LOST TREASURE
This is a condensed version of a story written by Thomas A. Knight, one of several typewritten manuscripts in Dorothy Sykes's notebook in the Richfield Historical Society collection. There is no date. References in the manuscript indicate it was written around 1910, but it may have been written as late as the 1940's.
The quest for hidden treasure in the northerly portion of Summit County just over the Cuyahoga County line started many years ago with the death of the last of the Brown clan. Searchers for wealth become discouraged and excitement dies down. Then someone makes an accidental find and the search is started all over again. One fact of importance sticks out: the amount of loot that has been found is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the vast fortune that is still hidden and unaccounted for.
Two years ago such a find was made in the Richfield sector. Soon after this, Walter Tesmer, a foreman at the Sleepy Hollow Golf Club, reported the finding of loose gold dust on a farm in Boston Township. Miss Clara Tesmer, a sister, discovered particles of gold in the craws of chickens.
Boston Township, just south of Brecksville and east of Richfield, was, a century ago, much more important than it is now. Among other things, Boston manufactured potato whiskey and castor oil, sovereign remedy for snake bites. Later it was the center for the manufacture of paper bags. Altogether, it was one of the best known villages in Ohio. Among other things, it boasted a pretentious hotel. This was presided over and was the headquarters of the Brown Gang of counterfeiters. The hotel barn was a workshop out of which came counterfeit United States coins, and from its printing presses came fake bonds representing the State of Vermont, the State of Michigan, the States of Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, and Louisiana, and the Chinese empire. The State of Ohio was not represented in these peculations and, in fact, no counterfeit coins were ever passed by the Browns in any of the towns in the vicinity of their operations.
With the opening of the Ohio Canal, there came to Boston and nearby villages the choicest assembly of crooks that had so far gathered in any one community in the country. Gambling was as common as drunkenness. And drunkenness was rampant with a distillery at every crossroads.
Jim Brown, the acknowledged counterfeiter leader, was a man of unusual personal attraction. He stood three inches above six feet and was as handsome as he was big. On one occasion a bolt of lightning felled him to the ground. When he recovered he boasted: "God Almighty is the only one who ever threw me on my back". He was a great money spender and buyer of drinks, not only in his own hotel, but at Richfield, Copley, Bath, Northfield, and Brecksville. But he was temperate in his habits. During the early part of his career as a gang leader, he never drank whiskey. He broke this rule just once, and not only caused the failure of his most important raid, but landed him in jail for the first time.
At their Boston headquarters, the gang had the finest penmen in the world. They had expert engravers and metallurgists. Afield, they had representatives, passers of the "queer" in almost every city and village. These agents were wonderfully organized and cooperated beautifully when it became necessary for the leaders to wriggle out of a tight spot. The "take" of the counterfeiters was enormous. It is said that it amounted to more than a million dollars a year.
The most ambitious of the exploits of the gang failed. This was the proposed looting of the Orient. In the winter of 1832 they procured a large schooner at New Orleans. They had the vessel equipped with printing presses, dyes, furnaces, and other necessities, and enough bond paper to print $2,000,000 in spurious money. In addition to this, they had already printed US government notes amounting to $1,500,000. Their plans were perfect. After cleaning up in Hong Kong, they were to move over to India. It was their final intention to load the vessel for the return trip with spices, silks, and other valuable cargo.
But something unforeseen happened. Jim Brown did two things he had never done before. To celebrate the success of the adventure he got drunk, and he talked. The result was that when he and his companions boarded the ship ready to sail, they were greeted by government officials who placed the entire gang under arrest and confiscated all legal and illegal property.
The Browns were caught at last. They did a powerful lot of squirming, but in the end were found guilty. Daniel Brown died in prison. James Brown served a sentence in the Ohio penitentiary, and on his release was honored by his fellow townsmen who elected him justice of the peace. This was the end of the elder Browns so far as crime was concerned. Although he lived until 1865 Jim Brown never again, so far as is known, transgressed the law.
HOWEVER, there was a young fellow growing up who was destined to carry on the Brown tradition. He was Dan Brown, Jr., son of the Brown who died in jail. Lacking the fine physique of father and uncle, he was more than their equal in brainwork. For many years he managed to elude the law. In the year 1852 he pulled off a classic that was worthy of all the education he had received in the Brown school of crime.
