The shoebox treasure chest

Paul Powell was born in Vienna, Illinois on January 21, 1902. After World War II, he became a prominent figure in the Illinois Democratic Party. Eventually, he became Illinois Secretary of State in 1965. In 1966, his office was investigated for corruption; he was exonerated, but his chief investigator was indicted for theft of state funds. He was still in office when he died in Rochester, Minnesota on October 10, 1970. Shortly thereafter, a shoebox full of money was found in his room at the St. Nicholas Hotel in Springfield.

The famous Paul Powell shoebox was actually more than one box, and not all were shoeboxes. There were also metal boxes, briefcases, and envelopes. This treasure trove—roughly $800,000 in cash—was discovered two days after he died, when Powell's staff and his estate executor gathered his belongings from the hotel room and storage area. The other, less famous findings included 49 cases of whiskey, 14 transistor radios, and two cases of creamed corn.

The producer of Treasure! made this story into a geocache hunt in Springfield, Illinois. You can get the details of that hunt here.

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