Grandparents
When God created Grandparents,
The world was truly blessed
With all the special joys,
That makes a family happiest.
For grandparents know how to do the
Little things that warm our hearts…
They touch our lives with love and care
Right from the very start.
They show that they believe in us
And all we’re dreaming of…
When God created grandparents,
He blessed our lives with love…
Author Unknown
From the program of the Rainbow Child Care Grandparents Day…Friday, November 17, 2017
Moses Arron Smith and Jane Boykins Smith are my Mother’s parents.
I did not know Grandma Jane; she died when I was two. According to several census records, Jane Boykin Smith was born between 1873 and 1880. She died on November 16, 1944; I turned two on December 14, 1942. She was somewhere between 64 & 72. Grandma Jane was born in Surry County, across the James River from the historical sites of Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. Her parents are Maria Jones Boykins and Willis Boykins, Sr. She has three sisters, Ida Boykins Scott, Rosa Boykins Roane, and Elizabeth (Lizz) Boykins Turner. She has two brothers, Henry and Willis Jr. Boykins.
As a kid, I listened to my mother and cousin Esther talk about their mothers. Cousin Esther’s mom was Aunt Lizz. Mom said she had to stand in front of or touch Grandma Jane so she could see her face. By doing that, she’d be able to read her lips. My mom and cousin Esther talked about Aunt Rose and Aunt Liz for Elizabeth. Grandma Jane married Poppa in Warwick County, Virginia, on February 1, 1900, when she was 18. Depending on where the information came from, the name can be spelled Boykins or Boykin. We spell it, Boykins.
Let me share my Grandpa Moses’s Story. I called him Poppa; I remember him well. As you will read, Poppa was an incredible man, especially for the times in which he lived. Moses Aaron Smith was born on July 5, 1867, on a former Plantation on Mulberry Island near Jamestown, VA, where his parents were enslaved. He died on December 10, 1956, 4 days before my 15th birthday. He lived to be 89. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.” On December 18, 1865, Secretary of State William Seward announced that the United States had constitutionally abolished slavery — the 13th Amendment was ratified, and Poppa was born free.
Mulberry Island is a small peninsula located between the James and Warwick Rivers. Its name comes from the native Virginia mulberry tree (Morus rubra) that once grew in abundance. Here, the course of American history changed. In June of 1610, when the starving colonists abandoned Jamestown, it was at Mulberry Island that they met Lord De La Warr’s longboats. Receiving news of the arrival of supplies and reinforcements, they returned to Jamestown and saved the Virginia Colony.
Probably inhabited in the first decade of English colonization, the “island” suffered severe losses in the Indian massacre of 1622, and its few survivors returned to Jamestown. By 1624, however, there were 30 residents in the area.
Early experiments with silk culture were unsuccessful, but the land proved ideal for planting John Rolfe’s sweet-scented tobacco. Rolfe, Secretary and Recorder General of the Virginia Colony when he married Pocahontas in 1614, was a joint owner of 1.700 acres on the island.
Mulberry Island, located in early governmental districts, did not become a part of Warwick until 1634. No records exist for these earliest districts or the ancient Mulberry Island Parish. Only fragments of Warwick County’s records survived the Civil War. Early land grant records in the Library of Virginia first mention Mulberry Island in 1614. These documents give owners names, dates, and locations, often naming neighbors and relatives.
At the turn of the 20th century, Mulberry Island was still predominantly farmland and pasture. Its African-American community had grown considerably due to the Bureau of Refugees’ resettlement programs. By 1918, African-American families owned at least 61 parcels on Mulberry Island, compared to the 42 parcels held by white families. However, more parcels did not necessarily mean more land or property value. Though whites owned fewer parcels, each parcel averaged 97.95 acres compared to the typical African-American landholding of 22.31 acres (Fesler 1993).
While working on the Curtis farm, Poppa courted and married Dolly Jones, daughter of Cue Jones, around 1893, and they had two children. Moses and Dolly had their first child, a daughter they named Eliza, after Dollie’s mother, Eliza Jones. She died from pneumonia as an infant in 1893. Clarence Spencer Smith was born on December 22, 1895. Around 1898, Dolly and Moses had a brief separation, and young Clarence went to live with his grandmother, Eliza Jones. After about a year and a half, Dolly was returning to Mulberry Island when the boat she was traveling in capsized in the York River. Dolly drowned, young Clarence was four years old, and he lived with his grandmother until he was about 11 or 12.
