Lewis/Carter County Silver Mines

The following is from news paper accounts of Swift, Waite and Sprinkle. I will be adding more later. As for swift, he came looking for one of his upper mines with the carving of a triangle carved on a rock near the headwaters of kinnicnick creek. the story goes that he was sick and went on to lexington kentucky and died there. there is a john swift buried there in the old grave yard.
But, we have another john swift that came and stayed with the catlett family. Cattlettburg Ky. is named for them. the catlett family took care of him until he died. Now, in the old family grave yard there is a small marker with J. swift 180? a 2 maybe 3 cannot tell. This story and waybill i will be adding later   

Silver Mines on Kinny. — The following letter is from the Portsmouth Press, the latter part from the author of the Press letter direct to the author:

A Silver Article


Recently the Press contained a letter from a gentleman who knew the Waites, who used to make silver money in Adams County. That letter stirred up Mr. W. R. Beatty, Sr., of Sciotoville, who kindly contributes the following interesting information relative to the subject:

"Editor Press. — Having seen the articles in your columns relative to the discovery of silver in Adams County, O., and the mention of a Swift and Montgomery coming to Maysville kentucky and searching main kinnicnick for a mine. Sprinkle dollar, the family of Jonathan Waite and the so-called 'Waite dollar,' I thought the following would be of interest to your readers. "The log cabin referred to by your former correspondent was a veritable mint where thousands of silver dollars were coined, which passed as current as the coin of the realm. "But Waite could not work ore so impure as that found in Adams County. The Waite dollar was made from the ore just as found, without refining, and contained more silver than the American dollar. "Waite procured his ore on Kinniconnick, in Lewis County, Ky. My great uncle, Andrew Beatty, discovered the mine in 1812, and it was through the intimacy of his and my father's family that Waite came to a knowledge of the mine.
"Andrew Beatty's prospecting extended from the head of main Kinny to within twelve miles of Boone Furnace. Here the ore became impure, and was not traced further. This territory embraces nearly the whole of Lewis and Carter Counties. My uncle, after many failures to open and work the mines, died upon the eve of success, and none of my ancestors ever made any further attempt in that direction. "Waite was interested in the matter, and one day came to my grandfather's and told him that, as it appeared that they would never get to do anything with the mines legally, he intended to make immediate arrangements to begin 'free coinage.' My grandfather tried to persuade him not to do so, but when he would not be persuaded, he gave him several hundred weight of the ore, which he then had in his possession, and this ore made the first installment of Waite dollars.
Waite took into his confidence a smart Yankee, who assumed an Irish character, and who was supposed to be insane. He was known as Billie Johnson. Billie was not infrequently absent for months. His business was to transport the ore to the Ohio River, at a point now known as the Boone Furnace landing, it being taken across the river in a 'dug-out' and concealed in a place
agreed upon. Waite was very ingenious, and divided his time between his mine and the furnace.

"Waite's phenomenal success induced parties in Highland County, whose names I do not care to mention, to increase their finances by the same method, and thousands of dollars were made there. The quality of this ore may well be guessed, when it is remembered that there was not a mile of wagon-road between Highland County and Kinniconnick, and the only means of
transportation was the pack mule.
"A man named Sprinkle, of Kentucky, was the next to enter the ring. (I know that some will dispute this and claim that the scene of Sprinkle's operations was in Virginia.) The principal scene of his operations was on Laurel Fork of Kinny, and they were of no mean proportions, either. Sprinkle often crossed the river at Greenup, and his first stopping place on this side was
at a house near what is known as Giant Oak Mills, on Pine Creek. On these occasions he was always loaded, but he much oftener made his way to Vanceburg, and many a goodly structure in that vicinity owes its existence to Sprinkle dollars. (Two Sprinkle dollars are now owned in Vanceburg.) The next to take the cue was Shepherd, of Kentucky fame. The scene of his
operations was about fifteen miles from Boone Furnace, Ky. "Shepherd was a regular 'moonshiner,' and had a smelter of no mean proportions concealed in the mountains, which was guarded night and day. He was soon trapped, and was sent to the penitentiary for eight years. The ore worked by him was not very good, and gave him a good deal of trouble to flux it. It is to be found about ten miles beyond Boone Furnace, where my uncle left off prospecting. "The next to add to the circulating medium was George Wright & Co., of near Haverhill, in this county. Shepherd having served his time in prison, returned to
his old haunts and questionable ways. Wright and others, all well-to-do farmers in the vicinity of Haverhill, O., formed an acquaintance with him, and undertook to work the ore on this side the river. Wright was an ingenious mechanic, but the impurities of the ore baffled him. Shepherd came to his relief by smelting the ore in his furnace, and casting it in long strips the exact thickness and width of a half dollar. These bars were taken to a trysting place near Greenup and turned over
to Wright. Wright procured a powerful machine from Cincinnati. This machine was working with a lever, and every stroke made a half dollar. But the old proverb — 'The wicked are taken in their own craftiness' — was here verified. A slight indiscretion of one of the parties revealed their little scheme. Wright went up for five years, the others for a shorter term. "Shepherd was indiscreet, and being closely watched, soon found himself the second time in 'limbo,' and went up for a long term, dying before his time expired.