In the fall of 1851 he arrived in Sacramento, California. At that time, the gold rush was at its height. Gold was heavy and was hard to transport. When a personable gentleman appeared with a plentiful supply of ten-dollar bank notes representing the Missouri State Bank, he was literally mobbed by customers. And then a curious thing happened. For the first time in history victims actually paid a five per cent bonus in exchanging honest gold dust for worthless counterfeit paper. Sheriff Lane of Summit County who had forsaken his badge and his office in the gold rush, was in Sacramento at this time. He met and recognized Brown. The latter was alarmed, and while Lane was organizing a vigilante committee, Brown headed for a convenient vessel. He had fleeced the miners out of more than $200,000.
Government men took up the chase and were soon on his heels. They were ten days behind him when he disembarked at the Isthmus of Panama. They followed him through the jungle and were a week behind him when he embarked for New York. They were hot on his trail when he arrived in this country, and they unerringly made a beeline for Boston, Ohio. They arrived two weeks after Brown's arrival and just two days after the counterfeiter's burial. He had died of jungle fever contracted during his flight across the isthmus. The chagrined detectives suspected a trick and were not satisfied until the body was exhumed.
Frantically they searched the grave and other possible hiding places. There was $200,000 in gold dust secreted somewhere. They remained in the neighborhood for months. But no gold was found. Just what happened to the major portion of the Brown Gang's loot has remained a mystery all these years.
Charles Peterson, at the age of eighty eight, is one of the few still alive who remember the Browns. "I remember Jim Brown very well," he said while he paused from his work of sorting dahlias at his Peninsula home. "Of course we have done a lot of guessing as to what became of the immense fortune secreted by the gang, but most of us old fellows gave up the search long ago. I remember when Jim Brown died. In 1865 he attempted to jump from one canal boat to another, but miscalculated the distance and was crushed between the two boats."
Throughout the three quarters of a century since the Browns prospered at Boston, the persistent search for a treasure has resulted in some success. In the year 1865 some school children at Yellow Creek found an old oyster can that contained almost $4,000 in money. From time to time small quantities of coin have turned up. Two years ago excitement was fanned to fresh flames when particles of gold dust were found by the Tesmers of Boston. It was assumed that the free gold had been washed down from the Brown cache on higher land. Immediately an intensive hunt began. The net result is that Walter Tesmer obtained enough gold for a finger ring. The major cache was not discovered.
The quest for hidden treasure in the northerly portion of Summit County just over the Cuyahoga County line started many years ago with the death of the last of the Brown clan. Searchers for wealth become discouraged and excitement dies down. Then someone makes an accidental find and the search is started all over again. One fact of importance sticks out: the amount of loot that has been found is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the vast fortune that is still hidden and unaccounted for.
Two years ago such a find was made in the Richfield sector. Soon after this, Walter Tesmer, a foreman at the Sleepy Hollow Golf Club, reported the finding of loose gold dust on a farm in Boston Township. Miss Clara Tesmer, a sister, discovered particles of gold in the craws of chickens.
Boston Township, just south of Brecksville and east of Richfield, was, a century ago, much more important than it is now. Among other things, Boston manufactured potato whiskey and castor oil, sovereign remedy for snake bites. Later it was the center for the manufacture of paper bags. Altogether, it was one of the best known villages in Ohio. Among other things, it boasted a pretentious hotel. This was presided over and was the headquarters of the Brown Gang of counterfeiters. The hotel barn was a workshop out of which came counterfeit United States coins, and from its printing presses came fake bonds representing the State of Vermont, the State of Michigan, the States of Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, and Louisiana, and the Chinese empire. The State of Ohio was not represented in these peculations and, in fact, no counterfeit coins were ever passed by the Browns in any of the towns in the vicinity of their operations.
With the opening of the Ohio Canal, there came to Boston and nearby villages the choicest assembly of crooks that had so far gathered in any one community in the country. Gambling was as common as drunkenness. And drunkenness was rampant with a distillery at every crossroads.
Jim Brown, the acknowledged counterfeiter leader, was a man of unusual personal attraction. He stood three inches above six feet and was as handsome as he was big. On one occasion a bolt of lightning felled him to the ground. When he recovered he boasted: "God Almighty is the only one who ever threw me on my back". He was a great money spender and buyer of drinks, not only in his own hotel, but at Richfield, Copley, Bath, Northfield, and Brecksville. But he was temperate in his habits. During the early part of his career as a gang leader, he never drank whiskey. He broke this rule just once, and not only caused the failure of his most important raid, but landed him in jail for the first time.
