THE MONEY PIT
1795 Folklore tells us that three young friends, Daniel McInnis, John Smith and Anthony Vaughn Jr. row to Oak Island to explore, after hearing a 30-year old story about two local men that went to investigate mysterious lights on the island and were never seen again.
The three friends discover a block and tackle suspended from an oak branch, hanging over a depression in the ground. The friends dig but can't get past 30 feet. Stories of Captain William Kidd’s treasure are well-known at the time. Could this be his pirate treasure?
The story of The Money Pit on Oak Island, Lot 18, begins.
Depending on which version of the story you adhere to, The “Money Pit” or Shaft 1 was discovered the same year John Smith bought Lot 18 in 1795 and the island was neither deserted, nor were all the co-discovers considered boys. John Smith was 19, research indicates Donald Daniel McInnis was 38 and Anthony Vaughan Jr. was 13. Alternate accounts include island resident and farmer, Samuel Ball, as a co-discoverer, in place of John Smith.
Samuel Ball was a Black Loyalist who bought his first lot in 1787.
The three friends discover a block and tackle suspended from an oak branch, hanging over a depression in the ground. The friends dig but can't get past 30 feet. Stories of Captain William Kidd’s treasure are well-known at the time. Could this be his pirate treasure?
The story of The Money Pit on Oak Island, Lot 18, begins.
Depending on which version of the story you adhere to, The “Money Pit” or Shaft 1 was discovered the same year John Smith bought Lot 18 in 1795 and the island was neither deserted, nor were all the co-discovers considered boys. John Smith was 19, research indicates Donald Daniel McInnis was 38 and Anthony Vaughan Jr. was 13. Alternate accounts include island resident and farmer, Samuel Ball, as a co-discoverer, in place of John Smith.
Samuel Ball was a Black Loyalist who bought his first lot in 1787.