John Singer was the brother of famous Isaac Singer, who invented the Singer Sewing Machine and had made a fortune for himself doing so. John Singer was interested in making a fortune for himself as well but, he was more interested in exploring the Texas coastline.
The year of 1847 found John Singer traveling through Port Isabel in the Gulf of Mexico with his wife, four sons, and another boy that he had hired to help along the way. They left the harbor at Port Isabel on a schooner that was named Alice Sadell. They soon found themselves in a storm but John was certain that the storm would soon pass. He had been in that same region before and was familiar with how the storms worked and what to do when found in one. It didn?t take long for the storm to get very worse and John, fearing for the safety of everyone on the boat, decided that it was time to seek shelter of some kind. It wasn?t long after this decision that the storm helped him out by throwing him, his ship, and his passengers onto a deserted island.
The family waited out the weather in the safety of the ship?s cabin and in the morning, the storm had passed. Singer took his hired help and together they went to explore the island. After they had investigated and talked between themselves, they thought that they were on Padre Island, and they were right about that.
This seemed to be a popular island to land for shipwrecks. Many Spanish ships had also been shipwrecked near this same island by the same type of violent storms. These ships had been traveling back and forth from Mexico and had carried loads of gold and silver. These ships would often be sunk well below the surface of the water and the heavy waves would wash up whatever wreckage there was from the ship onto the shore of the island. Pirates also used Padre Island as a burial ground for the valuables that they would often steal along their travels.
All of this was unbeknown to the Singer family. Yet, they still decided that they really enjoyed being on Padre Island and decided to make it their home. They built furniture and the frame of a house with pieces of wood from what was left of the ship. Mrs. Singer made it a true home by finding seeds and planting a garden for her family. John fashioned a small boat and used this to travel to the mainland to find things such as cattle to be delivered to their island home. They also used the Gulf as a main source of food by fishing and finding other wonderful treats in the water. They loved life on the island but had no idea what the island held for them until the children happened upon some Spanish coins one day while playing in the sand.
This small find sparked the Singer?s curiosity and they all went out in search of what else the island held for them. They came across more coins, jewelery, and a wooden chest that contained $80,000. John became very successful in the cattle business and together the Singer?s kept looking for, and finding, treasure on the island. John found a large sand dune and decided that?s where he would hide his found treasure. He called the sand dune ?money hill.? Whenever he needed funds for something, he would simply go to money hill and get it. There were two small oak trees on either sides of the hill that helped him find the hill whenever he needed to.
Yankee gunboats appeared on Padre Island at the beginning of the Civil War and the Singer family was forced to quickly move his family to the mainland. It wasn?t until four years later, after the war had ended, that he returned to the island to collect his money. What he found was disastrous. The Yankees had torn down his home to use the wood to build their fires. Violent storms and winds over the years had also drastically changed the landscape. John could not find his money hill and the oaks that marked the spot were completely gone as well.
John Singer died in 1877 and his treasure was never found. The story goes on that he died a very poor man, with no earthly riches at all. To this day, treasure hunters still comb Padre Island, looking for Singer?s buried treasure.
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Treasure is a Harsh Mistress
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