State Treasures - Maryland

Jewel Heist! Thief Hides Jewels Near Hagen TavernFREDERICK COUNTY – A chest of jewels stolen from a French duchess is buried not far from the old Hagen Tavern in Braddock, not to be confused with nearby Braddock Heights. I have no information on who the duchess was or the value of the jewels, but their worth is considered substantial.In 1830, a stranger arrived at the Hagen Tavern, where he stayed for several days. He was quiet and drew no unusual attention to himself.Secretly during his stay, however, he managed to wander into the nearby hills unseen. There he buried a small chest of jewels. The next day the stranger checked out and resumed his journey. He wasn’t seen again for two years. In 1832, the stranger returned and took a room at the Hagen Tavern, where the innkeeper remembered him. Again no one paid him much attention; everyone assumed he was just resting up before resuming his tedious journey. But then a couple of Braddock locals found the stranger covered in blood and near death in the hills. He was rushed back to the tavern and a doctor was summoned. The innkeeper and others present observed severe head trauma to the stranger as they laid him in bed. At first it was suspected he had been robbed and left for dead, but others became suspicious of the stranger, asking what he was doing wandering alone in the surrounding hills. As they awaited the doctor’s arrival, word of the incident was spreading through Braddock and would soon reach neighboring towns. When the doctor arrived, he and the innkeeper treated the stranger as best they could. He was lucid and able to tell them that, while strolling through the nearby hills, a freak storm passed over, dumping a lot of rain. He continued, claiming that, while seeking shelter, he slipped and fell on some rocks, which caused his injuries. The doctor concluded the stranger’s injuries were fatal and he was given a short time to live.Knowing his fate, the stranger told them when he stayed at the inn two years before he had buried a small chest full of exceptional jewels close to the tavern in the hills. He confessed to having boosted the jewels from a "French lady of the court" shortly before he arrived at the tavern in 1830.The stranger told them he figured the heat was off and after two years it was time to return and quietly retrieve the goods. He figured he could unearth the cache and depart the next day with no one the wiser. Struggling to get the words out, the man admitted the surrounding terrain looked different now and he could no longer recall where the chest was buried. A short time later he died.According to this legend, the doctor and innkeeper made attempts to find the thief’s lost cache, but failed. Giving up, they let the community in on the dead stranger’s secret. For a time, people showed up looking for the cache, but nothing was found. As far as anyone knows, the French duchess’ chest of jewels remains buried a short distance from the old Hagen Tavern. Gwynn’s Falls TreasureBALTIMORE COUNTY – It was a hot summer day when Frank Martin, of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and his companion, Ignatius McGinnis, were swimming at Gwynn’s Falls on July 20, 1914. They had found a good swimming hole just before the Edmundson Avenue Bridge. While in the water, Martin felt his right foot sink into a hole. According to the New York Times, "As his foot went in, it came in contact with some coins in an old wooden box which had rotted away." The two men proceeded to lift the box out of the water, and discovered it contained money with a face value of $1,000. The coins were American, French and English and dated back to 1726. It is believed the cache was concealed under the rocks during the Revolutionary War. Though the men did not search for additional caches, many believe other caches await discovery. Perry Hall Treasure Legend TALBOT COUNTY – It was an annual event for William Perry, II, the senator from Talbot County. Every year before the start of the Maryland State Legislative session, Perry prepared for his annual leave of absence from Perry Hall by burying the family’s wealth and personal valuables somewhere on the 350-acre Miles River estate, with the aid of his longtime trusted manservant. Burying one’s wealth was a common practice, as no commercial banks existed in the area. How much Perry buried in 1798 is unknown, but his descendants knew it was quite substantial. Supporting this is the fact that the Perry Hall Plantation was among the most profitable in the nation and, to William’s credit, during his career he served as a delegate to the first state convention and later was president of the Maryland Senate. He was a man of wealth and influence.Being true to his practice before taking his leave from Perry Hall in late 1798, Perry and his manservant consigned the Perry family wealth into the earth somewhere on the plantation grounds known only to the two men. As was his custom, Perry always traveled with his manservant to the state capitol every year.Two months after arriving at the capitol, Senator Perry suffered a fatal attack of apoplexy. His manservant, whose name is lost to history, was returning home to Perry Hall when he was involved in an accident that took his life. He died without revealing the location of Perry’s buried hoard.With the death of the manservant, the Perry Hall treasure passed from legacy into a legend the Perry family seriously took to heart. Generation after generation searched for the hoard, pursuing every avenue for recovery available from metal detectors to psychics. Several excavations occurred on the property, but nothing was found.In 1967, Perry Hall was sold to neighboring Kirkland Hall College. The property was absorbed into the college’s campus, which is located west of Easton on Maryland Route 33 and St. Michael’s Road.  Dan’s Mountain CacheALLEGANY COUNTY – Deer hunters on Dan’s Mountain late in autumn of 1931 stopped at a small cabin where they found the body of an old man nearby. It appeared he’d been dead for several months. Using a wheelbarrow, the hunters hauled the body into the nearby town of Midland where locals recognized the dead man as an old hermit who’d lived on the mountain alone. According to folks in Midland, the old recluse retired to his cabin on Dan’s Mountain to live out a "monk-like existence" after the Civil War. Before the war, he had been a successful Southern planter who’d become wealthy. Though he always had money, he lived frugally. Many believe the old miser buried his wealth somewhere near his cabin, though nothing was ever found. Sources:Atchley, D. Van, "Treasure in Maryland," September 1976, Lost Treasure, p. 61The New York Times, "Find A Box Of Coins," July 21, 1914Hurst, James S, "Treasure in Maryland: The Perry Hall Legacy," May 1973, Treasure World magazine, p. 17Let’s Go Digging, Maryland, www.godiggin.com/maryland