A few years later, Poppa married my Grandma Jane Boykins in Lee Hall, Virginia, on February 1, 1900. They had four daughters, Mary, Cuttie, Elnora, and Lucille, my Mother, and five sons, Moses Jr., Samuel, John, Alexander, and Joseph. On November 16, 1944, Grandma Jane died in Lee Hall, VA. I turned two on December 14 that year.
Poppa was a hard-working farmer who worked as a handyman on his parents’ former enslaver’s farm, as did his parents. He earned little money throughout his lifetime, yet he had a genuine character, a solid work ethic, and a deep devotion to his family. Poppa did not have a formal education and learned to read independently. He proved trustworthy, honest, and dependable in all his endeavors.
At the turn of the century in 1900, life was reasonably good for the Black families on Mulberry Island. They were farming, living independently, and raising their children in a loving and peaceful environment. They had their church, Colossian Baptist, where Poppa was one of the founders. They also had a primary school, productive farms, and fruit orchards.
On March 19, 1918, the federal government purchased Mulberry Island for $538,000, averaging about $65 per acre. The military occupation happened so fast that the residents had little time to evacuate. Families were given just 30 days to move whatever they could, including any burials on their property. At least nine family graveyards were known to exist at the time of the island’s purchase, and many of these were not relocated but lost or destroyed during the camp’s construction (FEHAA 1993). Families were cast out quickly, dissolving and dispersing Mulberry Island’s pre-military community. Some left behind deceased loved ones in their tombs, and all had to abandon the Tidewater dwellings where they had made their homes. After their departure, many of these homes became artillery targets (Fesler 1993). Such were the casualties of the military occupation, which rapidly evolved into a bustling training facility. Some residents moved to the Jefferson Park area going south in Warwick County. Some went to Denbigh and York County.
To vote, a Black man had to be a soldier’s son, have a first-year high school education, or have $500 worth of property. Poppa qualified to vote because he owned property valued at over $500. He paid a poll tax and voted in every election.
The Treasure
All the above is written and said about my Poppa. But I was old enough to remember him, and here is what I know.
Poppa bought 27 acres of land on the Endview plantation and moved the family from Mulberry Island to Lee Hall in Warwick County, where he farmed and raised his family. There was much debate about whether his property was in Yorktown or Warwick County.
When we were young kids, Poppa told us that he had a dream about a treasure box buried on his property. In his dream, he could see the exact location of the buried Treasure, but he was warned not to tell anyone about it. His life’s goal was to find and unearth that hidden Treasure that could help his family. During the Civil War, plantation owners often banded together to bury their family’s valuables, such as jewelry, coins, silver, and other precious items, in a large chest or iron strongbox. They did this to prevent the Union armies from seizing their treasures and using them to fund their cause. This practice was common in eastern Virginia, where many plantations existed. When Poppa bought the property in 1918, the deed stated that it was part of the Endview plantation.
Poppa dug and dug for this Treasure for several years. During this time, he worked at Fort Eustis during World War II, first as a janitor for the civilian women’s dormitories, then as a Stewart in the Bachelor officers’ quarters. He then worked as a Houseman for Carter’s Grove Plantation. Carter’s Grove is a 750-acre plantation located on the north shore of the James River in the Grove Community of southeastern James City County. His last employment was as a Sexton at Grace Episcopal Church in Yorktown. He thrilled tourists with his stories of Mulberry Island and Yorktown, as you can see in the newspaper article “Sexton of Grace Church Famous for Stories from Yorktown Sector,” where he tells the history of the church and Mulberry Island.
In late 1946, after much digging, he found something! He could not dig it up by himself, being a man in his late 70s. Yet he was still strong and determined; with a pick and a shovel, he dug a hole 14 feet wide and 14 feet deep. He couldn’t get the chest up alone, so he enlisted the help of the Curtis family of Lee Hall. The Curtis had a steam shovel and a truck with dual tires where they could go into the woods and work in the treasure hole site. But unfortunately, the very people Moses had asked for help confiscated the chest. They sent him to the house to get a larger tool, and when he returned, they were gone, and so was the chest. All his sons except Clarence had moved out of state by this time, and Clarence lived in Newport News.
He went to the Warrick County courthouse to inquire about the chest but was sent home empty-handed. Sheriff Brickford Curtis told him that nothing had been turned in, and if it had, the government would take 90% tax. This discovery created quite a stir. There is a newspaper report of the incident.
There was an investigation, and neighbors were interviewed about seeing a truck with a large box on it that day and time. He tried to get it back. Only thing nothing ever came of it. The reports in the newspaper drew large crowds of people to see the treasure hole filled with green water. Poppa often took us to see the spot when we visited. That was all Poppa talked about for the rest of his life. He couldn’t believe that they had taken the Treasure from him. He knew these people. The people who took the Treasure soon after came into a lot of money and built a large house called the Mansion in Lee Hall. I have Newspaper articles and a copy of what appears to be a formal investigation of the disappearance of the Treasure.