"I have endeavored to give a brief and connected outline of the principal actors upon this curious drama. Many others of lesser note might have been instanced, but to follow the devious wanderings of all would make this too long a newspaper article.

"The question may well be asked, what became of all this spurious coin? The answer is easy: "Having once passed into circulation, it could not be distinguished from the genuine, because it was silver. After becoming a very little worn, the slight defect of execution could not be noticed; and if any one should receive a Waite or Sprinkle dollar to-day he would be
satisfied to know that it was silver without having it tested for the copper alloy. They are all in circulation, and if you should chance to have two dollars in your pocket, one from Waite's and the other from the United States mint, you can not tell 'which is which.'

What a great article Boomer!

It sure would have been nice to find the previous articles the writer was mentioning. Kinni is a pretty long creek and as I understand it full of rattlesnakes. Not that I would let that stop me from looking. Do you think these guys found one of Swift's mines or a separate  place?

This is just a small part of stories you can find in news papers. most counties had a monthly are weekly news paper and old land and court records are a gold mine. 

"This article would seem incomplete without a brief outline of the circumstances that led to the discovery of silver by my ancestors in the territory here named. One who has ever visited Kinny will be surprised at the number of weird traditions related to him by the old settlers, and would find it a hard task to trace the traditions back to their origin. In the year 1776 a small
party of men were making their way from the East to the new settlements of Kentucky. On the journey they were attacked by Indians, and one of their number, named McCormick, was taken prisoner. He was taken to the head of Kinny, where the main body of Indians were encamped. He was tied to a stake, and they proceeded to roast him after the manner of their instinct.
As the Indians were firing the fagots, three white men approached. The three white men proved to be French missionaries, who interfered and saved McCormick's life. On the day following an Indian brought into camp a specimen of pure silver, which excited the curiosity of these Frenchmen. Upon making inquiry they found that it existed in abundance near the camp. After a careful investigation they decided to work the mine, and one of the men — De Burtte by name — and an Indian started to Fort Pitt for men and material. In due time they returned with sixteen other Frenchmen, and proceeded to build a small smelter, to make char-
coal, and to open the mine. Twenty of the Indians remained with the French, and they continued their operations for the space of nearly three years. The Revolution was now in full blast, and the Indians went on the war path. Nearly the entire product of this
mine, consisting of silver bars, was concealed near the scene of operations. The above is a condensed statement of De Burtte's story, given in writing thirty-five years later. Andrew Beatty had discovered the old furnace and the old mine, and had prospected the entire country from the head of main Kinny to near the Spheherd mine, and had found many rich deposits of silver before he ever saw De Burtte's statement. Perhaps the richest of these is on Laurel Fork. My father had what he considered some 'lean samples' of this ore assayed, which yielded seventy per cent of silver.

But this article has increased in length far beyond my expectations, and I am not through. If it should seem to interest any one, I may have more to say hereafter. W. R. Beatty, Sr."

