Money Diggers: America’s Buried-Treasure Tradition and Its Charleston Connection

Long before the California Gold Rush, Americans were already digging for sudden wealth. These treasure hunters, often called Money Diggers, searched for coins, bullion, pirate chests, Spanish mines, and valuables supposedly hidden during wars. The practice became especially visible in the Northeast between about 1780 and 1830. It combined economic hope, local folklore, Christian belief, folk magic, and the dream that one discovery could transform a person’s life.

Money digging usually began with a story. A neighbor might claim that pirates had buried a chest near a river, that soldiers had concealed a payroll, or that Spaniards had abandoned a mine. Searchers examined marked trees, unusual stones, mysterious lights, and old cellars, but physical clues were only the beginning. Many groups employed astrologers, divining-rod users, dream interpreters, or “glass lookers” who stared into crystals or seer stones and claimed to see objects hidden beneath the earth.

A typical Money Digger expedition took place at night, sometimes at an astrologically selected hour. Participants carried tools, lanterns, and sometimes a Bible. The leader might draw a protective circle, recite prayers, or instruct everyone to remain silent. Buried Money was believed to be guarded by a ghost, demon, murdered pirate, or supernatural animal. If anyone spoke, became frightened, or violated the ritual, the guardian could move the chest, sink it deeper, or change it into worthless stones. This belief explained repeated failure while encouraging another attempt.

The participants were socially diverse. More than forty northeastern episodes involved small groups of rural people. They were not simply ignorant outsiders. Benjamin Franklin observed in 1729 that even people “of very good sense” had joined the search because they wanted sudden wealth. In cash-poor communities, land and labor did not guarantee security. Money offered escape from debt, poor soil, limited opportunity, and slow social advancement. For many families, Money promised dignity, independence, and security – a reality that is true today.

Almost no supernatural expedition produced a verified treasure. Joseph Smith’s 1825 work for Josiah Stowell, who believed a Spanish silver deposit existed in Pennsylvania, ended without success. Smith later said the employment paid fourteen dollars per month but was not profitable, and records indicate that he encouraged Stowell to stop digging. Real buried valuables did exist. Captain William Kidd concealed treasure on Gardiners Island, New York, before his arrest, and authorities recovered it. Such discoveries strengthened false rumors. Money Diggers could point to one authentic hoard as proof that another might remain nearby.

Several public figures became connected to the tradition. Franklin attacked treasure hunting as a dangerous substitute for industry and thrift. Washington Irving transformed the belief into literature in “The Money-Diggers,” published in 1824. Joseph Smith participated directly as a young treasure seer before organizing the Latter-day Saint movement. Edgar Allan Poe later brought the buried-treasure imagination to the Charleston area through “The Gold-Bug,” his popular 1843 story set on Sullivan’s Island.

Charleston was an ideal setting for such stories because its pirate history was real. Piracy flourished along the South Carolina coast during the colony’s early years and again near the end of the Golden Age of Piracy. In May 1718, Blackbeard blockaded Charleston Harbor for about a week, captured ships and hostages, and demanded medical supplies. The pirate Stede Bonnet also operated in Charleston, hid on Sullivan’s Island after escaping custody, and was executed in Charleston later that year. These events placed pirates, valuable cargo, specie, secrecy, and violence inside Charleston’s living memory.

However, historians should distinguish Charleston folklore from documented organized activity. No strong surviving evidence proves that Charleston experienced a large, coordinated Money Digger craze like rural New England. Charleston nevertheless possessed the cultural foundation: pirate traffic, isolated islands, marshes, old plantations, war disruptions, hidden valuables, and supernatural traditions. A local legend associated with 37 Meeting Street tells of a pirate captain’s buried treasure and a crewman who remains its guardian. The story follows the same pattern found in northern treasure lore, although it cannot be treated as proof that the treasure or search actually existed.