Ex Slave Finds Buried Treasure
Many plantation owners buried their jewels, silver, and gold coins to keep it out of the hands of Yankee marauders. A lot of these men never told their wives of its location, afraid that under pressure it would be revealed. Some of these Confederate soldiers died in battle, never to return to unearth it. It still lies underground not yet found.
Sharecroppers Find Buried Wealth:
Martha Richardson had been a slave girl in Columbia, South Carolina.
Martha and her brothers were working in the fields one day as sharecroppers. As they chopped, her older brother’s shovel hit something hard. He dug more and saw it was the lid of a pot.
They removed the lid and saw it was filled with silver and gold coins. They quickly return to
their family cabin to show the pot to their Mother. She first tells the children to
watch the door and see that no one enters. She counts the coins slowly and
tells them the money amounts to $5,700. ($5,700 is equivalent to $95,000 in today’s
money). She asks them to swear to
tell no one about their find.
With the newly found wealth, Martha’s Mother bought 2 lots of land. They continued to present a humble appearance and work as sharecroppers, but they also built a house for the family and a cottage they rented out. Martha was eternally grateful for this money which allowed her family to escape from debt and to find some relief from their hard toil. Their lives were completely changed.
Source: Federal Writers' Project: Slave Narrative Project, Vol. 14, South Carolina, Part 4, Raines-Young
Click below to read more:
No comments:
Post a Comment