Elwood Indiana Civil War Cache

[jeff of pa]

The morning call. (San Francisco [Calif.]), 03 Dec. 1894.



The morning call. (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, December 03, 1894, Page 5, Image 5 « Chronicling America « Library of Congress

 

[junior967]

The problem I have with this story is the location. Elwood Indiana is NE of Indianapolis. Morgan's Raid through Indiana took him in the lower Southern area. No where near Indianapolis or areas above that. He turned East towards Ohio because troops had been dispatched out of Indianapolis to intercept Morgan while he was on his way North. They never came within a few hundred miles of Elwood.

 

[wingmaster]

They wouldn't have known where he was heading to or where he was going to end up. HH

 

[junior967]

Actually the newspapers of the day were publishing daily the location of Morgan and his troops and what towns had been raided and about the Union troops that were sent from Indianapolis. So people were informed of the area he was in and could tell which direction he was head by the newspaper articles.

 

[Michael Gerald]

You all might consider instead of Elwood Indiana (near Indianapolis, where the Union troops were probably from when governor Morton ordered Indiana troops to defend against Morgan) it could be Elmwood Place Ohio, which is directly on the trail of Morgan’s raid between Hamilton and Cincinnati Ohio (depending on which map of the trail you look at). Any “Jasper Denny” owning property in Butler or Hamilton county Ohio in the late 1800s?

 

[Peyton Manning]

Soooo you’re saying this is fake news

 

[Tiredman]

And maybe they hide it from Union troops.

 

[Michael Gerald]

No, I don’t think it’s fake news, I think it’s poorly written. I also don’t think a San Francisco newspaper cares if it’s Elwood Indiana or Elmwood Ohio, I understand why they dropped the “Place”. A corroborating news article or a research discovery of where Jasper Denny owned land would further this story for you researchers in the Ohio Indiana Kentucky tri-state area.

 

[jeff of pa]

Only other Mention
of Jasper Denny within the Time Period 1890-1900

The Salt Lake herald. (Salt Lake City [Utah), 02 Dec. 1894.



https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/...enny&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1

A Local Search For Jasper's Property at That Time
Would confirm What State they were Searching .

Perhaps they were searching the Wrong State.

No Doesn't make it Fake News, Just Maybe would have made it Bad Research at The time.
IF It Wasn't on Jasper's Land, Which I would think would be More likely the Error then The Reporters.

In other Words I Do think they were searching in Indiana.

I don't know the Treasure Was / Is in Indiana or Ohio.
Maybe they did

 

[jeff of pa]

1888 Paper Confirms a Jasper Denny in Indiana

View attachment 1723549

The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis), 18 April 1888.

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/...enny&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1

 

[Michael Gerald]

Thanks for the research, jeff of pa! Jasper Denny won a trusteeship in Madison county, which is northeast of Indianapolis (like Elwood), and like junior967 stated Morgan’s raid occurred much further south. To prove my media point, the Salt Lake paper messed up the name and called it “Ellwood.” Darn it, I’ve always believed everything in the news was 100% true.

 

[jeff of pa]

Yes I've seen Many Misspelling while Pouring over News Stories the last Few Years.
Editing and setting up newspaper Print Blocks in Reverse had it's Issues.
as I said Above. I Do believe they were Searching in Indiana.

Where they Obtained their Info was Obviously Not from a News Article.

But I Have no Idea Where they Got it Or how accurate it Was.
(other then an "Excellent Authority" in their Eyes.)
Just that right or Wrong, they Believed It was on His Property.

That seems to be a Given
RESEARCH !

 

[Michael Gerald]

I don't think the story is over. From Find a Grave, quoting the Elwood newspaper, Jasper Denny enlisted at only 16 when the war broke out, and 18 when Morgan's raid went through Indiana. If they did locate treasure that the Confederates buried, a teenager wouldn't have a wagon full of gold to take home when he finished his tour of duty in 1864. Maybe a small bag. Because I'm new here I'm still researching more on Morgan's raid treasure...

 

[Michael Gerald]

Here is a quote from a Kentucky Kache thread about an old CSA veteran who claimed to serve under Morgan:

The night before his capture, Morgan allegedly buried 5,000 in gold coins extorted from mill owners in Indiana somewhere between West Point and East Liverpool.
Around 1905, an elderly gentleman who claimed to have been a member of Gen. John H. Morgan’s forces appeared at the Hansaker farm on Sanner Road in Starr Township in Hocking County. According to the old veteran, a party of raiders he had been riding with on Morgan’s 1863 foray into Kentucky and Ohio had buried an iron pot full of stolen gold coins, jewelry, and other valuables in the area as they headed for Nelsonville in an effort to shake the Federal pursuit that dogged them. The old vet did a lot of searching in the vicinity of Oil Well and Berry Hollows, but he never did locate the cache.

Unless its been found, the bulk of any treasure probably isn't in Elwood

 

[Michael Gerald]

Sorry all, yeah I'm new. Starr Township in Hocking County is in OHIO, not Indiana. And yes, Morgan went through there. I was trying to research Jasper Denny in Indiana.

 

[Legacy X]

I realize this is an old thread but interesting regardless. I am a full time cache hunter here in Indiana. As others have said the issue with this story is the route that Morgan took of course was not even close to being close to Elwood. That said after seeing some of the other stuff found in the area for Mr. Jasper Denny I just could not help myself. If anyone is interested I found the property. Sure enough its exactly where the paper said it would be. The plat is from 1901 but I have found with these maps if the story is within 10 to 15 years of the map date you have a good chance of it still being owned by the person your looking for OR its owned by other family. In this case the owner is Eliza Denny. 80 acres north of Elwood. I would bet my dinner that is Mr. Dennys wife or daughter. Now this find of course makes the story so much more interesting. Needless to say the odds of there being a Denny living in that exact area and date but not be our target is as low as it gets. The question is what intel did they get that made them think Morgan was coming so far north. I have much more to look into but if anyone reads this and wants to have some fun researching it let me know. I have 75 similar cache leads in Indiana alone.

 

[crashbandicoot]

Keep em coming jeff,i love these stories.

 

[jeff of pa]

I Got a New Search term for Tomorrow

"Planted his Money"

 

[eyemustdigtreasure]

Under good authority....I Can DIG It...!

 

[Legacy X]

About 99.9% sure this is the property in question for this article. It is just north of Elwood. This plat is from 1901 so Jasper had died I believe and Eliza is daughter or wife. Issue with the story still stands though. Morgans raid as the reason a treasure was hidden there just doesn't make sense. Unless maybe at the time Morgan was coming into the state people just freaked and there was rumors of coming to Indianapolis or even being in Indianapolis. I think that is possible. In fact I think if you think about it hard enough the fact that its the reason given bolsters the story. Because if it was fake they could of and more than likely would of thought of a much better reason it was hidden. If these three men really looked for three years they had some very compelling info that is for sure. This property is something I will be checking out over next few weeks. Looks very promising as far as not being developed. If something was there and they just couldn't find it odds are its still there. Not much has changed.