My story for the June Newsletter didn't make it to Pappy - So Here It Is

[bdahunter]

The Bermuda Gunpowder Plot






COMMEMORATIVE STAMP

In the spring of 1775, General George Washington became aware of a dire situation for the Revolutionary Army surrounding Boston which kept the British forces bottled up. The Revolutionary Army was desperately low on gunpowder. General Washington had hoped to secure 400 barrels of gunpowder from the Massachusetts Citizens Safety Council but when he arrived to replenish his store of gunpowder he found that the gunpowder had already been shipped to his Army the previous winter, there was no gunpowder for his Army; Washington was struck dumbfounded for a half an hour. General Washington’s force was down to only a half a pound of gunpowder per man, enough for a skirmish but if the British decided to press a battle upon his army it would quickly turn into a rout. Secrecy became paramount so that the British didn’t become aware of the Revolutionary Army’s dire predicament and force them into a battle as the Revolutionary Force would be shattered within an hour and liberty for all would be lost.

The revolutionary war council immediately began casting about for sources of gunpowder but with little hope of success. America’s supporters in Europe were unable to get past the British blockade, the Spanish to the south had decided to remain neutral and the British colony of Canada to the north had just rejected a coalition with the revolutionaries. With tensions running high and few places left to turn, Benjamin Franklin enlisted the aid of Bermuda.

Bermuda is a tiny little island 700 miles off the coast of North Carolina but it had longstanding trade relations with the American Colonies, scarce in resources the tiny island had traded with the Americans for food goods, bartering with trade goods secured from Europe and the Caribbean. Bermuda was under a trade embargo by the colonies now that they were at war with the mother country and Bermuda had been facing food shortages for a year and wanted to reestablish trade links with the revolutionaries. The Bermudian population was split almost equally between being for and against the Americans but there was a large British Army garrison on the island and a strong British Naval presence as well so most of this amounted to no more than idle talk. What Bermuda did have was ‘Gunpowder’; the problem was that it was in the British military powder magazine. Fortunately, the powder magazine was located away from other dwellings for safety and was unguarded because of the remoteness of Bermuda. An American ship putting into Bermuda to steal the gunpowder would be overwhelmed by the guns of Fort St. Catherine’s and the strong British Naval presence. Daring action was called for and Benjamin Franklin enlisted the help of a Bermudian friend Colonel Tucker (ancestor to Teddy Tucker the famous treasure hunter). Franklin and Tucker agreed between them that the Americans would lift the trade embargo if the Bermudians would furnish them with the desperately need gunpowder, the two men shook hands on the deal and went their separate ways.









BEN FRANKLIN AND COLONEL TUCKER

On a moonless night, August 14th, 1775 an American sloop anchored well offshore from the reef surrounding Bermuda and waited nervously for a rendezvous with the Bermudian sympathizers. On shore, a group of Bermudians lead by Colonel Tucker had scaled the walls of the powder magazine under cover of darkness. The air vent that capped the magazine was quietly pried away and a man lowered by rope into the magazine where he was able to unseat the door from its hinges being careful not to cause a spark and set off the dry gunpowder stored within. The raiders rolled 100 barrels of gunpowder down the hill to the shores of Tobacco Bay where a group of Bermuda fitted dinghies were waiting to carry the precious cargo out beyond the reef to the waiting American sloop. A fitted dinghy is made of Bermuda cedar which is light and strong, the dinghy draws very little water and is extremely quick on the water as it carries twice the sail of a normal vessel of the same size; designed as raiding boats by the pirates of the island they were perfectly adapted for this mission. The Bermudians skimmed across the reef separating them from the sloop and quickly offloaded the 100 barrels of gunpowder, whereupon the sloop hoisted anchor and set sail for the American coast, 700 miles away. Colonel Tucker’s men sailed quietly home under cover of the moonless sky and went just as quietly to their beds; it was to be a busy morning come sunrise.