My research has unveiled the following:
I remember going up home (that’s what we called it); we probably stayed with Aunt Mamie, but we spent the day with Poppa. He would let us do whatever we wanted. We would go into the garden and pull up vegetables that we liked, and one time we were there, I think it was Christine and me; someone was living downstairs in the house Poppa lived upstairs. We went into the house and opened all the food and stuff in the refrigerator, the flour and sugar. When the lady came home, she told Poppa someone had been in her house. He told her that it was probably the boy who lived down the road. He would cook, and we wanted to eat what he cooked, but Aunt Mamie would not let us. We could not go upstairs, so we told him to throw the food out the window. I remember wanting to eat some of his chicken feet soup, and he always had some fried fish head.
When we first moved to Newsome Park, he would take the bus to visit us. When he arrived, all the units looked the same, and he did not remember the number. He would walk down the street calling out Momma’s name, Lucille. Lucille. We thought that was so funny. He always carried this suitcase he called his satchel. He would come and sometimes spend the weekend. Momma was always happy when Poppa came for a visit. I can remember one time going to hear him preach…. I can’t remember the service or where it was. Poppa was a licensed Minister; from what I have heard about him, he preached all over Warwick County. He was one of the founding members of the Colossian Baptist Church in Newport News.
I have uncovered some newspaper articles that you will see below. One states the Treasure was found after the investigation and returned. Also, Poppa was waiting for his sons to come home to open it. I have not been able to get all the facts on this article. I know for sure that he did not get the Treasure back. The Treasure has been a topic in my family for as long as I can remember. I have talked to several uncles about the Treasure, and no one has ever said anything about him getting the Treasure back. I know he did not because he told me he did not, so where is the information in the articles coming from? That is a QUESTION I may have to leave you, my Children, Grandchildren, and Great-grandchildren, to figure out. It is a mystery…..
This article ran in the newspaper about his time as a Sexton at Grace Episcopal Church in Yorktown.
Where he thrilled tourists with his stories of Mulberry Island and Yorktown, I called the Grace Episcopal Church and spoke to the administrative assistant. She sent me copies of Poppa’s pay from when he worked there.
“Sexton of Grace Church Famous for Stories from Yorktown Sector”
“Yorktown, August 4, 1946, Moses Smith removed a large wad of chewing gum from his mouth and pressed it against the back of the sign listing the hour of services at Grace Episcopal Church and began to tell a group of tourists something of the life and history of this York Hampton Parish Church.
Moses makes an exciting story about the church built in 1697 from Marl gathered from the banks of the ever-blue York River below the Hill. He tells visitors the Bell was cast in London in 1725. He explained the Bell cracked when it fell in the fire of 1814 and was recast after it was found in a Philadelphia junkyard in 1882.
Moses showed his guest a picture of the communion silver made in London in 1649 and later sent to the York church by Queen Anne. He will pridefully add that it is the oldest communion silver in constant use in America today. With a solemnity tone, he points out that the Queen herself commanded an English Bishop to come to this church in Virginia to administer the sacrament! He reflects something of the former glory of historic Yorktown when he relates that the first confirmation service in Virginia was held in this church in 1791.
For the average Yorktown citizen, the Marcel with which the church is built results from years of shell deposits left as the river receded into its present bed. Moses will tell you, however, that it is a petrified formation of flesh and bones of animals and beasts that were left from an Aleutian World. He explained this has been long ago “when the world was destroyed-may be in the flood that Noah rode out on the Ark.”
Grace Churchyard holds many graves, some of them unmarked. General Thomas Nelson, the greatest dignitary, was buried there, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. After calling attention to his tomb, Moses invariably points to the Nelson House, the chimneys of which can be seen through the trees surrounding the neatly trimmed graveyard, and shows the visitors the house General Nelson’s father built for him as a graduation gift.
Moses Smith is always ready to talk, and the story he tells of himself is as interesting as the one of the church. He was born on Mulberry Island 79 years ago. His parents had been enslaved but are now employed by Humphrey Howard. Born just two years after the war between the states (Civil War), he says he can remember when the breastworks at Yorktown looked like a fresh grave – “the grass hadn’t grown back on them real good, and there warn’t a single tree standing by them.” He also remembers hearing stories about the War of 1812. He recalled his maternal grandmother, who lived to be 105 years old, telling him about the great fires she saw as a girl of 10 when at White Sulfur Springs with the Hampton. (I think this should be Howard.)
