Why Is The F.B.I Searching For The Legend Of The Dents Run Treasure?

In 1973, Treasure magazine published a story about civil war soldiers hiding a wagon full of gold in  North Central Pa.  In 1974, a folklorist rewrote the story for True Treasure Magazine .   It's a nice legend, or campfire tale, repeated locally from time to time.  

 And then in 2018, The FBI took a team into the woods and dug holes, looking for the treasure.  A treasure of which there is no record, and no reputable historian believes ever existed.  The story of the treasure has been thoroughly disproved, in many ways.  So what was the FBI doing?  That may  actually be a  more interesting story than the original tall tale.  But it also may be a story we never hear.

Mystery In A Casket, Montoursville 1902

 

On April 17th 1902, a well dressed stranger got off the train in Williamsport, and made inquiries as to where to find an undertaker.

He soon approached Sheffer & Son, undertakers in Montoursville, offering them  $200 [more than $6,000 today] if they would take a coffin 12 miles up Loyalsock Creek and bury it in a specific secluded spot. He stated that the coffin would arrive from St Louis, and that he would require the undertakers to meet the train and take it to be buried immediately. 

 He also would require the men to sign an agreement of secrecy, promising that they would not open the casket, and that they would forever keep the matter a secret.

The man was very much perturbed when the Sheffers explained that they could not bury a casket without seeing what was inside.  He then conceded that they could look inside, as long as they could promise complete secrecy, and never reveal the matter to anyone.  

Unfortunately, the Sheffers continued to decline involvement in the matter.  The stranger disappeared, and we are all left with the mystery of what exactly was in that coffin from St Louis, and if it was ever buried along the Loyalsock Creek.

The Wilkes Barre paper surmised the man was either an escaped lunatic, of or a new fangled fraud.  The stranger disappeared, and was not heard from again.

Sheffer & Son Furniture Dealer and Undertaker were John J. Sheffer, and son Milton Foster Sheffer.

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The Lewisburg Journal, 1903

The Bloomsburg Columbian, April 1902

Wilkes Barre, April 1902

John J. Sheffer was born, along with his twin brother Lewis, on Feb 22 1844, sons of Jacob & Mary [Beck] Sheffer, in Tioga County

Milton Foster Sheffer was born March 7th 1878, the son of John J. & Ruth [Weikel] Sheffer. 

Odd & Incredible Stories From After The 1972 Flood

The Sinks Lake, in Brady Twp, Lycoming County

As unexpected as it was for a hurricane, of all things, to be the worst natural disaster in the history of Pennyslvania, there were still more odd and interesting stories to come out of the devastating week of rain and flooding.

A hitchhiker from Arizona with only the clothes on his back and a guitar, was in charge of the children's  activities at a Sunbury school were families were taking refuge from the flood.  No one ever learned his last name.  Two lakes formed, and stayed - actually growing larger as flood waters dispersed in other areas.  Nearly 3,000 graves were forced out of the ground and throughout nearby areas when a dam broke in Forty Fort -  and the army corp of engineers had to file a legal suit to enter one property and remove body parts that were still there, behind a restaurant,  in August of that year.   Two players from the Philadelphia Eagles, and one from the 76ers, showed up to play baseball with little league teams in Exeter., and a man with no fingerprints regaled stranded tourists with stories for 3 days, before heading on to visit his nephew in the Lewisburg Penitentiary.  

Who Was Kevin?

In Sunbury, School Superintendent Earl Horton said that a man named Kevin has been organizing children's games, and getting the kids to form clean up details at the school, where 750-800 people were taking refuge during the flood.

Horton didn't know Kevin's last name. The bearded, long haired man was hitching from Phoenix Arizona to New York City with just the clothes on his back and a guitar, when he found himself stranded in Sunbury.

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The Two New Lakes Formed By Hurricane Agnes

In The Pennyslvania Geological Report, published by the DCNR after the flood, there were two pages dedicated to the Agnes Lacustrine Legacy. Or, the lakes created by Hurricane Agnes.  

