Buried Treasure

Pirates and Isle of Hope

Our grandparents Leon and Mary Bell Grayson were born and raised in Savannah, a coastal Georgia city founded in 1733 near the end of the Golden Age of Piracy. Savannah’s Pirates’ House Restaurant dates to the early years of the colony, and it is believed that after a visit to that Savannah inn and tavern Robert Louis Stevenson was inspired to write Treasure Island, in which Savannah is mentioned a handful of times.. Mary’s aunt and Leon’s family both owned homes in the early to mid-1900s atop a modest river bluff on Isle of Hope, a fresh-air escape from the city, a resort destination, and a seasonal residential area about seven miles southeast of Savannah’s historic district at the terminus of a streetcar line.

Before Isle of Hope became any of these things, it was long-rumored to have been the site of a cache of buried pirate treasure. One suggested location is beneath the Lebey House on Bluff Drive, where in 1864 superstitious slave laborers were said to have been digging a foundation when they came upon an iron chest surrounded by human bones. Fearing evil spirits, they hastily covered it over and the house was built atop it. ¹

Biblical Treasure

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Matthew 6:19-21

As Treasure Island illustrates, the desire for quick wealth comes at the cost of destroyed lives. Despite knowing that more treasure awaited, the disturbing memories of the quest cause the young protagonist Jim Hawkins to forever swear off treasure hunting. Earthly treasure eventually fades and molds, corrodes and disintegrates Where then do we find our treasure? People are God’s treasure! (See Exodus 19:5, Deuteronomy 14:2, and Proverbs 31) “As for the rich in this world, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on uncertain riches but on God who richly furnishes us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good deeds, liberal and generous, thus laying up for themselves treasure in heaven, so that they may take hold of the life which is life indeed.” (1 Timothy 6:17-19)

Modern Buried Treasure

As there are few unexplored islands left, the chance of ever finding buried treasure is unlikely. Or is it? Our grandparents moved to Washington, D.C. in the early 1930s, and lived there together for more than 60 years. After they died we helped their only child, our mother Mary Ann Grayson Guevara, move their earthly treasures to our childhood home. When Ann died in 2015, we gathered their combined treasures – much of which ended up in boxes stacked in my bedroom closet. Life happened, and in addition to their sixty years together and the fifteen years before our mom died, five additional years have passed. A couple of weeks ago I dug deep into my closet and unearthed a box of photos dating to as early as the 1890s, and hundreds of photo negatives dating from at least the beginning of Leon and Mary’s life together in 1933. I was gifted a photo and negative scanner for my recent birthday, and only now do I realize what treasure lay within that particular box. It’s the story of our beloved grandparents, whose life before we came along we knew little about. Enjoy these gems, a glimpse into their life together. I’m eager to discover the treasure that is waiting in the other boxes. What treasures do you have in your closets or attic awaiting discovery?

¹ See Isle of Hope, Wormsloe and Bethesda (© 2002 Images of America Series) pg 6 and Bluff Drive and the Isle of Hope Churches (©2008) pg33, both by Polly Wylly Cooper