Mulberry Island has long since been taken over by the government and is known as Fort Eustis.
After the outbreak of World War One, he went back to Fort Eustis as a janitor in the civilian women’s dormitory. He related that the Hostess for the dormitories was very good to him. He had many pleasant memories of his work with these war workers. All the girls he reflected sent him invitations to their Weddings as they occurred, and though he thought it best not to go, he did send all of them a wedding present when they were married.
When the government cut off appropriations for the janitors, the girls took it upon themselves to pay his salary so that he could care for their quarters. The number was finally so significantly reduced that they could not continue this arrangement, and he went to work for the Bachelor officers.
For seven years, Moses was employed at the Bachelor officers’ quarters. He made many friends with those offices during his employment and had many presents from them to show their appreciation for the favors he gave them. Apparently, most of these gentlemen thought Moses preferred canes because he had about 25 they had given him as their departing gifts. He said that if he could have kept the moths from eating the clothing they gave him, he would have had enough to last a lifetime.
Leaving Fort Eustis, he was employed at Carter’s Grove as a houseman. He was so incredibly impressed with this beautiful River mansion that he wrote a poem about it. He added that he had written numerous poems, but they were all burned when his house was destroyed by fire some years ago. The fire destroyed his collection of photographs given to him by white friends at Fort Eustis and the church during the last 15 years.
Only 8 of his twelve children are still living; three of his sons served with the Navy during the war. These were Samuel Aaron, John Henry, and Alexander Smith. Alexander has reenlisted and is now stationed in Boston.
Even though Moses is a preacher, he will admit to the frailties of man. Once, a prominent Lee Hall family employed him. He accidentally stepped on a chicken’s head while stepping out of the barn. He was a young man fond of chicken, so he gave the foul to his little son to cook for him. That chicken tasted so good that the other two met a similar fate. However, his employer decided to end the manner and let him know in a very subtle way that she knew where her chickens were going and who was committing a wrong. That lady was a fortune teller, too! Moses adds The Lord knows I gotta die and answer for everything, but that’s the onliest time I ever stole a thing in my life.
According to his listeners, Moses was a great preacher, ranking with the top of the Negro licensed preachers in Tidewater, Virginia. Even though he hasn’t been ordained, he is classed among the Negro people of the highest knot. That is easy to believe. If he is as successful in holding the attention of his congregation at a preaching service as he is with those who talked to him and listened to his story of Grace Church, then I am sure he is of the top license of the cloth.” End of article.
News Paper articles on Treasure Chest
PAGE MR. BLACKBEARD! Treasure Warwick Yorktown, September 17.
Moses Smith, aged Negro Sexton of Grace Episcopal Church, has hit the Jackpot again! Communing with obliging spirits for a few days, Moses was instructed to dig in his own yard, on the edge of Lackey, if he wished to uncover a buried treasure of considerable worth. Moses dug.
After pick-and-shoveling to a depth of 14 feet, he uncovered the top of an iron chest. By that time, his 70-year-old muscles rebelled, and he was unable to heave the box up out of the hole. Besides, the dirt had caved in on top, and much more digging was necessary. Although his strength had given out, not his determination. Saturday afternoon, reinforced with a steam shovel gang, Moses dug again.
This time, after a preliminary nibble or two, the hefty teeth of the shovel bit the earth in earnest and, in a short time, uncovered to the excited view of a goodly number of York and Warwick County side-walk superintendents, an antique looking Iron chest of respectable size and weight. For the latter, even the steam shovel was inadequate, and on the first lift, the cable gave way, leaving the chest still at the bottom of the hole and the onlookers considerably deflated.
A second try was successful. Onlookers report that the chest, undoubtedly of considerable age, was taken under police guard to Warwick County courthouse at Denbigh for opening, the spot in which it was unearthed being a short distance across the York County line in Warwick County.
Taylor, an old-time York County Negro resident, has been quoted as saying that the late Thomas Curtis had told him years ago of a chest of family gold and silver buried on their property during the Civil War, but unfortunately, Taylor says, Mr. Curtis did not designate the exact location in which it would be found.
Moses Smith, subject some weeks ago of a featured article in the Daily Press, said at that time that his father and mother had been slaves of the Curtis family and that for many years, he had been employed by different members of that family in various capacities.