These were not the lakes formed in eveyr town, which subsided a day or two later. These formed from a combination of surface water and new ground water springs, and continued to rise for a few days after the rain stopped. 

They did eventually disappear, months later,  as drainage occurred through "underground seepage beneath topographic divides, through an unseen network of fractures and solutions channels in the limestone bedrock"

 "Lake Agnes" In Limestone Twp, Montour County

The the lake, which covered L.R. 47020 and extended 2,000 feet north of the road, was a popular location for boaters, sight seers, and even water skiers, who enjoyed skimming over the top of wheat and corn fields. One local farmer, who owned part of the land under the lake, claimed that if he had been able to charge $1 for every person who visited, he would have made more money than he could have by farming the land.

Lake Agnes dropped at the rare of 1 1/2 inches a day, and it was 30 days before the lake had dropped 4 feet.  At that time, it was no longer a good location for boaters.

Sinks Lake, Brady Twp, Lycoming County

The second lake still partially exists today, as it existed before the storm.    Known as "Sinks Lake", in the Maple Hill area of Brady Township in Lycoming County, the lake covered two state roads - L.R. 41008 and 41009, to a depth of 6 1/2 or 7 feet.  It was a mile and a half long and in its deepest areas was 40 feet deep.

Sinks lake was also popular with swimmers and boaters, but it was a great inconvenience to the residents, who found the only road out of the east end of the valley. 

Sinks Lake was larger, and slower to drain, dropping only 15 inches by July 22.

The Sinks still exist, just not the actual "lake" that covered the roads.  

The Maple Hill Sinks are a series of five limestone sinkholes ranging in size from 0.5 to 4 acres over
a distance of 1.4 miles The area is fed by sand springs, seeps and runoff from the surrounding valley. During rainy periods, the sinkholes fill to a depth exceeding 10 feet and become connected by a small stream. Maple Hill Sinks appears to be the largest and least disturbed sinkhole pond system in  Pennsylvania. 

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Why Is No One Asking About The Fingerprints?

In Lewisburg, 58 year old John Yosko,  a former taxi driver & veteran tractor trailer driver from Long Island was in town to visit his nephew, who was serving five years in the federal penitentiary.  He arrived in town late Wednesday and checked into a downtown motel, planning to make his visit on Thursday.

But at 4:30 am, the desk clerk called his room and told him he'd better get out if he didn't want to float out.   He stood up  and found that the water came to his ankles in his room.

Yosko drove to the Colonial Crest Hotel, on the hill south of Lewisburg, and sat in his car until the restaurant opened at 7am.

The hotel was packed with stranded tourists from Florida, Massachusetts, New York, and other states, all stranded on the hill due to flooded roads.  Yosko volunteered his services as dishwasher.

Five foot two, grey haired dark eyed Yosko strapped on an apron, which came to his ankles, and volunteered to wash dishes.

When the dishes were under control, he'd saunter around the lounge chatting with the guests.  His stories entertained the guests and made a welcome diversion, for those waiting  out the flood waters.

He told stories about tough characters he met as a taxi driver, and about adventures as a truck operator in many states.  He talked about his son in Vietnam, and his family life.  Hopping from table to table, he entertained guests throughout the evening and early morning hours.

One of his stories went like this:

"Boy, that dish water sure is hot!  Hard on the hands!  Why, look at this - took my fingerprints right off!!" Whereupon he would hold out his hands to show that sure enough, there were no ridges on his fingers.

The news report states that "surprised guests soon figured out that the prints were removed some other way, but the story never failed to get a big response"

Sunday afternoon Yosko was finally able to head to the pen to visit his nephew.  

The news story went on to report that Yosko's stories would be missed.

But they never explained why the man didn't have fingerprints.

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Where The Bodies Were No Longer Buried

When the levee broke in Forty Fort, a wild torrent of water rushed from the dike, making a pit, and spectators nearby watched in horror, wondering what the items the water threw into the pit, and back out. "Those couldn't be caskets", one bystander remarked.

