HUNDREDS OF OLD COINS FOUND ON BEN T. KIMSEY’S FARM
Ben T. Kimsey, one of the most successful farmers in Henderson county approached a Gleaner man on the street Monday, saying he had a mint on one of his farms.
The Gleaner man was not surprised a bit at this statement because he knew of the bumper crops Mr. Kimsey and tenants always harvest, thinking he meant something along this line. But this was not what Mr. Kimsey was driving at. He really meant what he said.
He told in substance the following story:
“It may seem strange to some people, but nevertheless it is a fact that hundreds of old coins have been dug up on one of my farms, the place known as the Hillery Baskett farm on the Texas railroad.
“A few days ago I was on the place and saw Jim Cooksey, a colored hand, digging around an old tree. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was digging up money. I thought he had lost his mind and got out of my buggy and investigated. While he dug I heard the spade strike metal and in ten minutes he uncovered about twenty five pennies. Some of them bore dates back in 1834.
“Then I begun to dig and soon found a Mexican dollar minted in 1877. The dates on the coins range from 1834 to 1877.
“This farm was formerly owned by the Tates and Major Gibbs. I have no idea how the money was placed there, unless it was buried around the tree and the owner went away and died.”
Buried treasures probably still out there somewhere
