George Singleton tells of the lost gold treasure of Claiborne, Alabama

George Buster Singleton

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was titled “In search of the lost gold treasure of Claiborne,” was originally published in the May 11, 1995 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

During my years in Monroe County, I have heard many stories about happenings that have taken place near old homesteads and other locations throughout the area. During all these events I have investigated, and there have been many, I have never heard, until a short time back, any story pertaining to lost wealth.

Stories of gold or money being lost or hidden on the back trails or old stage roads of the county had never surfaced until this one.

I choose not to disclose my source of information pertaining to the following story, because I have been asked not to. But, I have been given permission to try and write the story as it happened. From what I have learned, even today, the search might yet go on for the lost treasure.

The year was around 1858, during the time that the town of Claiborne was in full blossom. The town by the mighty river was the focal point of many of the settlers as they made their way westward, stopping in the bustling town only long enough to buy supplies and other needed goods such as medicine and food. Also, needed repairs were made to their wagons, while resting and seeing the town before the crossing of the great river and moving westward to points unknown.

Stage routes

There were several stagecoach routes that came into Claiborne. These stages brought travelers and mail from other parts of the country. Also, on some occasions, money in the forms of gold and silver was transported by the stages, just as they did in the western states, but probably on a much smaller scale.

The stages to Claiborne from the East came through the area of what is now the community of Pine Orchard. A few miles west of the Pine Orchard area, the stage route forked: one going into a lesser settled area, known as Bell’s Landing, and the other, and more traveled road, turned southwestward toward the busy and bustling town of Claiborne.

As the stagecoaches began to draw near this bustling town by the river, the stage drivers were tired and impatient, because they knew that here their trip was about to end. All knew that a soft bed or a night on the town awaited.

The drivers probably paid less attention to their duties as they neared the roaring town on the high banks of the river. But, as in everything, there are exceptions.

Middle of the evening

The hour was getting on toward the middle of the evening this day in early May 1858. Just a short piece down the road was the crossing, where the stagecoach would cross a stream called Limestone Creek. On this stage, a small amount of gold rode in a strong box at the stage driver’s feet. It was on its way to a merchant in Claiborne town; this was to be used to purchase needed supplies to replenish his stock being bought up daily by the settlers moving West.

Few people knew about this thousand dollars in gold. Due to the small amount, and since there wasn’t a guard riding shotgun this trip, everything seemed to go as usual.

But, the secret had been given away by a clerk in the store that was to receive the gold shipment; and as the stagecoach turned to make the crossing of the large creek, the holdup began to take shape. There, sitting there horses, waiting for the stagecoach to come down the bank, were the robbers with guns drawn. The thousands of dollars in gold coins were about to be theirs.

As the lead horses approached the crossing and were about to begin to make the left turn down the bank, the stage driver, seeing the robbers, reached down and picked up the small iron-bound box by the handle on the side. Completely unnoticed, the driver threw the box with the gold coins inside into a deep hole of water just aways above the stage crossing.

The shouting and the firing of the weapons of the holdup men had drawn all the attention to the robbers there in the creek awaiting the stage. No one on board the stage had seen the driver throw the strong box over the side.

The story goes that the driver was beaten because he insisted that there had been no strongbox on board. A thorough search was made of the stagecoach and its passengers. All valuables were taken as the stage robbers made off with their loot. The small strong box was not among the few items seized; the stage robbers had missed their prize.

As the wounded driver and the passengers struggled into the town of Claiborne, a severe thunderstorm had already begun to dump heavy sheets of rain on the town and the surrounding area. The rain storm was so severe until the search for the strongbox had to be postponed until the weather cleared.

The terrible rain storm lasted three days and nights. As the heavy rain fell, Limestone Creek began to overflow its banks. The swollen creek made a search impossible for the lost gold. The store owner just had to wait for the waters to recede; this took several days.

As the waters of the creek finally returned to the banks, a search party began to comb the area, but to no avail. Had the small box been carried by the swift current downstream, or had it been washed up under the bank, out of sight and out of reach of searching hands? The gold coins and the small strongbox were never found.

Throughout the years, many searches for the gold have taken place. No record of its finding has ever surfaced. So, somewhere near the old stagecoach crossing on Limestone Creek, there might still lie a small iron-bound box. The box is perhaps covered with mud and silt. Or, maybe it is lodged far up under the creek bank, waiting to be pulled out and claimed by some lucky treasure hunter.

The price of the gold coins on the collectors’ market perhaps may now be worth many thousands of dollars. But today, the lost gold of Claiborne awaits in time, as it has for more than 130-odd years. Someday, maybe, the prize will be claimed. Then again, it just might not; who knows, we can only speculate.

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, was bitten at least twice by venomous snakes, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He also helped organize the Monroe County Museum and Historical Society and was also a past president of that organization. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)