"If any one is curious to locate the old mine worked by the French and Indians, they will proceed up main Kinny until they come to the property owned, in A. D. 1867, by a man named Coleman. About one mile above the Coleman residence, a long, deep hollow intersects Kinny on the right as you face up stream. At the mouth of this hollow (in the fifties) stood a log cabin owned and occupied by a man known as Billy Burriss. The cabin burned down long since. This cabin stood on nearly the exact spot where McCormick was tied to the stake, and also on the spot occupied by the little smelter which was built by the French, and is truly an historic spot. Standing on this spot, with the face up Kinny, the old mine is on the left, a short distance up the hill, and is an object of much interest. It is easily found, and presents a strange appearance. The furnace, when found by my uncle, was compeltely in ruins. All the mining tools and implements used by them were in the furnace, and a small portion of their last heat
was chilled in the crucible.

"I know that geologists will and do say that the geological conditions of Southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky preclude the possibility of the precious metals, but since the declaration of these geologists silver has been discovered in Adams County, Ohio, and I speak the words of truth when I say that I know there are rich silver mines in Lewis and Carter Counties; and further,
some as rich specimens of gold quartz as I ever saw were found on the dividing ridge between main Kinny and Triplet Creek. I have been in many placer gold mines, and I wish to say with emphasis that the locality here named shows every evidence of free gold. Has there ever been a single panful of dirt washed in all this region?

"W. R. Beatty."

Boomer this is most excellent! I have tried a few old newspapers but nothing was there like what you have found! This is most interesting because of the historical aspects and the location of it all. Henson had been there at the smelter, but he didn't seem to have near as much info as you do. That 70 percent is no doubt what Sprinkle and Waite were into! Just like the previous article suggests. Keep it coming Boomer, man we have missed you!

if you run a line from sandy hook ky. up to the mouth of kinniconick creek. all the silver locations are 5 miles ether side of the line. i have about 2 dozen other articles on silver and some gold for the area. i think sprinkle got his silver near his cabin and some where is his coins. i wonder where his furnace is thats the key. that ridge past boone furnace. thats the starting point.

This little bit was from the greenup news paper in 1932.

11/1/1932

Greenup: Enthusiasm for a treasure hunt stirred this town today following the discovery in a cave of 12 nuggets which apparently are gold.

The cave discovered by two boys,  John and Troy Holbrook also contained Indian relics and a petrified human arm.

the cave is in an obscure place 18 miles south west of here near the Carter County line.

The nuggets have withstood acid tests for gold.

Over the years small nuggets have been found near the boat ramp on the little sandy river at greenup. also at the mouth of tygarts creek. if this is correct the location would be some where between iron hill and the entrance to carter caves state park on tygarts creek or one of the branches? a lot of oldtime railroaders from greenup, carter and lewis county, all farmers. know the areas well. some have verified the story.     

Hmmm this fits into the other posts about the guy who worte to the newspaper about gold in that area! Please keep thes pieces coming Boomer! I feel like a spunge, just trying to soak it all in.

Great Storys....  

Boomer:

     I actually live in Catlettsburg and was wondering if you have any info. on the location of this old graveyard..  I am like Curtis and just trying to soak all this in..  Very interesting stuff.. Keep it coming..

Thanx 

   Casey

You might check with the library, they should have a section on genealogy, they will have a subsection on all the grave yards. Some places even have lists of the people buried in those grave yards.It will probably be lists and locations of both public and private. Then you have the ones that do the rubbings, they take special paper and place it on the grave stone, then rub it with every thing form charcoal to crayolas. Bound to be someone to help you....but then Boomer might already know right where it is.

Boomer,

Any more likely treasure stuff around the Carter/Elliott/Lewis/Green up Counties?  The stuff on the guy from Portsmouth newspaper was some of the best I've read on Tnet or any other site...it rang true and was very much appreciated!

there have been recorded on early topo maps the location of silver and gold mines in kentucky. but most have been removed from the newer topo maps, except for 8 i know of, here is one that is located just east of the dam at grayson lake. notice it says mines not mine? look at the areas around silver mines creek. see the places that have the word mine, could those be silver mine openings?
going on rt. 7 from grayson, just before you get to the dam there is a road that heads east rt. 1496. go about 3 miles and you will come to this location.

I remember seeing those (back in early 80s) on the maps the guy who got me into treasure hunting had. I bought the newer ones and they were not on them.

 Good catch Boomer, have you been into that area?

only one time, just looking around. there was a locked gate there. never did go back.

Boomer,

Was that a state park gate? I will be going to the Caney area when the shoulder heals up sometime at the end of April I hope I'll check that area out if its state land, if private will try to find land owner. Any chance in meeting you there?

