Peter Netzel

Dubuque Iowa's Forgotten Gold Peter Netzel

Dubuque Iowa's Forgotten Gold - When Old Tom Kelly died in 1867, newspapers across the country carried stories of the legend of the rich hermit. This book is a collection of those old articles. The book is a compilation of these articles, reproduced as written to convey the writing style of the times when they were printed. Several versions of the legend of the gold hidden by Old Tom Kelly are out there; who can say what is the truth about this hidden treasure legend? What is known for sure is that a man named Tom Kelly mined lead ore in the Dubuque, Iowa, area from 1833 until his death in1867; he sold his ore for gold and silver coin because he did not trust banks. The eccentric miser buried this wealth around his property and died telling no one where any of the hoards were hidden. He told his relatives gathered at his deathbed: "If 'e want it, look 'e for it." Some of Old Tom Kelly's riches were found at the time of his death; but the story would surface every so often in the years since, with the discovery of caches of old coins on his property. According to legend, lead miner Thomas Kelly lived like a miser, but buried more than $100,000 in gold coins before his death in 1867. The legends are probably a mix of fantasy and reality, but it sure does make one tempting tale for treasure hunters everywhere. You can almost see the gold out there, hidden somewhere on Kelly's Bluff high above Dubuque, Iowa!