Fortune in Gold and Silver Found!

The Pantagraph reported 100 years ago that a fortune had been found on the Deslarge Farm near Assumption, IL. This discovery was made as a consequence of the death of Jean Deslarge in 1914. Mr. Deslarge had lived in seclusion with his wife and two grown children for fifty years, seldom appearing in the town and barely making an effort to farm the 120 acre farm. Their seclusion had started after the marriage of the daughter Hortense. The Pantagraph reported that there was no insanity or feeble mindedness in the family, just a desire to be alone.

One year after the death of her father, Hortense returned to Assumption and asked for a conservator be appointed over her mother and the property of her father. Upon appointment of the Conservator, he entered the home and began a search for any valuable property. Gold coins and silver coins were found in old tin cans, the mattresses and other odd places. The money was carried to the bank in a wagon and would have filled three grocery carts of that day.

No one could say where this money could have come from, since the Deslarges had not farmed the land in a commercial way for over 30 years. Hortense, though, had an idea of what was kept in the old farmhouse and wanted her share!