But they were.

The water pouring through the hole in the flood control barrier had uprooted hundreds of caskets. The cemetery grounds had been turned  into a deep, muddy pit.  

Some caskets were still closed, but others were knocked open.  Many bodies were still intact inside.  Others were not.  As refugees returned home, they were horrified to see  more than 100 caskets around their homes - most of which did not have bodies inside.

1,410 caskets, remains, or vaults were recovered.   2,700 graves had been destroyed.  It's believed that some of the caskets were so old and fragile that they were completely destroyed in the flood.  And that others may have been forced under piles of gravel or sand, by the rushing water.  Only 400 caskets were reburied.

If that's not all weird enough, in August of 1972 a judge had to order a Wyoming couple to allow the US Army Corp of Engineers onto their property to remove remains there.

Robert and Mary Ceccoli owned a driving range, and a restaurant at  905 Wyoming Avenue.  A casket and vault had been observed on the driving range, behind Victory Pig BBQ.   In the court proceedings, Mr Ceccoli testified that he wanted all of the bodies removed.  So why was this in court?

Because apparently the Engineers planned to remove just what they could see, a casket and a vault,  and leave. The Ceccoli's wanted all of the water drained and ALL of the bodies removed at once.

 "Let them take out all the bodies and put the water back if they want to! Let them take the water and bodies immediately. This is a health hazard.  I object to them taking the bodies piece by piece.  I want them to take all the water and all the bodies.  I first refused them permission to come on to the land because they wanted to take only a piece now and then.  They go away and don't come back.  I want them to take all the bodies at one time. "

He further testified that his wife had picked up a shoe and found it was attached to a leg.  his son found a piece of a body on the property. Mrs Ceccoli then took the stand, and testified: "There are pieces of bodies laying around.  Heads, arms, and other parts have fallen off bodies.  My husband and I have been begging them to get all of the bodies out of there." "If they just take one casket now, they may not come back for months"

Today the flood destroyed area of the cemetery is an open field, left to commemorate those who had been buried there.  A monument to them stands under a grove of trees next to the field.

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When The Money Was Laundered, And Even Ironed, In Williamsport

After flood waters receded in Williamsport, employees of the Williamsport National Bank had to clean, dry, and press more than $200,000 in water logged bills.

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When A Little League Team Played With The Pros, In Exeter

On July 11th, the Exeter Little League was just returning to their schedule, after the flood.

At the end of the scheduled game that night, Leroy Keyes and Harold Jackson of the Philadelphia Eagles, and Freddie Foster, a basketball player for the 76ers, walked onto the field.  

The pros were part of the 103rd Engineer Battalion of the Pennsylvania National Guard, in town to help with flood clean up.  They played baseball that night with the little league players.

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An Overview & Time Line Of The 1972 Flood

Photos & Stories By Town:

Danville   Lewisburg   Milton    Montandon     Montgomery

Muncy     Sunbury     Watsontown/White Deer/Dewart     Williamsport

Officer Down - When A Flood Created A Park

When Sunbury Got A Flood Wall

Odd & Incredible Tales From The 72 Flood
Officer Down - When A Flood Created A Park In Lewisburg

More Susquehanna Valley River Floods 

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Wilkes Barre's "Millionaire For A Day" Presents Statue to Milton

While researching the Milton Fair, I saw that one of the headliners was "Butch" McDevitt "Millionaire For A Day".  That seemed like a... well, lets say  unique, headline attraction.  So out of curiosity, I started to research who this Millionaire For A Day was..  I'm telling you, my curiosity leads us to all the best stories.  And it came right back around to Milton too, as McDevitt presented his statue to the town of Milton in 1915.

John Jay McDevitt was born June 2 in 1875, in the area of Wilkes Barre.  As a young man, he hopped from job to job, trying the roles of Milk Man, Coal Miner, and many. many  more.  But at the age of 22, the newspaper alerted him to his true  calling.  The city needed a bright young man to be elected Mayor.  McDevitt knew he was just the man, so he ran for office.

