A gentleman from Mossy Creek, Jefferson County, who was in the city yesterday, brings a rather sensational story from that section. He states that the whole community is excited over the reported discovery of the money which old Jack Peck, a miserly old citizen of Mossy Creek, who died some time since, is reputed to have buried.

From what can be learned of the matter, Peck, who was something of a trader and who made a good deal of money, was never known to deposit his money in any bank, but always converted it into gold, if possible or silver and no one knew what became of it. Parties who ought to know say that he had accumulated between twelve and fifteen thousand dollars in this manner.

Old Peck was not a moral man and lived with a woman by the name of Cindy Tittle, by whom he had one child, a girl and when death came for him, it found him in her house.

Prior to his death for several months he boarded at the house of Mrs. W. F. Daniels, at Mossy Creek and having no employment especially, he obtained Mrs. Daniels permission to take care of her husband's grave which was situated in the burying ground of Elizabeth Chapel. This work was faithfully performed and the grave was always kept neatly sodded.

On the morning of Saturday March 27th, the grave of W F Daniels was found open and two gallon jars which had evidently been buried in the grave were found lying on the ground nearby.

The stories of Old Peck’s hidden wealth and the fact that he had attended the grave for so long a time, gave color to the surmise that immediately presented itself to the discoverers of the desecrated grave, that old Peck had buried his money in the grave and that someone who was aware of its whereabouts had stolen it.

The story became noised abroad and very soon someone divulged the fact that they had on several occasions seen a woman and two men hanging around the vicinity of the grave shortly after old Peck's death. Suspicion points to Cindy Tittle as the guilty party, it being supposed that the old man in the delirium of his last illness, divulged the whereabouts of his hidden hoard to his paramour.

The strange part of the robbery is that the thieves made no attempts to re-cover the grave or hide the traces of the robbery, but left the grave open and the tell-tale jars lying at its side.

The Tittle woman denies all knowledge of the affair.

Source: Knoxville Daily Tribune, Wednesday April 6, 1892

Transcribed by Robert McGinnis