State Treasures - Connecticut

Dead Squirrels Tell No Tales!
LITCHFIELD COUNTY – J.O. Maloney was known to his neighbors in Morris, Connecticut, as an… “old and very secretive recluse.”
Upon his death in 1887, a mystery unfolded in Morris that to this day remains unexplained.
Maloney was known to be a wealthy old man who had a reputation for keeping large sums of paper currency on him, along with a sizeable collection of gold and silver specie at his residence.
Following his death there is no mention of a family to assume control of his property, but neighbors are known to have searched his home several times attempting to locate his wealth. Nothing of value was found.
The locals assumed that Maloney must’ve hidden his money somewhere on his property, though little of it was ever found.
In October that year, a couple of squirrel hunters were out near the Maloney property when one of them shot and wounded a squirrel.
The injured animal crawled into its nest, which was an old box that had been wedged between the branches of a tree near the empty Maloney house.
One hunter climbed the tree and found the squirrel dead inside the box.
While removing his quarry from the nest, he noticed the padding beneath the beast was chewed up old bank notes.
Taking what was left of the shredded bills to an expert, it was determined that the original face value of the bills could not have been less then $5,000.
After this discovery, Morris residents figured the old recluse had hidden his currency inside a tightly sealed box to prevent water and moisture deterioration to the bills before placing the box up in the tree.
Clearly Maloney thought about the damage moisture and weather could cause to his fortune, but failed to recognize the omnipresent threat of the common hickory nut-cracking squirrel.
And while this discovery accounts for some or all of the old man’s currency, what became of his collection of silver and gold coins remains a mystery.
It is thought Maloney most likely buried this highly coveted collection somewhere on his property, though it has never been found.Kolakowski’s Blood Money
HARTFORD COUNTY – On April 18, 1957, Mrs. Wanda Slater was working in the kitchen of her suburban Suffield bungalow when she heard a man call “Hey, Wanda” from behind a nearby bush.
Alone and fearing for her life Mrs. Slater ran through the front door, fled to the Suffield Police Department, and reported she believed the voice she heard was her brother, Francis Kolakowski, a 42-year-old machinist from Hartford.
Just three weeks before, on Friday, March 29th, Kolakowski had shot and killed his wife, Helen, in their Hartford home as their 13-year-old daughter watched.
Kolakowski, who had previously been diagnosed with a “psychopathic personality,” fled into the night, eluding police.
Considered armed and dangerous, the State Police and FBI were called in, igniting one of the most intensive fugitive manhunts ever in north-central Connecticut.
Unable to locate the killer, officers considered the possibility that Kolakowski may have killed himself. But that theory was cast out on April 11th after witnesses identified Kolakowski from a police photo line up as the lone gunman who pulled off a daring daylight robbery of a Mercer & Dunbar armored car.
The car was delivering the payroll for the Hartford Machine Screw Company in Windsor, where Kolakowski had once been employed. Kolakowski escaped with the payroll of $66,573.
Tipped off that Kolakowski may be at his sister’s home, Suffield police alerted the Sheriff’s department, the State Police and the FBI.
Meanwhile, Suffield officers were surrounding Mrs. Slater’s home. Kolakowski refused to surrender. FBI Special Agent Richard P. Horan, State Police Captain Phillip Schwartz, and Suffield police Chief Frank Sutula approached the rear of the residence and forced entry into the basement.
Hoping to seize Kolakowski before he realized officers had gained entry into the home, Horan quietly began ascending the basement stairs.
While doing so, the door at the top of the stairs swung open and a single gunshot struck agent Horan, killing him.
Before anyone could react, Kolakowski slammed the door and barricaded himself inside the kitchen, where he fired on officers and ambulance personal who were attempting to reach agent Horan.
Officers fired tear-gas into the house when another shot was heard from inside.
Kolakowski had committed suicide.
Every attempt was made to recover the payroll money stolen by Kolakowski, but he wasn’t talking and the money was never found.
Twenty-four years later, in October 1981, two bottle hunters digging in a field near Hartford unearthed a decaying burlap sack containing a portion of the currency and some silver coins taken by Kolakowski in the 1957 Mercer & Dunbar armored car heist.
How much exactly was recovered was not disclosed, but the balance of the loot to this day remains outstanding.
Buried in Farmington?
HARTFORD COUNTY – Locating the town of Farmington is easy enough, but researching its early history from 1640-1690 hasn’t been as easy to do.
According to treasure researcher and author Thomas P. Terry, Farmington was first settled by Anglos in 1640.
For the town’s first 50 years, hostilities between the settlers and Indians was ongoing and, according to Terry…“During the 50 year period between 1640 - 1690 the town was destroyed three times by Indians.”
During this period of early settlement when violence was the greatest, Farmington residents would’ve cached their valuables in anticipation of pending hostilities.
Each time the village was razed landmarks would’ve been destroyed, making it impossible for some to reclaim their buried wealth. Terry states… “Many ruins and relics can be found in the region.”
While history supports the notion that many people buried their wealth during times of pending hostilities, there is no reference in the present-day historical accounts that Farmington was ever destroyed by Indians. In further research, what is clear is that the residents of Farmington did fear Indian attack.
While there is no mention of the town having been destroyed on Wikipedia, the Town of Farmington’s website, or from the Farmington Historical Society, there is mention that the town was garrisoned at its northern and southern borders from possible Indian attack.
The white version of Farmington’s history found through online research appears suspicious to me. According to the Farmington Historical Society’s website, I quote, “The townspeople and the Tunxis Indians lived together peaceably for the most part.”
And, “Under an agreement, the settlers ploughed the land and the Indians cut wood for fuel and traded their corn and hides.”
“In time, the Tunxis Indians adopted the culture of the settlers, joining them in the town’s churches and schools. Some became teachers and ministers.”
The website also states that, following the 1704… “French and Indian massacre of English colonists in Deerfield, Mass., led Farmington townspeople to fortify seven houses.”
Though I could find no mention of Farmington having ever been attacked or destroyed three times, there is clear and compelling evidence that the residents of the village felt threatened and took a number of steps to insure their safety from Indian attack.
Local research may be able to shed more light on Farmington’s early history.
By the early 19th century, according to Wikipedia, the majority of Farmington residents were abolitionists and actively sought to aid escaping slaves from the South.
Several homes in Farmington were “safe houses” on the Underground Railroad and the village became known as “Grand Central Station” among escaped slaves and their guides.
Farmington’s early history aside, this area is great for cache hunting based solely on its history with the Underground Railroad, where fugitive slaves are known to have buried their valuables at or near these safe houses.
And guides were commonly paid by picking up money from pre-determined cache site locations.
If it turns out that the village was razed a number of times, then the valuables and relics from this period in history may still be buried where they were centuries ago.Sources:
Hunt, Burl, "A $50,000 Squirrel Nest," May 1976, Lost Treasure magazine, p. 14
Terry, Thomas P., U.S. Treasure Atlas-Volume 3, 1985, La Crosse, WI, Specialty Publishing Company, p. 224
The Charleston Gazette, Guns In The Suburbs – G-Man, Mad Killer Die, April 19, 1957, Charleston, West Virginia, p. 1
FBI – Hall of Honor, Richard P. Horan, http://www.fbi.gov/libref/hallhonor/horan.htm
Terry, Thomas P., U.S. Treasure Atlas-Volume 3, 1985, La Crosse, WI, Specialty Publishing Company, p. 223 – 224
Wikipedia research: Farmington, Connecticut, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmington,_Connecticut
Farmington Historical Society Website:
http://www.farmingtonhistoricals
ociety-ct.org/fh_farmhist_pg1.html