Old timers tell a lot of tales of lost treasures and hidden gold. When I was growing up, the old lady who used to live on the farm my mother bought from her, told me about coin stashes in the old stone wall surrounding the property and another stash near the location of the old outhouse. Long since dead and the farm long since resold, I never did have the time to go and investigate her claims.
This tale of a gold fortune buried in Florida leads one to a lot of intrigue. I do not know if it was ever discovered, but it does make me want to unpack my metal detector and head outdoors.
Location of Gold Remains a Mystery
The death of Mrs. Futch, an aged lady of Moultrie, a small settlement on the Mantazas river seven miles south of St. Augustine, Fla., recalls a story of buried gold, which now lies undiscovered probably upon the old farm on which she spent many years, and in quest of which she devoted many years of her life.
Her husband, the late Joshua Futch, was a man of secretive habits, who did not divulge his business to his own family. He was a thrifty cattleman and like many woodsmen had a horror of modern methods of banking. A number of years ago Mr. Futch sold to Mr. William J. Sanchez a bunch of cattle for which he received $1,300 in gold. Mr. Sanchez and his father, Mr. Vanancio Sanchez, enjoyed the confidence of nearly all the people of St. Johns county with whom they had extensive dealings. In a burst of confidence Mr. Futch told Mr. Sanchez that the gold received from him he had buried and that no living person knew of its existence or its hiding place.
He also said that whenever he received money which he did not have immediate use for he converted it in gold and made another deposit in Mother Earth. He was tempted to reveal to Mr. Sanchez the spot where his treasure lay, but the latter begged him not to tell him, as if perchance some person should track him to his hiding place and make away with the money he might perhaps always suspect Mr. Sanchez as the only person who knew his secret. Mr. Futch was urged to inform his wife, but he declined to do this. He promised, however, that if at any time he became ill, or anything serious happened to him, he would send for him and tell him where the money was hidden.
About four years ago Mr. Sanchez received a hurried summons to go out to the Futch place. He mounted a saddle horse and galloped out to the old farm. Mr. Futch lay there speechless and almost unconscious. He endeavored, however, to make signs which were unintelligible and the secret died upon his lips.
Mr. Sanchez told the story to Mrs. Futch, who, ever since, until her death, has been unceasing in her efforts to discover the treasure. [Source]