Questioned tonight, Warwick County officials admitted hearing about the chest but did not know where it was being held. Considerable comment has been made on ownership of its contents, if any, the most pessimistic legal viewpoint being that the finder of a million dollars is subject to a 90 percent income tax item. Newport News, Virginia Daily Press, 9/18/1946 Page 1& Page 11
SEVEN COME ELEVEN Moses Relates How He Located Chest Yorktown
Moses Smith, aged Negro sexton, who Saturday afternoon ended an 11-year search for buried Treasure and, with the help of a steam shovel owned by a Richmond excavating contractor, turned up an iron chest, today confirmed the story of Its finding and gave a Daily Press reporter the details of his treasure hunt. At work In the churchyard of Grace church, at his usual hour of 7:30, Moses leaned against his lawn-mower and chuckled, “I reckon I told a hundred lies about that money already. White folks don’t believe much In spirits,” he said, and then went on with such a straightforward explanation of his search that his listeners were convinced of his own sincere belief In the source of his information. “Spirits,” says Moses, showed him in dreams that Treasure was buried between two oak trees on his farm.
Before World War I. Moses excavated on the farm, which he then owned on Mulberry Island, now Fort Eustis, but at that time, he found, later buying land on the edge of Lackey, he found on his property two oak trees resembling those he had seen in his dream. Convinced that gold was buried there, he began digging, assisted by neighbors who confirmed his story today. That time, the edge of an Iron chest was uncovered. Although 11 years ago, Moses today gave a graphic description of the labor involved at that time.
The chest, he said, when uncovered, was buried in a deep bed of sand. Around and above it, gravel and oyster shells had been packed to a depth of two feet, and above that, flat stones held In place by a layer of pitch made a solid floor. The pitch, he said, had hardened, and it was no small job of work to break It open with pickaxes. Above the stone floor, the earth had been filled into the level of the surrounding ground. When the chest was seen at that time, an underground stream of water filled up the excavation as fast as it was made, and a force pump was borrowed from Jack Dozier of Lee Hall. Although several men worked at the job, said Moses, they were unable to keep the water down far enough to get hold of the box, the sand underneath undermined by the force of the stream, the chest up-ended and slipped out of sight under the water, and a ledge of rock nearby. “Money,” said Moses at this point, “has got a way of moving around underground. You think you got it, and the first thing you know, it’s gone.”
Unable to remove the chest.
Moses then consulted a spiritualist medium who advised him to wait seven years and try again. Moses waited, which brings the story down to 1941 when he was employed at Fort Eustis and solicited the help of officers stationed there. These officers advised him to wait until the war was over to resume the project. Recently, Moses again approached Fort Eustis personnel with his story and was told that neither the government nor the army could use the equipment for such a purpose. He was advised to consult Warwick County officials. This he did, Moses said, and after considerable delay, a Warwick County official made arrangements with the Richmond firm operating the steam shovel in search of the elusive treasure chest. A contract was drawn up, giving Moses and two members of the firm a cut in whatever “loot” was found. When questioned about the size of the chest, removed Saturday, Moses gave estimated dimensions of about two feet in width by about five feet long. He confirmed. September 18, 1946
Minister Will Sue To Gain “Treasure Chest”
Claiming that the “treasure chest” fund lately near Lackey in Warwick County is the property of himself and other heirs of the late Thomas Wells, Rev. L. Louis Taylor, Negro, of Lackey, told the Daily Press in a letter yesterday that he intended to sue all parties concerned so that he and the other heirs could recover the property. He also announced that he had asked the U.S. Treasury to withhold payment of the money in the chest until the suit was decided. The “treasure chest,” whose discovery was revealed Wednesday, has been a subject of continued interest the past several days throughout the entire Peninsula. In his letter to the Daily Press, Rev. Taylor said, in full: “I wish to call your attention to an article in your publication of September 18, 1946, under the caption Blackbeard’ and a Treasure. “I was quoted as saying the sentences immediately following mentioning my name.
“The facts are these: Concerning the treasure chest found by Moses Smith, a Negro of Warwick County. “The authorities of Warwick County and York County are confused over the exact line between the two counties in this vicinity where the money was found. “I am the oldest living resident of this neighborhood known as “The treasure chest was excavated from the Thomas Wells land in York County. I Informed the York County authorities. It was not found in Warwick County, and neither it nor the land is the property of Moses Smith.
