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 the area, after hearing a 30-year old story about two local men who went to investigate mysterious lights on the island and were never seen again. This story has not been lost on researchers, and as new clues are found, a theory of activity on Oak Island around 1765 becomes intriguing.
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. The island was neither deserted nor were all the co-discovers considered boys. John Smith was 19, Anthony Vaughan Jr. was 13, and research indicates that Donald Daniel McGinnis was 38. 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 on Oak Island in 1787. A culturally significant story for Nova Scotia, research continues on his life story.
"Omitting fanciful details, early records agree that the Money Pit was discovered by Daniel McGinnis in the summer of 1795 and that he and his two friends excavated it to a depth of about thirty feet, striking a layer of flagstones at two feet and then three platforms of wood at intervals of ten feet. There they temporarily abandoned the search, not a doubloon richer. But they had launched what would become the world's longest and most expensive treasure hunt.
A Pandora's box had been irrevocably opened on a seemingly ordinary and inconsequential island - and there were to be many who would sacrifice their fortunes, close friendships, and even their lives in their frustrated attempts to discover just what was in that box."
D'arcy O'Connor - The Secret Treasure of Oak Island
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. The island was neither deserted nor were all the co-discovers considered boys. John Smith was 19, Anthony Vaughan Jr. was 13, and research indicates that Donald Daniel McGinnis was 38. 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 on Oak Island in 1787. A culturally significant story for Nova Scotia, research continues on his life story.
"Omitting fanciful details, early records agree that the Money Pit was discovered by Daniel McGinnis in the summer of 1795 and that he and his two friends excavated it to a depth of about thirty feet, striking a layer of flagstones at two feet and then three platforms of wood at intervals of ten feet. There they temporarily abandoned the search, not a doubloon richer. But they had launched what would become the world's longest and most expensive treasure hunt.
A Pandora's box had been irrevocably opened on a seemingly ordinary and inconsequential island - and there were to be many who would sacrifice their fortunes, close friendships, and even their lives in their frustrated attempts to discover just what was in that box."
D'arcy O'Connor - The Secret Treasure of Oak Island