GUNPOWDER MAGAZINE

By dawn an alarm was raised that the magazine had been raided and a Bermuda Pilot boat was dispatched to chase down the American sloop, the ships of the British Navy being too slow on the water to catch her. At the edge of the Gulf Stream the Pilot boat caught up to the sloop but being vastly outgunned by the American it turned around and headed back to Bermuda but not before identifying the sloop as the ‘Lady Catherine’ of Virginia. Back onshore, the British Military scoured the island looking for the gunpowder thieves but all they found were Bermudians waking up to another day in paradise. The Governor posted a reward of 100 pounds sterling for any one who would testify against the gunpowder thieves which was a huge sum in 1755, no person could be found to give evidence against Colonel Tucker and his men (two of the Colonel’s forefathers had been Governors of Bermuda). The Governor was furious and reported his anger to the King back in England. The Army was even more furious as it was their gunpowder that had been stolen, they interrogated the population mercilessly but none would come forward and betray their fellow islanders.






TEDDY TUCKER'S HOUSE

Matters finally came to a head when a British Captain put a torch to a Bermuda sloop that Colonel Tucker was having built by the shipyard at Mangrove Bay in Somerset. A riot ensued and the naval company was forced to retreat to their ship with fixed bayonets to hold the Bermudians at bay. I still find remains of this sloop that Colonel Tucker was having outfitted as a privateer when I treasure hunt the waters of Mangrove Bay. Brass ship spikes as thick as a finger and smaller copper fittings and sheathing make hunting this area a trial but occasionally good finds show up in the bottom of my scoop. Across the bay from where the sloop was burned sits Teddy Tucker’s home which has been in his family for hundreds of years, one of the greatest treasure hunters of all time and proudly descended from his pirate roots. The fittings I find from Colonel Tucker’s sloop always remind me of how a little island like Bermuda played an important role in American Independence during a critical time in that great nation’s history.

Cheers,

BDA

[roadkingclassic56]

Excellent story BDA, very well done. Thank you for your time and effort!

[PAPPY]

THANKS BDA ! Don't understand why I didn't receive it. GREAT STORY

[PAPPY]

"IN SEARCH OF THE ELUSIVE SILVER"

Submitted by: BUSTER

I thought that I was never going to find any silver coins down here in Florida. Over the years, I had found a few Mercs, an old shield nickel, a 1902 V nickel, a 1900 quarter and some older coins from over seas.
I thought that I had reached a very big dry spell and would never find any more old silver.
FINALLY, after a few years of researching and digging around Fort Walton Beach, I was invited up to Milton Florida by Ric San to hunt. We hit an old school that he had researched and I was lucky enough to break my Florida silver dry spell. We hunted at an old school that he had found, he had a book and it showed old cars from the 30's parked in front of it.
I was hoping to find some good finds, but, was not counting on silver. Needless to say I was very excited about this find. It finally took me out of the Non Silver club down here in Florida.
I had to break the news gently to Guido. Not sure how he took it because he has not gotten back to me as of yet. Hopefull he will not be making any midnight calls to make me swim with the fishes. Research is the key to all good find, using the library, talking to older folks, finding old articles and using the internet sites can help out.
Rick was good enough to share his research with me and for that I am grateful. Hopefull, I can hook him up with some good places to hunt down this way. I can say that this is one of my best finds....The wait was long, but it was worth it seeing that shiney coin come out of the dirt. It took almost 2 years, hopefully there will be more to come. Till then, I will keep doing my research and try for more silver.

[homefire]

Good writing there Sir!

