Barry County Missouri - The Missing Gold of Charles Haddock THE MISSING GOLD OF CHARLES HADDOCK by Paul Jackson, Sr. Submitted by Paul "E." Jackson <director- editor@charter.net> Charles Haddock, Jr. was the second husband of my great-great-great- grandmother, Susanna Moyers Rumbaugh Haddock; he was also a nephew of my great-great-great-great-grandfather, Zachariah Haddock; all of Barry County. Half Anglo, half Cherokee, with thick black hair, riding a black horse and wielding a whip, he was a commanding sight. A prosperous farmer and horsebreeder in Barry County in the mid-1800's, Charles was a man of his word and punctual to a fault -- he required the same of everyone he met. Once, Charles lent his crosscut saw to a newly-arrived family of settlers, with the understanding that it would be returned at a given day and time. When the saw did not make its return at the appointed hour, Charles rode up to the family's cabin, where he observed them, relaxing outside the house; and the saw, leaning against a tree. Galloping over to the saw, he lashed it with a deafening crack of his whip and commanded it, "Go home and stay there!" The saw was returned that very evening. A Confederate sympathizer, he nonetheless sold horses to the Union Army. Several times he managed to escape jayhawkers, who wanted his gold. One day in 1863, while Charles prepared to deliver horses, jayhawkers arrived. They tortured him severely, trying to force him to reveal where his gold was hidden. He did not give in, and the jayhawkers finally left him hanging by his arms from a tree. His fourteen-year-old daughter Meg rushed from her hiding place and cut him loose. Weakened, Charles was determined to make his delivery. He set out with his loyal and beloved slave, Steve. Sometime later, his body was returned home by Steve. It is believed that he was killed by jayhawkers on the return trip. No one ever found out where Charles' gold was hidden. But, in later years, Aunt Meg was always able to aid the family whenever anyone was in financial straits, and on her death, left $1000 for a pension fund for Baptist ministers in Barry County. Return to Online Data Index <../barry.htm>Return to Barry County © 1999 Susan Tortorelli All Rights Reserved