I have that book and will share what it says. Here's a paraphrase of the story from the book "Buried Treasures of the Mid-Atlantic States" by W. C. Jameson, published in 2000 by August House. Would have posted the complete text, but that's copyright infringement:
Title: Tons of Lost Silver Ingots
Sometime during the Civil War, a train carrying tons of silver ingots was robbed in NY state on its way to the Confederacy (no indication where from or on which railroad). Supposedly "hundreds, even thousands, of 10-in-long silver ingots was loaded onto 18 wagons and carried into PA, where it was hidden in a cave." Estimated total weight between 20-115 tons (quite the range) was moved to the cave. No word of how they silver ended up near Uniontown, but 20 years later, a "hermit" named Dobbs, who lived in a shack near some caves southeast of Uniontown, came into town and purchased som goods at a hardware store, paid for with one of these silver bars.
The story suggests he was a drinker, only coming into town to buy food and liquor, then disappearing for weeks at a time. Usually he did this after working some odd jobs for the $$ to buy same, but this time, he went right to the store and filled a burlap sack with bunches of groceries. The grocer was stunned and asked Dobbs where he came by such a treasure. Dobbs said he'd found a cave filled with hundreds of them. From then on, Dobbs always paid for his supplies with an ingot, each stamped with the inscription, "Government genuine, New York City."
Sometimes men would follow Dobbs when he went home, but he was cagey and never went near his cache as long as he knew he was being watched. About 2 years after Dobbs first showed up in Uniontown with an ingot, 4 hunters showed up carrying more than a dozen of them, with the same markings. They claimed they'd found thousands of them in a cave a few miles outside of town, and intended to return to get the rest. They left town the next day and were never seen again. Two years later, four skeletons were found inthe woods not far from an area called Laurel Caverns. Many believed Dobbs came upon the hunters "looting" his stash and killed them.
Shortly thereafter, Dobbs again came into town, saying that no one would ever come upon his silver again because he had moved it all to a new location. He'd apparently also abandoned his shack, because on the numerous occasions he was followed after leaving town, he never went back to it. Instead, he would elude his trackers by disappearing into the nearby mountains.
On one supply trip to town, Dobbs had too much to drink in a local tavern and told people there that he'd transferred the ingots from the cave to an abandoned coal mine. He said it was so remote no one would ever find it. He continued to come into Uniontown on his monthly supply trip for two more years, but then he failed to show up. Everyone figured he'd died of old age, and many went searching for the coal mine, but no one ever did find it.
Months later, a man people believed to be Dobbs showed up in Latrobe, about 35 miles northeast of Uniontown. He was now considerably different, a dirty tramp rather than simply a recluse. He now lived under porches and in alleys, soliciting handouts from the citizenry. When he'd panhandled enough for a few drinks, he'd retire to the tavern and get drunk, telling stories of a vast wealth in silver bars he'd lost. He said the coal mine shaft had collapsed, buring his treasure under tons of debris. He'd tried to dig through the rubble, but was unable to reach the cache. A year later, he was found penniless and dead in a Latrobe alley.
Here's how the story ends:
"Considering the available evidence, there is no basis on which to reject Dobbs' claim that he once had access to a tremendous cache of silver ingots. After closely examining several aspects of this tale, a California-based treasure hunting company arrived in SW PA to search for the lost silver. A spokesman for the group maintained there was ample proof of the existence of the treasure, but the team was unable to locate the collapsed coal mine.
It is concluded, therefore, that somewhere in southwestern Pennsylvania lies a tremendous fortunte in silver bars in an old, caved-in coal mine. Which one and where is a mystery that has perplexed searchers for one hundred years."