[PAPPY]

"MY DREAMSITE"

Submitted by: cntrydncr1

I began detecting toward the end of March, 2007. Once I started detecting with my trusty ACE250 it was love at first swing. Soon I tired of digging holes in my own yard and I branched out to the neighboring schoolyards.
As I traveled to and from a local elementary school I noticed a very large, old home for sale. "WOW, what an opportunity it would be to detect there", I thought several times. But, I never asked the realtor for permission and I forgot about the property till recently. I hit the old elementary school again. This time I noticed "my" home was sold and that construction had already begun on half of the lot. When I went home that night I related the story to my husband, Joe, and he responded that we should stop by there the next day to speak with the builder for permission to detect.
Initially, the builder was hesitant Joe said but he kept schmoozing with him and eventually he said yes !!!
Joe, who is not quite the addict I am about detecting, was just as anxious as I was to get started. So, right after dinner, on Thursday, April 24th we started detecting "MY DREAMSITE" as I have come to call it.
We only got out for about an hour and a half that night but it was fruitful. The first find of the evening was made by Joe and was an Indian head penny !! We knew we had a great spot.
I knew that the last owners of the home were Anna and Peter Vogel but I was hoping to find who the previous owners were.
I spoke with one of the plumbers who was working on the new construction at this site. He informed me that this was the summer home of Simon Gratz. Locals may know that name as there is a high school in Philadelphia named for him. I'm assuming it is the "Junior" Simon Gratz as the "Senior" would have died prior to the home being built ! I pictured this woodsy area and thought it would be a nice summer location in the "country."
The plumber said he had seen pictures of the home when it was new and there were no trees around it. He said he was lucky to find a 1865 nickel in the house itself.
Just a few days ago I was able to speak with the builder again to Thank him for allowing us to detect this property. Up until today, May 12, I have hunted every possible evening or day that was available. I would say that I have probably logged about 24 hours and Joe has probably detected about half of that time as well.
Each time we have been there we have found keeper coins such as Indian head pennies, Mercury dimes, or Buffalo nickels. Now, we ask ourselves, "When do we call it quits?" Well, the house will come down soon so we know the time is limited.
I think I will hunt till I come away empty handed. The finds are definitely slowing down but just yesterday, I found my first Barber dime. Here are the totals so far: COINS: 111 Wheat Pennies 1910-1957, 35 Memorial Pennies 1959-1991, 9 Indian Head Pennies 1888-1909, 6 Buffalo Nickels 1930-1937 ( 3 legible dates ), 1 Barber Dime 1908,7 Silver Roosevelt Dimes 1917-1944, 7 Roosevelt Dimes 1965-2000, 10 Mercury dimes 1917-1944, 1 Silver Washington Quarter 1936 S, 2 Washington Quarters 1969-1971, 5 Jefferson War Nickels (2) 1942P,1944D, (2) 1945, 8 Jefferson Nickels 1948-1975, 4 Foreign coins: 1934 British Penny, 1946 Canadian Penny, 1955 Elizabeth II Regina from South Africa, 1976 Mexican 5 Centavo. Total of 203 coins with a face value of $5.54, not including the foreign coins.
JEWELRY: 1 10K Gold ring with blue stone, possibly topaz, 1 gold cufflink, 2 Silver rings, 1 possibly amethyst and 1 possibly jade, 1 milk bottle charm, 1 heart charm, 1 foreign "coin" charm 1900 Reiche Streitern with flying dragon, 1 Onized credit union employee pin, 1 penguin pin, 1 Brass airplane pin (USAF), Pieces of a bracelet, look brass.
TOKENS: James Madison, Phila. PRT, South Penna Bus Company.
TOYS: 2 Horses, 1 black and 1 brown, 6 people figures, 1 very nice businessman, others broken: 1 rabbit, 1 unknown.
MISC: 10 Misc. Buttons (2 look military) 4 keys, 2 locks, 1 silverplate spoon, 1973 Delaware County Tag (dog)? 1 pocket knife, 1 sinker and MANY various bullets.

[PAPPY]

"My Dreamsite Cont."

[PAPPY]

"My Dreamsite Last Page"

[PAPPY]

"TREASURE IN THE NEWS"

SUBMITTED BY: Homefire

Treasure News 3

[PAPPY]

We would like to WELCOME all of our New Members that joined us during the month of May. GREAT to have you with us.

THANK YOU to Everyone that submitted to the June 2008 News Letter.
GREAT SUBMISSIONS !

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THANK YOU GREG...FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO !

I will start taking submissions TODAY for the July 2008 News Letter.
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