Curtis, because of a man running a red light, i will be out of action for another month. the silver mines branch is private land. below is the rest of the map. notice, from the dam, heading east the line of ore seems to run in a line tying in with silver mines branch. when they where digging out the dam site, a vein of silver was found, running east and west. this story was in the huntington west va. news paper. east of the dam a guy from the boat dock showed me part of an ore vain that ran down in to the water. i donot know if this was silver or not.

I know what you mean about the red light...I just had rotator cuff surgery because a guy ran a stop sign in front of me while I was doing 45mph! Have been laid up since last week in February...just go the sling off today! I hope you are able to recover quickly, sure would like to meet you out there! 

I am toying with trying to buy a small piece of land out near Caney and tow a camper or build a small house...the hotel/motels stays are starting to mount up to were it may be cheaper! ha ha I have stayed in most of them in Grayson (I do like the one over by Pizzahut the best so far). Boomer have you ever thought of putting all this stuff you know into a book? Maybe its something a few of us could do together?

OK, we have a name and he was plowing a field. now were? i wonder about the year of the coins. could it be 1528, 1628 or 1728.
than again someone could of collected the coins and than hid them for safe keeping. when was the years for the spanish milled dollar? guess its back to the land records.

5/19/1894

Deputy Sheriff George W. Castle of Carter County, while plowing recently
discovered a quantity of silver coins among  which were some Spanish milled dated 1428.

I would venture 1628 the 1400s seem a little early. That would be a great palce to check out further...might be more there!

Lewis county:
  The evening bulletin. Maysville, ky. December 05, 1890

It sure would be nice if they had a follow up article, that really makes me curious about where they actually looked for it at. At 113 when the article was written make the Indian born in about 1777 and may have been 10 years old when Swift cam back, or was told the facts later on.

I have read different stories where Indians came back to KY, OH, and IN to look for things their tribe had left behind. For them to venture all that way you know there was someting to it. They must not have found it, but if we were in an area he was certain of I could use the device I have, it would locate the mine like I did the ones on the waybill. Just need to be with in a half mile of it.

The name John Swindell is not well known outside Carter and Lewis Counties. I guess he was vary secretive about what he was doing, but the law new about him. most counterfeiters of the day made solid silver coins and this kept them out of jail. Not old Swindell, he and his buddies liked to mix a lead/silver mixture. Has the story goes, he got his ore some where around Carter Caves State Park and used one of the caves there to melt out the ore. The cave that was used was the salt peter cave better known in the old days as Swindell's cave. The cave got its name from the war of 1812, when the salt peter was used in the making of gun powder. Look at the photo below, you can still see the salt peter vats. See how confined it is, would you put a furnace in there? Why the smoke alone would run you out. This may have been where they met and slept. The Furnace would have been some where else. i did find some burnt rock in front of bat cave and a few drops of silver did melt out. At cascade cave, at the mouth of the cave a small furnace was found. Danial Boone's son Jesse Bryan Boone was a lawyer in the town of Greenup, ky. and became the high sheriff there. Boone and a posse went to carter caves and arrested the group for counterfeiting. The next post is about the same location.     

Carter Caves State Park: This is a legend that is told by the guide at the salt peter cave about an Indian Princess and a solid silver tomahawk/peace pipe. Trouble with it being a fance legend is that a solid silver tomahawk/peace pipe was found and displayed at the first bank at Greyson, Ky. Wonder where the mine could be and did Swindell get his silver from the same place. One store has it that Jesse Boone's men, when searching the salt peter cave found this indian princess grave.

Hello Boomer,                                                                                   05/24/2010