And he lost.  Which might have dissuaded other men, but not McDevitt. He just ran for lots of other offices.   And a  few years later he won an election to become the constable.  When it was time for reelection, he chose to not only run again for constable, as a democrat, but also, at the same time, run for Mayor, as a Republican.  I'm not exactly sure how that is even possible, but by now he was well known for his sense of humor, and no one was taking any of this too seriously.

Again he lost the  Mayoral race, but he was reelected as constable, leaving him to be a democrat for a few more years. 

I don't know what all McDevitt ran for in 1911, but somehow, to the great surprise of the Democratic Committee, he won the democratic primary for County Treasurer.

He didn't spend a cent on his campaign.  In fact, he was paid throughout the campaign by his opponents,, because he regular spoke for them.  

Well, McDevitt winning certainly didn't sit well with the committee. One, McDevitt was Irish. The Democratic Committee could not possibly have an irishman  run on their ticket, not in 1911.  Two, they knew full well McDevitt would never win the election.  They wanted to put a candidate on the ticket that might actually win.

So they bought him off.

McDevitt demanded $5,000 (More than $135,000 in today's money) AND the right to endorse the Republican Candidate. When the committee found that a tad unreasonable, he raised his price to $6,000, and he wanted a position in the commissioners department if their chosen Democrat won.

This was not some quiet,  backroom,  deal.  McDevitt told the press all about it, and claimed that he had arranged it to if the Democrats won, he had arranged it so that his brother would work the morning shift in the commissioners office, and "at noon the McDevitt brothers will change shifts", assuring that A McDevitt brother was always on the job. 

The Democratic Committee gave McDevitt $1,500 in cash (more than 40,000 today), and promised him another $1,000 if their democratic candidate won.  

To the press, the  Democratic leaders, with no apparent shame,   (Apparently this was legal until about 1937, when someone decided maybe we should have a law to keep this sort of thing from happening) said they only paid McDevitt $500 to withdraw from the ticket. McDevitt was outraged.  Or, at least pretended to be. 

 "I would ruin myself politically to sell out at that low figure, and the fellows that are putting that story around are miscreants of the lowest type whose aim is to being about my downfall in the world of politics."

He then said he was headed to the court house to look over the positions in the commissioners office,  one of which was to be his if the Democratic ticket was elected.

The Democratic candidate did win, and McDevitt pocketed an additional $1,500.  But he never did get a job in the commissioners office.

If you haven't caught on yet, McDevitt was an incredible character.  And we have only barely gotten started with his antics.

A few weeks after he quit the race for treasurer, he figured he was entitled to a banquet in his honor, for being nominated to begin with. Since no one was offering to host one for him, he threw it himself.

The Williamsport Sun Gazette reported:

"Yesterday in a leading hotel here, the banquet took place.  Mr McDevitt was entertainment committee, host, toastmaster, and guest.  At the table he acknowledged the applause of imaginary admirers by gravely bowing, ate his dinner in state, then as toastmaster, called upon himself, greeted himself with applause as he arose, made a speech, and applauded himself as he sat down.  After McDevitt's speech, there was a silence for a period of several seconds, and then McDevitt game himself three lusty cheers"

The Carlisle newspaper printed part of his speech:

"It is a rare privilege to have such an honor bestowed upon me by myself, and I appreciate the consideration of the candidate, so I pay tribute to myself and feel elated in knowing what it all means, and I assure you, Mr McDevitt, no one appreciates the honor bestowed upon you more keenly than yourself."

For a banquet with so few attendees, it was well covered, in newspapers all around the state.  But his hometown paper summed it up best:

"The Campaign has produced many results - and one revelation.  The revelation is John J. McDevitt of Wilkes Barre Pa.  It was worth all this bother to find that we posses Mr.  McDevitt."

