Liberty's Gold

According to our family legend, Liberty buried his "cash money" for safekeeping. To keep it completely safe, he told no one where it was buried, not even relatives. Unfortunately he was suddenly stricken in his old age and rendered unconscious before he could tell anyone where the gold was buried. And since he could neither read nor write, he didn't have the option of leaving a note as to where the Langfords could uncover his hoard. Shortly after his stroke, Liberty died.

A few nights after his death, there were strange and persistent noises in the house: banging in the fireplace, the sound of footsteps walking the hall, the usual things that ghostly visitors like to do to make their presence known. These noises continued night after night. Grandmom said that his daughter mentioned the disturbances to some fellow citizens of Rockcastle. Well, I guess! One night of such "fun" would have motivated me to relocate. Pronto! The good citizens of Rockcastle assured her that this was her father trying to communicate with her, and that, when the noises began again, she should say, "What in the name of the Lord do you want?" Liberty's ghost would be compelled to answer her.

Plucky Langford that Liberty's daughter May was, this sounded like a plan to her. The noises did disturb the night again, and May spoke up. "What in the name of the Lord do you want?" Liberty came through. He told her specific directions as to where to find the cash. Go so many paces to a large tree. Dig down so many feet to a large rock. Beneath the rock and a few feet down, the money would be found.

According to Grandmom, Langfords dug all over Pine Hill and under every tree that could possibly be described as large. No money. And Grandpa Liberty must have felt that he'd done his duty because he never banged in the fireplace or walked the halls again. I guess he thought that if his children were too dense to follow directions, the problem of the lost gold was theirs.

It's not odd that Liberty should have buried his money. Mt. Vernon didn't have a bank until 1900. A body had to stash the loot somewhere, and to leave it lying around the house would have been foolish in Rockcastle County. The 1870 census says that Liberty's real estate was worth $2500 and the value of his personal estate was $1000. He was still alive in 1880, so I assume that he might have added to the cash between 1870 and 1880. The Mount Vernon Signal during the time span between 1887 and 1911 records an incident of a farmer's plow turning up a stash of gold. I don't think it was Liberty's because there was no tree involved in the newspaper account, and I've seen Pine Hill. You wouldn't want to try to plow it! But the discovery of the buried gold does prove the point that people buried their money before the advent of a bank in Rockcastle.

So, now we have Thomas' sterling in Crab Orchard and Liberty's cash somewhere on Pine Hill....What are we waiting for? I say let's dig.

-- Shiron Wordsworth