    Hows it going, I hope good!!!... I read your post on Carter County, "pretty interesting" stories.  I been to Carter Caves several times and Cascade Caverns, it is an interesting area for sure, it is not to far from Grayson.  I was wondering if you are going to be at the Grayson Lake State Park camp-out, ("For the Meeting of the Minds") get-together.  There are several of us who are commited and going for sure, we "punched" our buttons on the "commit list" posted in the John Swift T-net forum.  We definitely have some campsites available for everybody and we are going to meet at the Grayson Lake Dam area just next to the Dam on June 26th.  Some people are bringing boats and also we can rent some boats at the lake "without reserving" them, pontoones etc., if we want!!!.  Camping is only $20/night per camp site, with water and electric if we all/people wants to rent "them".  There are also plenty of primative camping areas, easily accessible around the lake area as well, if we all/people want to use them instead, the Frontiersman "says", he knows of several primative campsites in the area.  We will figure it all out better after we arrive and get everybody together on June 26th, at the Dam.  
    I hope to see you there, so I can see some of the carvings you post about in the forum, the Frontiersman, "says", he knows of a few carvings in the area as well, etc.  I am looking forward to meeting you and everybody, I know if nothing else, we will all have fun and some interesting stories to share, etc.  Hope you can make it.!!  Mike Steely said he is, "maybe" considering coming as well, pending more details about the camp-out.  If you hear from "Ki" ask him to ring in on Tnet, I ain't heard from him in awhile, thanks and have a good day!!! Email me if you want @ atrail4me@msn.com

The Swizard

    SE KY is of GREAT interest!      Coffee?

there have been recorded on early topo maps the location of silver and gold mines in kentucky. but most have been removed from the newer topo maps, except for 8 i know of, here is one that is located just east of the dam at grayson lake. notice it says mines not mine? look at the areas around silver mines creek. see the places that have the word mine, could those be silver mine openings?
going on rt. 7 from grayson, just before you get to the dam there is a road that heads east rt. 1496. go about 3 miles and you will come to this location.

Most of the later coal mines could be found on this website.  Real old ones won't.  You could check and see what it shows for this area.

http://minemaps.ky.gov/Default.aspx?Src=InteractiveMaps

 

Ya know, re-reading this article , fires me up!! ready to go lookin' for silver! Awsome Stuff!!

    GOOD LUCK... HH!    Coffee? 

Some people just drink coffee and never post their finds or their research..because they don't have'em? Others put boot on the ground and share...Boomers stuff is great research, have you done any on the subject? thought not-- have another cup dude.

UhOh, somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning   

   LOL, ll !   Curtis, if YOU are "asking me"... I AM A RESEARCHER, and as a VIRGINIAN, I am interested in the Swift Mines; I HAVE been to SW VA... BUT!  MY focus is on Civil War relics (originally from the Shenandoah Valley)... found LOTS of cannon balls, minnie balls, bullets, have CSA Paper money passed down via family, buttons, etc.  AND!  LOTS of arrow/spear heads, pottery shards from Shawnee "Indians" along the  Shenandoah River... AND! have training as an archeologist (frontier homes- Shenandoah Valley; Rockingham & Augusta Counties)... so yeah... my "boots have been on the ground".    NOW! MY research has focus on Lynchburg & Bedford County, Virginia, with SOME "foot work"... for the BEALE TREASURE.    As far as I am concerned research by boomer is BEST for the Swift Mines... so GOOD LUCK & HH to all; may YOU find the treasures that YOU seek!

Hello Rebel,
    How ya doin?, I hope great!  I have done some good map work on the Beale fortune, with the code information.  My father is dead now, he died back in "89" but he had done much work on the code that describes the location of the vault.  I went to Montvale Valley and searched the surrounding gaps and mountains several times looking for the vault since then.  I have applied/used the code numbers according to my father's hunch.  I have used certain numbers in the code to survey out possible locations for the vault, according to Beale's description of the vault and its location.  I have a good survey I have never got to check out yet, but its promising, its according to Masonic symbology.  I have googled or map/viewed the topographical survey I have done to get a better perspective, of where it is positioned.  Fair possibility it might be where I got it, if it ain't been found yet, won't know until I get back down to Virginia to search again.  Virginia is not exactly in my backyard as I live in N. KY. Well give me a yell P.M me and we will talk about it.

Sincerely,

Bill N. -aka- The Swizard
 

   Doing fine, Swiz, doing fine!    Glad to see that you and your father (RIP) had info on the "Beale".   Come on over to Beale  Codes (Cipher(s)/Treasure) "thread" on TN Legends, and we will "chat";  I think there is a "connection" between the Swift Mines, Beale Treasure, and the CSA Treasury, which would explain why the FEDS (NSA) are VERY INTERESTED!      AND!  ALL of 'em have the FreeMasonic "connections"      Coffee?