So what's next for McDevitt?  He still has a pocketful of money, and there are no new elections coming up, this week at least.  

McDevitt decided to become a "Millionaire For A Day", with a plan to spend every cent he had in one day, and he'd do it in New York City. 

"“You see, I have no particular reason for going to New York, but I feel that as the ‘well-to-do’ take trips to the metropolis, it is up to me to get in the swim."

In December of 1911,  a reporter was trying to track McDevitt down for an interview  about this Millionaire For A Day Plan.  He finally  found McDevitt in Canaan Corners.  When asked why he would be there,   McDevitt replied:

"I publish a little magazine called McDevitts Scrap Book, and its just as well for me to leave Wilkes Barre every month about the time it gets out.  By the time a fellow I write about in my own inimitable style gets to here from Wilkes Barre, his wrath has cooled off."

Millionaire For A Day

On the windy cold day of January 12 1912, McDevitt and 57 newspapermen, a personal physician, a secretary, a valet, and five servants set out for the train station. He had done his research, and decided on a course of action that he felt best reflected how millionaires live.

He did not get up until noon, because rich people do not get up before noon.

He took a bath and had his valet give him a massage.

He dined in a fine hotel in Wilkes Barre, and tipped the waiters $2 (50 today) each

As he left the hotel, he was greeted by a large crowd, including as many as 57 members of the press.McDevitt reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of nickels, and threw them into the crowd.

At 1:15 McDevitt was in a limousine, which drove him in style the entire one block to the train station.

McDevitts train included a Pullman car & two additional cars,  to carry him and his newly acquired staff.  It also had a baggage car - which carried McDevitts single suitcase.

Crowds greeted McDevitts train as it passed through New Jersey, and made several stops where the "Millionaire For A Day" made speeches.  Press photographers were everywhere, snapping his photo.

When he arrived in New York, he hired an expensive cab to take him to the Waldorf-Astoria.

There he went to lunch, ordering every single thing on the menu.  Including 18 types of cheese & 11 cocktails.

Then he set out to cross off the rest of his list of Things Rich People Do:

• He had his newly hired Physician release regular bulletins to update the public on the status of  his health
• He instructed a valet to have a lit cigar ready to present to him at all times
• He tipped a shoe shiner $5 to shine one shoe, and a similar amount to another shoe shiner for the other shoe.
• He attended a play, which in a totally unplanned coincidence, was about a fake millionaire.
• At intermission, he went backstage and presented the lead actor with a baton studded in (fake) diamonds

At the end of the day, Butch McDevitt was broke.  Or nearly so. Wen he arrived back in Wilkes Barre, his secretary informed him he had $1.58 remaining. McDevitt handed $1.50 to the porter, and gave his last 8 cents to a newsboy.

In February, McDevitt declared he would run for Congress.  He made a trip to Washington to meet with Taft, and on his return claimed Taft was for him, and had given him $40 towards his campaign. His statement also included:

"Say for me that the next representative form Luzerne County will be your royal highness.  I need the money, I like the place, and I have decided to respond to the voice of my people. So prepare ye way for John Jay McDevitt, ‘millionaire for a day.'”

Next, in October of 1912,  McDevitt announced he was having a statue made so that the people of his town would remember him forever. He planned to not only commission, but also to unveil, the statue himself.

He did however, need the cities permission to have it placed in the city's Public Square Park.  If that could not be arranged, he would purchase a small parcel in the center of city and have the statue erected there.  Neither of those plans panned out, so in March of 1913, McDevitt wrote a letter asking Scranton to provide a location for his statue. That failed as well.  

By now a publisher had come offering cash in exchange for a book about his life, so McDevitt once again had a pocketful of money.

On February 3 1914, McDevitt hired 30 uniformed police officers to accompany him, and his statue, on a train to Washington DC. He also brought along a fifty piece band.

His "bronze" statue was loaded into a six-horse truck.  The statue was actually plaster of paris, painted in bronze.  Four coal miners carried the statue up to the train.  McDevitt had the statue stood up on the rear platform of the observation car so that people could wave as it went by.

