. The remainder (book says $6,790 – approximately a quantity of 1,400 gold sovereigns) was retained by Captain Watson Van Benthuysen and to be used to support Mrs. Davis and her children). Jeff Davis's baggage and papers were given to the beautiful Mrs. Yulee to hide in the absence of her husband. She entrusted her 15 year old son, C. Wickliffe Yulee, to perform the task of 'secreting' Davis's personal property and what was left of the CSA treasury ($20,000 in Confederate paper money). So, what I am summarizing is no gold coins were buried in this original stash.

Lieutenant John S. Purviance, a member of the fleeing party, assisted the teenager. The items were buried in one trunk and two chests at midnight in a cow stable, and yes, within a few hours there was no trace anything was buried there.

However, when David Yulee arrived back home, he directed that the items be dug up and transfered with a Mr. Meader in safekeeping to Waldo, FL, where they were placed in the care of M. A. Williams, the agent in charge of the Yulee owned railroad there. The negroes of Davis's original party gave up the plans when Federals soon arrived in the vicinity. They told Union troops that they were at the Yulee plantation. Federals went there, pressured Mrs. Yulee and she gave up the location of Waldo. When in Waldo the troops found the two chests and one trunk "unguarded by even a lock" in a storeroom adjoining the home of agent Williams. The chest and two trunks were transported by U.S. Colored troops to Jacksonville where they were then examined of the contents. Which was a huge list of personal items – and the $20k in CSA paper money. No gold.

Captain Watson Van Benthuysen had the 1,400 gold coins in his possession at the Yulee plantation, we know that. Don't know his story from there. But in 1867 Davis wrote a letter or an order to Watson Van Benthuysen (of Montreal, Canada) telling him to pay $5,000 "in gold coins" remaining from May 1865 to his attorney, Henry J. Leovy, to help cover legal expenses against the charge of treason.

Damn, that was fun rereading all that again!! I had forgotten so much! Glad I could offer you this information. I have a rare first edition of this book. See if you can locate yourself one. I had to go through a rare books dealer.

Michael

Okay Mr. Micheal,

I'm the type to look at a story and evaluate if it makes sense.
Yesterday, after I had visited the site of Jeff Davis's capture, it dawned on me.
Something in the story doesn't make sense.

Why keep 20,000 dollars in confederate money. By this time everyone must have realized it was toilet paper.
Not only did they keep it they buried it, unburied it, hide it in a chest, sent it to the rail station.
Then Union troops took it to Jacksonville. It's worthless.

That doesn't make sense.

Oh, by the way, I'm not sure how far you are from Irwinville, Where Jeff Davis was captured.
But I have a lead for you.
Chance triggered on a target. Three times.
The information is in this post about Chances visit there.
https://www.treasurenet.com/threads/the-adventures-of-chance-the-prospecting-dog.710974/
I'm pretty confident something is there.