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Searching for the Full History of the 90 Foot Stone...

3/28/2016

8 Comments

 
Picture
By Doug Crowell - Blockhouse Investigations
  There are so many minor puzzles within the greater Oak Island Treasure mystery that it seems as if a researcher will never run out of avenues of investigation.  One of those puzzles to be solved is to locate an article in a magazine or newspaper that is said to tell the full history of the 90 Foot Stone.  This article, hunted for by many past Oak Island researchers, has never been found.  So we undertook to see if we could find it.
   In reviewing the R.V. Harris fonds, held at the Nova Scotia Provincial Archives (MG1 Volume 380), we noted that the following statement was written, “The full history of the stone was written up in “The Suburban” about 1903 or 1904.”
Picture
R.V. Harris Fonds - Page 2 of the Marshall Statement

What was The Suburban?  Much speculation has taken place regarding what “The Suburban” is or was, but no copy of this article has been revealed as of this date.  Some have speculated that it may be a periodical from Chicago.  It is not the large Quebec weekly newspaper by the same name, as that publication was not founded until 1963.  We believe it to be a weekly publication local to Nova Scotia, as we have found a short lived periodical named “The Suburban News”, published in Rockingham Nova Scotia, a suburb of Halifax, from 1903 until 1907.

Picture
  We felt it was very important to find this article, as former Oak Island Treasure Hunter H.L. Bowdoin wrote an article, published in the August 19th 1911 edition of Collier’s Magazine, in which he states that he viewed the 90ft Stone at Creighton’s Bookbindery and that there were no markings on the stone, and that they could not have worn off as the staff of the store said, because the stone was too hard.

  This article about the 90ft Stone in The Suburban would predate Bowdoin’s viewing of the stone by several years.  It is our hope that the article would either confirm or refute Bowdoin’s statement.  Some believe that Bowdoin may have been spiteful when he made his claim, as it is said he was denied a desired second attempt at a recovery effort.  This missing account of the inscribed stone could very well shed new light on what we have been told about the stone. 

  We were able to find archived copies of many of the issues, all with accession dates after Harris’s mention of the periodical, meaning that these collections would not have been available to Harris at the time in which he was looking.

  We found collections in the following places:
  1. Acadia University – Kirkconnell Room
  2. Public Archives of Nova Scotia (MFM 3990 and 3991)
  3. Harvard University
  4. A local Nova Scotia used bookstore had a single issue for $75.00
 
  We had been able to view the copies held by Acadia University and we had also reviewed all of the microfilm at the Public Archives by October 22 of 2015.  None of the issues reviewed contained the article sought, but it quickly became evident that The Suburban was a weekly publication, issued every Saturday.  This gave us an idea of how many issues we had to find. 

   The issues archived at Harvard University are not available directly to the public, only via inter-library loan.  This also has its limitations, as full copies of an issue cannot be requested.  They required that the article be identified.  Since we did not know which issue actually contains the article, we were at an impasse with Harvard.  Also, none of the above collections are complete in and of themselves, so we had to find a way to view all of the collections

  In the summer of 2015, about the same time we were chasing this lead, we had the pleasure and good fortune to meet Paul Troutman, an Oak Island researcher and son of Oak Island treasure hunter, James Troutman.  Paul's father worked alongside of Robert Dunfield and Dan Blankenship on Oak island back in the mid 1960s.  Paul lives in the New England states.

Picture
Left to right: Kel Hancock, Doug Crowell, Paul Troutman, and Thomas Kingston at the Atlantica Hotel in Mahone Bay.

  When we mentioned to Paul that we were following up on this lead from R. V. Harris' research papers, but had hit a hurdle with Harvard.  Paul offered to see what he could do about gaining access to the collection at that university.  He recognized the importance of trying to find this full history of the 90 foot stone, and began what turned out to be a time consuming quest to gain access and review the collection at Harvard University.  Paul had to first obtain a time limited visitors pass which involved about the same level of effort as getting your passport approved does.  He was required to get someone to vouch for him and submit an application, which had to be approved before he would be granted a pass.  This accomplished after a long wait, he then spent most weekends, for over three months, driving several hours each way, back and forth between his home and the Harvard archives.  During his visits he scanned their issues of The Suburban.  During this time, our hopes rose high several times when mention of Oak Island was found.  For example, the cover for the June 16th 1906 issue looked very promising.
Picture


  Despite the cover photo, which is valuable in its own right, the issue did not contain the article on the full history of the 90 Foot Stone.  A Halloween ghost story that involved Oak Island was found in one issue, and several different Oak Island photos were found, but we never found the article sought. 

