THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND – THE HISTORY CHANNEL (Both Pics)
In last night’s episode, “Filling Cavities”, at the Lot 5 excavation area, the archeologists and Alex Lagina are working and discover a couple of artifacts. The first is what appears to be a small ring, but the team is unable to estimate a possible date. It is tagged and bagged and will be sent to Emma Culligan for further testing. The other artifact is what archeologist Jamie Kouba described as a decorative piece of metal that was perhaps off a wooden door or chest. It is suggested that this may have to do with privateering, which archeologist Fiona Steele mentions that there has been a lot of evidence to suggest privateering activity in this area.
THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND – THE HISTORY CHANNEL (Both Pics)
At the Swamp, work commenced after it had been drained near the Stone Road feature where Gary Drayton and Alex Lagina are metal detecting. Gary finds what appears to be a dowel and it is suggested that this dowel was similar to ones found at the U-Shape structure over at Smith’s Cove. It is suggested that perhaps there was a similar type of structure built in the Swamp for loading and unloading of cargo.
THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND – THE HISTORY CHANNEL (Both Pics)
Back at the Lot 5 excavation area, the archeologists have marked the boundary of the large rectangular feature that was shown on the Magnometer readings. It measures 30ft x 45ft approximately. They suggested that this structure was possibly taken down and hidden before the island was surveyed by Charles Morris in 1762. They said that it appears that the rocks found at the site were used to fill in the area and were not part of a wall. While they continued to work, they found a piece of engraved stone that was very peculiar and engraved with a line on both sides of the stone. They are unsure of what exactly it is and stated that they have never seen anything like it before, as it has rounded edges, evidence of being worked by man. Jack suggests it is part of the original Money Pit construction.
THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND – THE HISTORY CHANNEL (Both Pics)
The scene shifted back to the Swamp area at the stone road feature where Gary again is metal detecting with Alex Lagina. This time Gary has a detector hit and uncovers what appears to be a chain and a hook. Gary mentions he thinks the chain is hand forged and old. This leads to speculation that the chain and hook were used to load and unload cargo from a ship, specifically treasure chests. The artifacts will be sent to Emma Culligan for further testing at the Interpretive Center and it appears blacksmith, Carmen Legge, will be giving his opinion of them on next week’s show.
CHARLES MORRIS AND JONATHAN BELCHER
THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND – THE HISTORY CHANNEL (All Pics)
Oak Island Researcher Scott Clarke visited the War Room to present some of his research from his new book, Oak Island Odyssey. Scott begins by mentioning that his ancestor, Andrew Belcher, was perhaps one of the earliest Freemasons in North America and he believes that he buried treasure on Oak Island. The narrator describes a Masonic “Generational Conspiracy” regarding Oak Island and the Belcher family had secret knowledge of what was buried there. Scott then suggests that Charles Morris, the Surveyor of Nova Scotia in the 1760’s, may have received directives from Jonathan Belcher, Jr., Andrew’s grandson, to survey Oak Island into lots so that the buried treasure could be protected. Scott goes on to mention that Jonathan Belcher, Jr. was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia and the Grandmaster of Freemasonry in the province.
THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND – THE HISTORY CHANNEL (All Pics)
Scott then produces a map of Mahone Bay that he said he found at the Nova Scotia Archives. He mentions that it was made by Charles Morris in 1762 and he noticed some interesting features on it. First, he said that the first “A” in Mahone has a design of the Masonic compass. Scott goes on to suggest that this specific “A” has sometimes been associated with the fabled Holy Grail. Scott shows that this “A” points directly at Oak Island and suggests the Grail may be there or may have been hidden there at one time. It is also stated that these “A’s” are found in locations in Portugal and Italy with known Templar ties. Scott then states he found more of these A’s at St. Margarets Bay on the map, which is the neighboring bay to Mahone Bay. Scott then draws a circle connecting these A’s and shows that his circle runs though Oak Island, Scott believes this indicates a correlation with something like the Holy Grail, being hidden on Oak Island by Freemasons.
HISTORICAL ANALYSIS
Map by Charles Morris
Map by Charles Morris
JONATHAN BELCHER - WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Charles Morris was Surveyor General for the Province of Nova Scotia from 1749 to 1781. He was instrumental in the founding of Halifax and Lunenburg and the arrival of the New England Planters to populate Nova Scotia. Morris was a very busy man, mapping, surveying the entire province and helping to launch many settlements for the incoming settlers. In 1761, Lt. Governor Jonathan Belcher sent the Board of Trade, who was in control of all of Britain’s colonial plans, some of Morris’s maps. In early 1762, Belcher sent Morris’ report of new settlements and several towns. Morris’ assessments described the natural resources of the townships and how they were to be used in the future. Later in 1762, The Shoreham Land Grant, which included Oak Island, was approved by Morris, and the island was divided into 32 four acre lots.
In 1763, Morris was forced to tell the New England Planters at Maugerville that their lands were reserved for the military. Maugerville was located on the St. John River in present day New Brunswick, then part of Nova Scotia. Morris supported the New Englander Planters staying. He wrote to Joshua Mauger, the provincial agent of Nova Scotia in London, asking him to use his influence with the Board of Trade to allow them to stay and was successful. This was the type of influence that Mauger wielded in Nova Scotia, and he used his power to undermine anyone that stood in his way. This included Jonathan Belcher. Belcher was the Grandmaster of Freemasonry in Nova Scotia at the time, but Mauger, who was also a Freemason, was the person who decided what happened in the province. Belcher would become closely aligned with Mauger as the years went on and effectively was under Mauger’s control. The question becomes, was Mauger behind Oak Island being divided into lots to protect his smuggling/privateering operation from being discovered, and used his fellow Freemason’s Belcher and Morris to do so?
Scott Clarke’s discovery of the Masonic “A’s” on the 1762 map is very interesting. The Compendium checked out various maps completed by Morris and concur that there are no other maps with these types of A’s that were located so far. Was it just a stylized design Morris used because he was a Freemason, or is there something more going on here? It was mentioned in the episode that there may have been a Masonic “Generational Conspiracy” over time regarding Oak Island. On the surface this seems hard to believe, but the Compendium thinks that there may be substance to this idea. In fact, our research indicates that the involvement of Freemasons with the island goes back very far and continues to this day. The Compendium will be completing a future investigation into this subject later in 2024.
Good day from the Compendium!
*************UPDATE*************
Another map by Charles Morris has been located that has the identical "A" written on it. It is from Morris' 1755 map of Nova Scotia. This would indicate that its appearance on the Mahone Bay map is not special to that particular map and is most likely a stylized script Morris used because he was a Freemason.
A CHART OF THE SEA COASTS OF THE PENINSULA OF NOVA SCOTIA - Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center (link to map)
Good day from the Compendium!