Money Island

In Short

Andrew Jackson Howell's Money Island is a coastal tale of pirate treasure, family heritage, and the enduring power of local legend. The book couples an old manuscript recounting a colonial pirate's sworn trust with the frame narrative of a 1840s boyhood expedition to dig up Captain Kidd’s gold near Wilmington, North Carolina. Framed further by a lighthearted modern sequel, the narrative explores how rumors of easy wealth capture the human imagination across generations, enduring as a charming blend of regional folklore and timeless adventure.

The Story

The book opens with an old family manuscript written by Mr. Jonathan Landstone, intended to preserve the truth of a long-kept secret. Landstone recounts how his great-grandfather, Captain John Redfield, served as a trusted lieutenant to the famous pirate Captain Kidd. Anchoring near the Cape Fear coast, Kidd chooses Redfield to remain behind as a local resident to guard a major deposit of wealth hidden on a small landmass known as Money Island. After taking a solemn oath, Redfield helps lower two heavy iron chests of treasure into a hole on the secluded island. Kidd leaves Redfield with funds to establish a settlement named Rindout, where Redfield builds a home, marries, and lives quietly for over a year.

This peaceful existence is shattered when Max Brisbau, a former crewmate, arrives with a boatful of men claiming he has orders from Kidd to retrieve the chests. Suspicious, Redfield demands to see written authorization. When Brisbau fails to produce it, tempers flare and a violent struggle ensues. Redfield, unarmed, fights for his life against his armed opponent until Mrs. Redfield courageously intervenes, binding Brisbau with a rope. However, Redfield's victory is short-lived; his own hired men conspire with Brisbau's crew, enticed by the prospect of plunder. Refusing to violate his sacred oath, Redfield is placed in chains alongside his wife while the men fruitlessly search the woods for weeks. Eventually, the captors transport the bound couple to Charleston. There, royal authorities seize the ship on suspicion of piracy; Brisbau's crew is imprisoned, while Redfield and his wife are freed, enabling Redfield to build an honest, prosperous life without ever touching the island's loot.

Decades later, in the early 1840s, Landstone himself—then a young boy—embarks on a sailing trip near Money Island with a friend. Spotting a mysterious old gentleman and a veteran sailor camping in a cove, the inquisitive boys manage to join their enterprise. The gentleman is Landstone's aged grandfather, who reveals the manuscript's secrets and his conviction that the chests remain under two ancient, gnarled oak trees. Joining forces, the group spends days performing backbreaking labor, finally uprooting one of the massive oaks. In the salty mud beneath, they discover a sheet of rusted iron and a vast quantity of corroded gold and worn silver coins scattered by the tree's roots. Though a search under the second tree yields nothing, Landstone's share of the treasure sustains him through a long life. In a concluding companion sketch, "The Conquest of Jamesby," an elderly Landstone publishes his account, sparking a flurry of treasure fever among local townsfolk, including a skeptical young banker named Jamesby who ultimately succumbs to the irresistible dream of hunting for lost gold.

How It Unfolds

A pirate's oath Captain Kidd anchors off the North Carolina coast and entrusts his officer, Captain Redfield, with guarding two iron chests of treasure buried on Money Island, swearing him to secrecy before providing him funds to settle nearby.

Mutiny at Rindout A rogue corsair named Max Brisbau arrives demanding the gold, leading to a desperate physical struggle that ends only when Mrs. Redfield ties up the intruder, though Redfield's own men soon betray him to join the treasure hunters.

Captivity and freedom Redfield and his wife endure weeks in chains rather than reveal the hidden location, until their captors sail to Charleston, where royal officials arrest the pirates and liberate the steadfast couple.

A boyhood discovery In the 1840s, two young boys on a sailing trip discover two men searching Money Island and earn their way into the camp, where the elderly Mr. Landstone shares his family's manuscript by the campfire.

Unearthing the gold After days of grueling labor uprooting a massive, storm-worn oak, the party digs into the mud, uncovering rusted iron and sifting through wet sand to extract a fortune in corroded gold and silver coins.

Treasure fever takes hold Decades later, after Landstone publishes his true story in the newspaper, local townspeople and the once-skeptical banker Jamesby become consumed by grand schemes to search the coastline for sunken wealth.

The People

• Captain John Redfield: A formidable, six-foot-tall former pirate who chooses honor over personal gain. Bound by a sacred oath to Captain Kidd, he steadfastly refuses to reveal the secret location of the buried chests, enduring imprisonment and betrayal by his own men to protect his trust.
• Max Brisbau: A suave yet ruthless former shipmate of Redfield. Driven by greed, he uses false pretexts and violent threats to claim the island's wealth, ultimately leading a mutinous search party before ending up in a Charleston prison.
• Mrs. Redfield: Captain Redfield's quick-witted wife, whose decisive courage saves her husband during his life-or-death struggle with Brisbau when she binds the intruder with a rope.
• Jonathan Landstone: The central narrator, presented first as a studious, adventurous boy in the 1840s who joins the excavation, and later as an elderly man reflecting on how his boyhood share of Kidd's gold sustained him through life's misfortunes.
• Jamesby: A rising, practical young city banker who initially scoffs at Landstone's published newspaper account, only to catch the infectious "treasure fever" and enthusiastically plan his own deep-sea recovery expedition.

In Its Own Voice

"The silence of the dreary solitude sealed the secret; and there was no man who might discover it, other than those who laid the chests in their earthly hiding place."

A moment of quiet gravity as Captain Kidd and his trusted men complete the original burial of the iron chests on the secluded island.

"I at once felt something round and suggestive. 'Look at this!' I cried. It was a blackened gold coin!"

The climax of the boyhood dig beneath the uprooted oak tree, where years of speculation instantly turn into tangible wealth.

"'Twas dis away. Once uponer time me an' John Gomus an' John Flowers, we was round at Mr. Holmes' stables..."

Old Henry, the colored servant, shares his own humorous, grounded tale of late-night digging that yielded nothing more than a giant cow's horn.

What It's Really About

Beneath its classic adventure elements, Money Island explores the irresistible power of regional mythology and the enduring human desire for unearned fortune. Howell contrasts the strict moral code of Captain Redfield—who values honor and an oath above vast riches—with the infectious greed that consumes those around him. The narrative shows how a single romantic legend can echo across centuries, transforming quiet coastal waters into landscapes of endless possibility. Ultimately, the book examines how stories of buried gold function as a mirror for human nature, exposing the tension between patient, honest labor and the intoxicating allure of a sudden windfall.

Why Read It Today

Money Island offers a delightful, authentic piece of regional Americana that will thoroughly charm fans of pirate lore, coastal histories, and classic treasure-hunting yarns. Howell's writing possesses an unpretentious, nostalgic warmth that captures the breezy, sunlit atmosphere of the North Carolina sound country and the simple thrill of boyhood exploration. The narrative carries a comfortable, fireside tone that makes the legendary feel intimate and real.

Modern readers should be prepared for the book's episodic structure and its deliberate, 19th-century pacing, as well as period-specific dialect writing in the book's final section. Rather than relying on constant action, the story relies on atmosphere, detailed local setting, and character-driven exchanges. What stays with you is the book's gentle humor regarding human credulity: the sight of sensible, everyday citizens—from newspaper editors to pragmatic young bankers—instantly losing their heads to dreams of hidden gold the moment a good story hits the local press.