  The Suburban issues contain a wealth of Nova Scotian history, some of which we have never seen  published elsewhere.  It would provide historical researchers on other Nova Scotian topics with a great source of information on all corners of the province, so it is with great enthusiasm that we get to tell you that Paul Troutman has generously provided the Public Archives of Nova Scotia with a complete copy of the issues he laboriously scanned, making this rare resource available to all researchers.  Thanks Paul!

  As often happens when chasing down a lead, the end goal is not achieved, but in this case at least some minor Oak Island discoveries were made, and a huge amount of general history has been made more widely available.  We have accounted for every regularly issued Saturday edition.  We did find mention of one special business edition, which was released on a day other than a Saturday, so there remains a possibility that there is more than one special edition of The Suburban that was printed, and that they are out there somewhere waiting to be discovered.

  The search for the Full History of the 90 Foot Stone article continues, so please keep your eye out for issues of The Suburban and give them a quick review, because you might just stumble across a special edition that hasn't been discovered yet.

Goodnight from The Blockhouse!

8 Comments
Terry J. Deveau link
3/28/2016 06:28:54 am

Great work, guys!

Reply
Peter Geuzen
3/29/2016 06:06:29 pm

While surfing through the seemingly endless Facebook sites and postings for Oak Island I came across the comment shown at the link below, from Jack Begley's site back in January. I thought you might find it interesting. This said, Jack is also on record as saying he wouldn't mind having Scott Wolter provide some input to the whole mystery. Hmmmm.......

http://imgur.com/sJclbWY

Reply
Doug Crowell
3/30/2016 11:14:27 am

Thanks Peter. I am aware of that video but I am in agreement with Jack on the worth of that particular link. Nothing there of value to add to the information base regarding the 90FT Stone.

Reply
Peter Geuzen
3/30/2016 03:01:25 pm

I agree. I found the difference of opinion interesting. Thumbs down on Pulitzer but possible thumbs up for Wolter. Interestingly, a couple of Pulitzer's hardcore supporters post on Jack's site, which is a little odd given that Jack clearly has no time for him.

Pulitzer says he's doing a two hour documentary on the stone. Let's hope it's as good as his sword report, haha.. :-)

Matt
12/25/2016 08:00:23 am

Last I heard his documentary would be for press. Not TV or film. I will believe it when I see it...

Reply
Symm McCord link
1/3/2018 11:36:48 am

Doug Crowell. I've been watching you and your expertise on the Oak Island program on the History Channel. Regarding the 90 ft stone, I have been trying to get this info through to some one who is researching it. I strongly suspect that you have already seen this but I have this itch that I must scratch. I
I know the researchers have already reviewed this book but I just want to be sure that one small passage was not missed: In "Oak Island Secrets" by Mark Finnan, published in 2002, and on page 34, he states: "Having purchased some additional land, Smith built himself a farmhouse on the island and used the hieroglyphically inscribed stone slab as a solid backing for his fireplace." On the land deee map shown on the show it seems that his land was more out on the head and trunk of the elephant head if you know what I mean. I'd really like to know if that lead was ever explored. Best of luck and I enjoy watching the efforts of you and the Lagina brothers.

Reply
Doug Crowell
1/3/2018 11:48:12 am

Thanks for the reply Symm. The foundation for John Smith's house, and for his barn, where visible before Robert Dunfield began his work in 1965. Both where located to the North of the Chappell Shaft, with the house being closer and the barn being about 150 feet away. There was a tea house located down on Isaac's point back in the late 1930, and perhaps the early 1940s. As well, I have a suspicion that the was a house already on Lot 18 when Smith bought the land in 1795, if only for the reason that they say the 90FT Stone was used in the fireplace of John smith's NEW house. Thanks again for the input!

Reply
Symm McCord link
1/3/2018 03:22:30 pm

Thanks for your reply and I feel I finally got it to the right person. I had tried 3 previous times. The reason I wanted to get it to somebody is that in a recent episode Laird the archeologist stopped the detecting in a certain area thinking that it was possible cultural changes there. The Smith farm house came to my mind. It was in the area near or on his old land site.Thanks again. Symm McCord




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