“Thomas Wells was a rich white man who lived in the same spot where Moses Smith now lives and pays his taxes in York County. All the Wells heirs died before Thomas Wells, the original owner. “This white man, Thomas Wells, lived many years after the Civil War but was paralyzed and was taken care of by Armistead Taylor senior and his immediate family of 20 children who pushed Thomas Wells about in an invalid’s chair until his death about 70 years ago. “On his death bed, he told us that his money was burled on his estate but that he was too weak to show us the exact spot, but for us to hold the land for pay for our service, and we buried Thomas Wells not very far from the location where the treasure chest has been found. “We claim the land and the money and will therefore bring a suit against all parties concerned in extracting it from this property and carrying it off. “The Curtis estate from which Moses Smith bought his land doesn’t extend into York County, but instead, he is trying to hold land in York County under a Warwick County deed from the late Thomas Shields, who inherited land from his mother’s interest in the Curtis estate. “I am notifying the U.S. treasury department today to withhold payment until the Armistead Taylor heirs have settled the land question vs. Moses Smith and others. “Thanking you for publication of this explanation, I am, “Very respectfully yours, “Rev. L. Louis Taylor, prophet-advocate, “Prophetic Sanhedrin. “Voters League of Virginia, “President and Founder, “Yorktown University, “Lackey, Va.”.
TO OPEN “TREASURE CHEST” WHEN 4 SONS ARRIVE HOME Yorktown, September 20.
Opening of the treasure chest uncovered this week near Lackey will await the arrival of his four sons, Moses Smith said today. The chest, which Is now in the custody of government officials in a nearby city, will be opened as soon as Moses Samuel and John Henry Smith arrive in Yorktown. One son, Alexander, who received a 16-day furlough from the Navy for the event, is already at home, and his three brothers are en route from Baltimore and Chicago.
In the meantime, a constant stream of visitors Inquire at the Smith home for a glimpse of the Treasure, and crowds of persons stop to look down the deep excavation from which it was removed and which is now rapidly filling with water. Interest in Moses’ search, which Yorktown and Lackey’s people remember as continuing for many years past, remains unabated, and hope that the chest may contain something of value for him is heard on all sides.
MOSES in THE BUSHES
Gets Advice on What to Do With Chest Yorktown
Moses Smith is not worried about his treasure chest. He knows where it is and knows also that it was found on land which is legally his, he said today.
Asked about the present whereabouts of the chest, Moses declared that it was not now in the custody of Warwick County officials. He was perfectly willing for anyone to know where it is, he said but had been advised by his lawyer to say no more than necessary about that until it has been opened.
The opening may be quite a job, he says because the iron of which it is made has rusted badly. When seen 11 years ago, the surface was smooth, he said, but when it slipped out of sight at that time, it became submerged in sinking sand and water, and when located last week, was much deeper underground than the first time he reached it. It is understood from information obtained from a Warwick county officer who asked that his name be withheld that the chest is in government custody in a nearby city and has not yet been opened. “Everybody wants to know where that chest is,” Moses said today.
“Everybody comes to see me about It. All the Smiths in the County have been to see me. I reckon there were more than 40 Smiths at my house yesterday.” Moses’ white friends show up, too, and he has been showered with good advice about his legal rights to the Treasure and how to hold on to it. Lots of people, he commented, have been interested to know if it actually was found inside his legal boundaries, and he insists that it was. When he bought his farm, he had It surveyed, he said, and the plat drawn up at that time proves without doubt that the land from which it was taken is inside his farm and in Warwick County.
“I know where the chest is now,” he said, “and it’s supposed to stay there until it’s opened, or as long as I’m satisfied to have it there. And I’m satisfied. I’ve got every dependence on my government. Note: This is the last article I could find on the Treasure. Did he get it back?? So much more to uncover. Martha Jane
Newspaper articles, in general
Officers Recover Silverware Loot Silverware valued at $200, which was stolen several days ago from a residence near Lee Hall, was recovered yesterday in York County, where it had been sold, Warwick County Sheriff R. Bickford Curtis reported. Sheriff Curtis said the silverware was stolen from the home of Moses Smith, Negro, on Taliaferro Road. The sheriff indicated that an arrest in connection with the theft is expected soon. He and Deputy Sheriff Harry Riley recovered the loot yesterday afternoon. Daily Press December 8, 1949
Feathered Trail Conducts Yoder To Hen Thieves Culprit Get Nine Months On Guilty Plea; Others Draw 10-Day Sentences.
Birds of a feather flock together, saith the adage, and some feathers led Warwick County police yesterday to the birds and to a belief that they have nipped in the bud an epidemic of chicken thefts. As a result, James Johnson, colored, pleaded guilty in the court of Trial Justice Conway H. Shield Jr. of having stolen the chickens. He received a sentence of nine months in jail.
James Saunders, Bert Wilson, and Julia, all colored, were given 10 days in jail for receiving stolen goods. Moses Smith, who lives in the upper end of the County near the York line, informed Officer Mewn J. Yoder yesterday morning that eight of his hens had been stolen, the lock on the chicken house door being broken. Mr. Yoder, Investigating, noticed a feather or two here and there is a definite streak leading away from the farmhouse. He followed the trail. It led him, he said, about a mile to a small house. In this house was the group mentioned. Some chickens, apparently some of Smith’s, had been dressed and were in the skillet; others had been prepared for cooking. The entire party was arrested.
