The Great Aquia Train Robbery

Does Stafford have a stash of lost gold?

criminally inclined, decided to rob a Richmond Fredericksburg and Potomac (RF&P) train. This wasn’t a spur-of-themoment undertaking. They had word that this passenger train was pulling an American Express car with gold and cash.

BY DAVID S. KERR

Our history in Stafford County is rich. The Patawomeck Indians, John Smith, the Iron Works of George Washington’s father, and, of course, our founding father’s boyhood home. The list goes on. But, among all the happenings, my favorite is the “Great Aquia Train Robbery.”

It’s a good story, but with the passage of time and a few snippets – not quite facts – the tale only gets better. Not only was there a western style, ButchCassidy-and-the-Sundance-Kid train robbery, but there also might be some stolen gold still in the woods in Brooke.

Let me qualify that statement by saying that the prospects of there being any lost gold – let alone finding it 129 years later – in the extensive woods along the rail line are extremely thin. The suspicion is based primarily on some unanswered questions and a 121-year-old newspaper story. Other than that, there isn’t much to go on. But when has that gotten in the way of a good lost treasure story?

Let’s rewind the clock a little. It’s 1894, and Charles Jasper Searcey and Charles Morganfield, short on cash and

They boarded the train in Fredericksburg and began moving forward. Shortly after the Brooke station, they made their move. They took control of the train and made it stop. One of the duo kept a gun on the passengers and crew, while the other used a stick of dynamite to blow open the American Express car. They got their loot. Just how much is in question, but they had horses waiting for them and took off.

However, before they left, in a bit of criminal genius, they disconnected the steam engine, opened the throttle and jumped off. The engine shot off in the direction of Quantico, leading to a warning along the line, probably issued at Widewater Station, that a train was out of control. The engine got as far as Chopawamsic Creek, where it turned over. But the rail line had been too distracted by the out-of-control train to take immediate notice that it had been robbed.

Searcey and Morganfield pulled another fast one. To the passengers, it appeared as if they were escaping to the east, toward the water. But they doubled back and went west. Was that a ruse or did they have a mission in those woods – like ditching most of the loot?

That became a part of the lost gold legacy.

It seemed possible the two train robbers might get away. For several days there was no trace of them. They were pursued by Pinkerton detectives combing the region on horseback, but the trail seemed cold. But then a merchant in Culpeper noticed a man spending money a bit too freely. Based on that tip, the two were apprehended and taken to Stafford to stand trial.

Searcey got eight years and Morganfield 20. What’s more, according to a 1902 article in the Richmond Times, Searcey, thanks to good behavior and “turning towards religion,” was freed a year early. According to the Times article, after leaving jail, he went to Stafford Courthouse to visit with the attorney who represented him during the trial.

Notably, the article notes that locals saw him searching the woods east of the rail line close to the water. Shortly after that, he disappeared.

One curious aside to this story is that apparently American Express never said how much money and gold was stolen. Some loot was found on the two robbers, but it wasn’t by any means all the missing money. Was there more somewhere else? After all, the passengers and train crew saw the robbers riding east. Both robbers drifted into history, never to be heard from again. But what of the gold and the cash? Is it buried in the woods? Or along the creek? Or has it long since been recovered by the original thieves? Or was there never that much in the first place?

The story, like all good treasure sagas, has a high degree of implausibility. However, there are still enough unanswered questions to wonder if it’s still out there.

David Kerr is a Stafford resident and an adjunct professor of political science at VCU. He worked on Capitol Hill and for various federal agencies for many years.