With banks on shaky ground these days, one might be tempted to spurn them altogether. That's what the Blackmore brothers of Palmyra, in Jefferson County, did 100 years ago.

The three older brothers -- Bob, Sam and Al -- eked out a living by farming before the Civil War. The youngest, Charley, left for England in 1860 to seek his fortune abroad. Forty years later Bob and Sam died in abject poverty, and Al let the farm gradually crumble as he aged. In 1913, Charley finally came home to care for his elderly brother, and learned that his siblings had hidden their life savings somewhere on the property.

Al promised to reveal the treasure's hiding place before he died, but a stroke unexpectedly silenced him and the secret went with him to the grave in 1926.

By then the farm consisted of dilapidated out-buildings leaning on each other for support. Rubbish blanketed the three-acre property inside and out. Old lumber, broken jugs, rusted machinery, and decaying filth littered the premises.

Charley got to work, digging under the barn, prying up floorboards, turning over garden plots, ripping open mattresses and tearing down walls.

Wherever he turned, he uncovered sealed pipe, canvas bags sewn shut, tin cans carefully capped, even a pair of slippers hung from rafters -- all stuffed with coins and bills. His poverty-stricken brothers had been squirreling away cash for decades.

When he was done, Charley had almost $5,000 (more than $60,000 today), enabling him to live his final years in comfort back in England.

-- Wisconsin Historical Society,
www.wisconsinhistory.org

"Odd Wisconsin" by Erika Janik is now available as a book from the Wisconsin Historical Society for $16.95. Visit www.wisconsinhistory.org for details.

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