"A company of money diggers consisting of two men, a boy, and al old woman, armed with mining rods, crowbars, and the Bible, were employed on Saturday and Sunday nights in digging for money, over on Seavy's point."
"A huge misshapen ghost stood before him, as he says, at least 20 feet high. "... 'Dad,' said the courageous boy, 'maydn't I thow a stone at him?' But the old man silenced the boy, and with blanched lips and chattering teeth addressed the ghost in the name of the Lord Jesus and demanded to know how much he would take for interest in the money; the ghost replied in a very surly tone that he wouldn't soul out and was about to make a semonstration [sic] of his power when the money diggers gave way to their fears and fled, closely pursued by more than five hundred ghosts, leaving the Bible on the spot. The old man says next he'll have a 'clinch for it.' He begins to suspect the ghosts are made of tangible materials."
["Money Diggers," Eastern Argus, (Portland, ME), 23 October 1833, as quoted in A Topical Guide of Treasure-Seeking Rituals From the American Northeast during the 18th and 19th Centuries, Compiled by Joseph T. Antley (2010)]
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