Mr. Yoder said a considerable number of chicken thefts, mostly one or two fowls at a time, has occurred in upper Warwick County recently. With the arrest of the group yesterday, he expressed the opinion that the culprits had been found… Daily Press November 27, 1935
To Strike 350 Names From Nelson District Voting Lists Yorktown
The registration books of Courthouse Precinct, Dil Nelson District, are being purged as of October 2 by the direction of the York County Electoral Board. Lists of names to be removed from the book were posted today at the Post office and at the courthouse. These lists will remain posted through Saturday, October 2, the regular date of registration. During this time or on the regular date of registration, persons who feel that their names have been improperly placed on the list should contact the registrar. The registrar for Nelson District is Virginia Nelsen, Yorktown. Miss Nelsen was recently appointed by the electoral board to succeed Mrs. Samuel DeNeufville, who was the registrar in Nelson for 24 years.
The lists which have been posted contain the names of 340 persons. Of these, 150 are the names of persons who have moved from the district; 83 have died, and 107 have been transferred to other precincts. The oldest active registrant listed on the books of Nelson District is Moses Smith Negro, of Lackey.
Smith, now 87, was born on July 5. 1867, and registered to vote at the age of 56. The permanent registration roll of Nelson District (those who registered to vote prior to 1904) contains the name of one active registrant, J. S. DeNeufville of Yorktown, who was registered in September 1902.
The oldest registration on the books is that of D. D. Hubbard, who was registered in August 1901. There are seventeen names on the permanent list. The occupations of the permanent registrants indicate the changes that have taken place in Nelson District in the last 50 years. Five of them were farmers. Two were merchants, two “medical doctors,” two lawyers, one a “boatsman,” one a fisherman, one an oyster dealer, one an oyster planter, one an oysterman, and one a blacksmith. The name of the registrant with the earliest birth date does not appear on the permanent registration roll. He was the late George D. Chenoweth, a civil engineer who was born in 1849 but did not register to vote until he was 75 years old. After the regular date of registration, all of the names remaining on the Nelson District list will be copied into a new set of registration books. Daily Press September 24, 1954
75 YEARS OLD BUT CUTS SECOND WISDOM TOOTH
Moses Smith, Warwick County Negro, is 75 years old but is cutting another wisdom tooth. He had a wisdom tooth pulled ten years ago and says that he Is teething again and that, so far as he is concerned, it is worse this time than it was in his Infancy. Smith was born and reared In Warwick County…Daily Press August 12, 1943, Just a note: How did he get them to put this in the newspaper?
87-Year-Old York Citizen To Be Honored At Service Yorktown, November 6
A service of appreciation will be held Sunday afternoon at the Prayer House on Tolliver Road for Moses Smith, a Negro, now 87, one of the oldest registrants and citizens of York County. Moses was born on Mulberry Island on July 5, 1867, three years after the Civil War. He remembers the days of carnages, buggies, and oxen to work the farms. Moses was a tenant farmer for 15 years until he could buy his own land.
He first registered to vote at the Township House in Warwick County at the age of 21. At this time, he recalls, the franchise was given only to those members of his race who were the sons of soldiers, who had a first-year high school education, or who owned $500 worth of property. He was one of the few who qualified to register since he owned the required amount of property. Moses’s mother lived with a member of the Curtis family of Lee Hall. His granddaughter works now for a member of the same family, their friendship having continued through the years.
Moses also worked at the dormitories and bachelor’s quarters at Fort Eustis during World War I for 14 years. He was a janitor of the Grace Episcopal Church in Yorktown. He is a licensed minister and has done missionary work among all the Negro churches of the County. He has eight children; he was married twice, first to Dollie Jones and then to Jane Boykins, both of whom are now dead. He has five sons, Alexander, Clarence, Moses, Samuel, and John, and three daughters, Mrs. Mary Mason, Mrs. Lucille Vernon, and Miss Cuttie Smith.
He has 26 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Though lacking in formal schooling, Moses speaks well and with an authentic Virginia accent, which now is heard too seldom. He writes in a style that is not only legible but pleasing as to the formation of letters.
Moses has written many poems, both in commemoration of important events and in tribute to prominent people who are his friends. Moses Smith was 56 years old when he registered to vote in York County, transferring from Warwick, but he had not moved his actual residence. He was living in the same house, but a survey made, he says, following a dispute about the “treasure chest,” which he discovered several years ago, placed his property in York County.