At their Boston headquarters, the gang had the finest penmen in the world. They had expert engravers and metallurgists. Afield, they had representatives, passers of the "queer" in almost every city and village. These agents were wonderfully organized and cooperated beautifully when it became necessary for the leaders to wriggle out of a tight spot. The "take" of the counterfeiters was enormous. It is said that it amounted to more than a million dollars a year.
The most ambitious of the exploits of the gang failed. This was the proposed looting of the Orient. In the winter of 1832 they procured a large schooner at New Orleans. They had the vessel equipped with printing presses, dyes, furnaces, and other necessities, and enough bond paper to print $2,000,000 in spurious money. In addition to this, they had already printed US government notes amounting to $1,500,000. Their plans were perfect. After cleaning up in Hong Kong, they were to move over to India. It was their final intention to load the vessel for the return trip with spices, silks, and other valuable cargo.
But something unforeseen happened. Jim Brown did two things he had never done before. To celebrate the success of the adventure he got drunk, and he talked. The result was that when he and his companions boarded the ship ready to sail, they were greeted by government officials who placed the entire gang under arrest and confiscated all legal and illegal property.
The Browns were caught at last. They did a powerful lot of squirming, but in the end were found guilty. Daniel Brown died in prison. James Brown served a sentence in the Ohio penitentiary, and on his release was honored by his fellow townsmen who elected him justice of the peace. This was the end of the elder Browns so far as crime was concerned. Although he lived until 1865 Jim Brown never again, so far as is known, transgressed the law.
HOWEVER, there was a young fellow growing up who was destined to carry on the Brown tradition. He was Dan Brown, Jr., son of the Brown who died in jail. Lacking the fine physique of father and uncle, he was more than their equal in brainwork. For many years he managed to elude the law. In the year 1852 he pulled off a classic that was worthy of all the education he had received in the Brown school of crime.
In the fall of 1851 he arrived in Sacramento, California. At that time, the gold rush was at its height. Gold was heavy and was hard to transport. When a personable gentleman appeared with a plentiful supply of ten-dollar bank notes representing the Missouri State Bank, he was literally mobbed by customers. And then a curious thing happened. For the first time in history victims actually paid a five per cent bonus in exchanging honest gold dust for worthless counterfeit paper. Sheriff Lane of Summit County who had forsaken his badge and his office in the gold rush, was in Sacramento at this time. He met and recognized Brown. The latter was alarmed, and while Lane was organizing a vigilante committee, Brown headed for a convenient vessel. He had fleeced the miners out of more than $200,000.
Government men took up the chase and were soon on his heels. They were ten days behind him when he disembarked at the Isthmus of Panama. They followed him through the jungle and were a week behind him when he embarked for New York. They were hot on his trail when he arrived in this country, and they unerringly made a beeline for Boston, Ohio. They arrived two weeks after Brown's arrival and just two days after the counterfeiter's burial. He had died of jungle fever contracted during his flight across the isthmus. The chagrined detectives suspected a trick and were not satisfied until the body was exhumed.
Frantically they searched the grave and other possible hiding places. There was $200,000 in gold dust secreted somewhere. They remained in the neighborhood for months. But no gold was found. Just what happened to the major portion of the Brown Gang's loot has remained a mystery all these years.
Charles Peterson, at the age of eighty eight, is one of the few still alive who remember the Browns. "I remember Jim Brown very well," he said while he paused from his work of sorting dahlias at his Peninsula home. "Of course we have done a lot of guessing as to what became of the immense fortune secreted by the gang, but most of us old fellows gave up the search long ago. I remember when Jim Brown died. In 1865 he attempted to jump from one canal boat to another, but miscalculated the distance and was crushed between the two boats."
Throughout the three quarters of a century since the Browns prospered at Boston, the persistent search for a treasure has resulted in some success. In the year 1865 some school children at Yellow Creek found an old oyster can that contained almost $4,000 in money. From time to time small quantities of coin have turned up. Two years ago excitement was fanned to fresh flames when particles of gold dust were found by the Tesmers of Boston. It was assumed that the free gold had been washed down from the Brown cache on higher land. Immediately an intensive hunt began. The net result is that Walter Tesmer obtained enough gold for a finger ring. The major cache was not discovered.