When McDevitt arrived in Union Station, nearly 7,000 people were waiting to greet him.  A group of policemen on bicycles and a 25 piece section of the marine band led the way to the Sterling Hotel, with a moving truck and two piano movers taking the statue to McDevitts hotel room.  He had been granted a permit to parade with the statue, but was informed he could not leave it on the street or in any public building overnight.

At the capitol later that day, McDevitt was informed that each state was only allowed two statues in the Capitol, and Pennsylvania already had those spots filled.  Also,  his request for a permit to give a speech on the capitol steps was denied.  McDevitt and his statue took the train back to Wilkes Barre.

In April of 1914,  McDevitt, having had "almost all kinds of experiences" over the past few years, had never known how it feels to be a Vaudeville headliner. So he decided to take his "celebrated statue" to Harrisburg to try out the vaudeville boards.

The Harrisburg Telegraph reported that "When Butch McDevitt does a thing, he does it right, and this weeks stay in Harrisburg will undoubtedly be decorated with several kinds of pyrotechnics".   By  this point I'm thinking they were not referring to actual fireworks, but purely the flair of this mans personality. 

McDevitt planned to do a monologue of his "well known philosophy". 

His plans for Harrisburg also included having his statue installed in the State Capitol, in one of the niches that are designed to hold statues of great men. Once again, he and his statue were rejected, and they both returned to  Wilkes Barre.

In August of 1915, Port Chester NY agreed to provide a site for the statue, if McDevitt paid $5,000 for it's long term maintenance.  

“The only difference between Napoleon and myself is that Napoleon led an army and I did not.  Some people say I am crazy, but the only difference between eccentricity and insanity is $100,000, and I am darn near broke. I am the most successful failure that ever lived.”

In other words, the statue wasn't going to New York.

New Yorks loss could have been our gain.  Because that's when McDevitt came to Milton, for the Milton Fair.  I was extremely disappointed to learn that my home town joined the list of those who declined to make a home for the statue.

Finally, in September of 1917,  McDevitts former hometown,  Highland Pa , with a population of 492 people, announced they would take  the statue. But I don't think that worked out either, because in 1931 McDevitt was offering the statue to the King Of England.

McDevitt's antics continued for many more years, with him running for every political office possible (including President, but Woodrow Wilson won that year instead)  he had two or three more big train adventures, including a special "McDevitts Romance Train" that he chartered for a trip to find the love of his life (he was late, and missed his own train.), he did vaudeville when he was broke and had his statue "garnished" for wages owed to his crew... and so many other stunts that I could write every day for weeks about this man.  As a matter of fact, newspapers ran stories about him every single year of his life from 1912 to 1951.  And many more long after.

McDevitt was not independently wealthy, and he was a completely inept business man, with many failed businesses.   He was frequently broke.  So how did he fund all of his antics?  No one really knows for sure.  He was an excellent public speaker, and he did have that book contract, the book was published at some point, it was reprinted just a few years back.  In 1912 there was also a movie released titled "Millionaire For A Day".   That seems like an awfully big coincidence., especially because part of it is also set in Willkes Barre, but I found no evidence of a real connection.   In 1921 he ceased publishing his Plain Talk magazine, after being beaten so badly he had to be taken to the hospital.

In 1949, McDevitt was invited by the Scranton Times to join a  trip  on the luxurious General Motors "Train Of Tomorrow".  It was the least the paper could do, I'm certain  McDevitts antics.sold enough papers over the years.

John J. McDevitt passed away on February 3rd 1951.  

Having not been born myself until nearly  60 years after he  appeared in Milton,  today I feel slightly sad that I never got the chance to hear this man speak..  Maybe if I had been there, I could have persuaded  the town to accept his gift, and Milton would have a bronze painted plaster of paris statue in the town park today.  

As it stands, no one seems to know what happened to the thing.

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