The search for Hardy Clements lost gold within the shadows of Saban Field @ Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Tuscaloosa County, AL. | TreasureNet.com

from Lost Treasures In Alabama - TVMDC

Hardy Clements was a farmer, politician, businessman, slave owner, and wealthy man. In 1845, Clements rode a mule from Sumter County, South Carolina, to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, with just one hundred dollars in his pocket. He bought a little piece of land in Coaling, on the banks of Big Sandy Creek, about twelve miles east of Tuscaloosa.

By 1850, he had turned a few acres into 9000 acres, on which he had 30 horses, 85 work mules, 29 milk cows, 14 oxen, 113 sheep, 250 swine, and 336 slaves, making him the largest slave owner in Alabama. His real estate and personal property were valued at $300,000.

The legend is that when the Civil War came to Alabama, Hardy Clements buried about $100,000 worth of gold. With the War going on, it wasn’t safe to travel the old Huntsville road to Tuscaloosa and deposit the gold while the Wilson Raiders were so near. So he did as other plantation owners did and buried his money.

During the War, there were feelings of dissatisfaction among some of the slaves. Clements feared they might be tempted or threatened into telling the Wilson Raiders where the valuable gold had been concealed. So he would wait until night after the servants had left the house and everyone was asleep, and then he would go out and hide the gold.

There have been many stories about where the gold was hidden: under his house, around the cotton gin that stood by the spring, or around his huge bog farm. It has also been told that he took all his gold to the cemetery, dug a small grave, and buried it among his slaves who had served him so well.

In 1863, Hardy Clements died. He did not tell anyone where the gold was hidden, not even his son, a colonel with the 50th Regiment of Alabama.

Today, only a few resemblances of a plantation remain. A large dying oak tree marks his homesite. The big spring that gushes into Big Sandy Creek near the cotton gin still runs swiftly, clearly, and very cold, as it did over 100 years ago. The hog farm is now sagebrush and bushes, and the cemetery is mostly a woody area with large trees growing among the graves.

Most of the old plantation is on public land; only the homesite is on private property, but, as far as is known, it is not posted.