Moses “dreamed” the location of the chest, a thing which is entirely possible since knowledge buried in the subconscious mind often emerges in the brief period between sleeping and waking. Moses recalls as a child hearing his elders talk of a “chest” it took four men to lift.” Many families during the period of the Civil War buried their valuable papers or silver, and it is possible that he heard the spot of the chest burial mentioned long ago.
UNCOVERS BOX
At any rate, he awoke one morning knowing where to dig, and after going deeply into the ground at this spot, he uncovered, according to his statement, one end of a large box. There was a great deal of water in the hole, and the project was too tricky for Moses alone. But, he says, he was advised to tell no one as to what time a derrick and steam truck would lift the box, and he “kept the secret” from his family and friends. So when the rope attached to the box broke, as he says, and he was sent to get a saw to cut the limb it was tied to, he had no witnesses to support his statement that the chest disappeared in his absence.
Though six people stated that they saw the chest when it was first unearthed, and though the presence of a “small, dark, pick-up truck parked in the bushes” was attested to by Robert Tolliver, Anne Wilson, and Hicks Carter, neighbors, no trace of it was subsequently found. Though Moses was assisted in the investigation concerning his chest by representatives of the Governor’s office, the Daily Press, and Warwick officials, all efforts were unavailing. Following the investigation, efforts to trace the chest were abandoned. The appreciation service, which will begin at 2:30 p.m., will honor his contributions to the life of the community.
These include church work and active participation in civic groups such as the Voters League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Red Cross, the Community Chest, and the Tidewater Association for Welfare Work. The Rev. F. A. Rylander, pastor of the Rising Sun Baptist Church, Newport News, will be the principal speaker and will have as his topic “Moses Smith’s Services to His Community.” The Rev. James Parmer and the Rev. Joseph T. Holmes are guest ministers. The Rising Sun Prayer Band and the Denbigh Prayer Band will furnish music. Daily Press 11/7/1954
Moses Smith Died at 89; he was a Pastor in Yorktown.
Moses Smith, a Negro, native of the Peninsula and a former minister, died Monday night at Mary Immaculate Hospital, Newport News, following a long illness. He was 89. Several years ago, his home, then located in Warwick, was the scene of much speculation regarding his reported uncovering of a buried treasure, which he vowed disappeared during the unearthing project. A widespread investigation regarding the buried Treasure followed, but no trace of the treasure “box” was ever uncovered. Smith became a York County resident by virtue of boundary line shifts at the time Warwick County was chartered as a city. He is survived by five sons, Alexander, stationed with the U. S. Navy, Clarence of Lee Hall, Samuel and John of Baltimore, and Moses Jr.; three daughters, Mrs. Mary Mason (Alex) of Lee Hall, Mrs. Lucille Vernon (Edward) of Newport News and Miss Cuttie Smith of Petersburg; 28 grandchildren and 38 great-grandchildren. He was a licensed minister and had done much missionary work among Peninsula Negro congregations. For more than 20 years, he was employed as a janitor at Grace Episcopal Church here. He was associated with the work of the Negro Voter’s League in Yorktown, the Red Cross, the Community Chest, the Tidewater Association for Welfare Work, and the local unit of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Smith was born on Mulberry Island on what is now Fort Eustis in 1867. Funeral services will be held Sunday afternoon at 2 in the Colossian Baptist Church in Denbigh, with burial in the church cemetery. Rev. Rylander, pastor of Rising Sun Baptist Church, will officiate at the service.
Poppa was honored for his contributions to the community’s life at the Prayer House on Tolliver Rd when he was 87. These include Church work and active participation in civic groups such as the Voters League, the NAACP, The Red Cross, and the Community Chest and Tidewater Association for Welfare Work.
He had some remarkable qualities and was looked up to and respected throughout the area. He did have a unique way of using his gifts to change future generations. His influence on me was how he treated everyone, regardless of position. He loved learning and his enthusiasm for life, pursuing life with passion and excellence, whether gardening, preaching, or digging for the Treasure Chest. He was a man of vision, progress, and a great friend; he never met a stranger. Poppa was known from one end of the Peninsula to the other. What he lacked in education, he made up for in mother wit. His love for God, his people, and his family made him a giant among men. Today, his descendants number in the thousands.
I have this inner passion for uncovering the story and being detailed about everything. As much as Poppa was in the newspaper, I believe this desire to finish the job is something that he had and passed down to me.
In December 1956, he was laid to rest beside his wife, Jane, at Colossian Baptist Church Cemetery in Newport News, VA.
