Civil War Gold

Clarendon is an old river town in Monroe County. During the Civil War a Federal gunboat was on its way upstream with a safe full of gold to pay troops. The citizens of Clarendon (southern sympathizers) mounted an old cannon on the levee, overlooking the river. Concealing the cannon they waited. As the gunboat swung inshore toward Clarendon the hidden men fired the cannon. It was a direct hit. The boat began to sink but the ships crew shelled the town until the vessel disappeared. The ship’s rusted smokestack was visible for years. It was an accepted fact that the safe containing $150,000 in gold was still aboard. So far as is known it’s still there.