# Nickell 1982: Discovered: The Secret of Beale's Treasure > Joe Nickell, 1982. 16 records on Mysteries Department cite it. The documentary and linguistic case that the pamphlet is fiction. Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CR7HQJW3XSN/discovered-the-secret-of-beales-treasure Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) --- [Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[Beale ciphers](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/beale-ciphers)Nickell 1982 **0** # Discovered: The Secret of Beale's Treasure Joe Nickell, 1982. _Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 90(3): 310-324_. A historical and linguistic investigation: no record of Thomas J. Beale in the places and years the pamphlet gives; Robert Morriss did not keep the Washington Hotel until 1823, not 1820; words such as "stampeding" and "improvised" are anachronistic for the 1820s letters; and the letters and narrative share an author, most likely Ward. **Beale ciphers** ArticleChecked against the original0 ## What it's used for here The documentary and linguistic case that the pamphlet is fiction. ## Cited by on this site 16 records [Beale is a fictional character.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/beale-ciphers/answers/ANS0CR7J7PG5ZYR/beale-is-a-fictional-character) Answer ANS [James B. Ward, the named agent, wrote the narrative, the letters and the ciphers.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/beale-ciphers/answers/ANS0CR7J4GY2TXZ/james-b-ward-the-named-agent-wrote-the-narrative-the-letters) Answer ANS [Nothing was ever buried; the hoard exists only in the pamphlet.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/beale-ciphers/answers/ANS0CR7JAW271CP/nothing-was-ever-buried-the-hoard-exists-only-in-the) Answer ANS [Every testable element of the story has failed the test so far.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/beale-ciphers/evidence/EVD0CR7JB3W2T03/every-testable-element-of-the-story-has-failed-the-test-so) Evidence EVD [Morriss did not keep the Washington Hotel until 1823.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/beale-ciphers/evidence/EVD0CR7J6FE54B2/morriss-did-not-keep-the-washington-hotel-until-1823) Evidence EVD [Nickell found no record of a Thomas J. Beale matching the story.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/beale-ciphers/evidence/EVD0CR7J76W76A4/nickell-found-no-record-of-a-thomas-j-beale-matching-the) Evidence EVD [Robert Morriss was a real innkeeper in Lynchburg.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/beale-ciphers/evidence/EVD0CR7J67M1X07/robert-morriss-was-a-real-innkeeper-in-lynchburg) Evidence EVD [The letters attributed to him contain anachronisms.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/beale-ciphers/evidence/EVD0CR7J7YA6QWX/the-letters-attributed-to-him-contain-anachronisms) Evidence EVD [The letters use 'stampeding' and 'improvised' in senses not attested in English until after 1830.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/beale-ciphers/evidence/EVD0CR7J50J3RAP/the-letters-use-stampeding-and-improvised-in-senses-not) Evidence EVD [Nickell publishes his archival and linguistic investigation](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/beale-ciphers/events/EVT0CR7HZCW1YSV/nickell-publishes-his-archival-and-linguistic-investigation) EVT [Joe Nickell](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/beale-ciphers/people/FIG0CR7HWF450J5/joe-nickell) FIG [Robert Morriss](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/beale-ciphers/people/FIG0CR7HVFW71DV/robert-morriss) FIG [Thomas J. Beale](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/beale-ciphers/people/FIG0CR7HV8237VS/thomas-j-beale) FIG [The Beale ciphers](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/beale-ciphers) The mystery article MYS [Did Thomas J. Beale exist?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/beale-ciphers/questions/QST0CR7J0KY19QQ/did-thomas-j-beale-exist) Question QST [Who wrote The Beale Papers?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/beale-ciphers/questions/QST0CR7J0C43MZG/who-wrote-the-beale-papers) Question QST ## Cite it ``` Nickell, J. (1982). Discovered: The Secret of Beale's Treasure. Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 90(3): 310-324. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4248566 ``` [Find it at jstor.org](https://www.jstor.org/stable/4248566) Key **SRC** 0CR7HQJW3XSN Kind Journal article Rights The publisher's Kept 29 Oct 2026, for editors Checked Against the published article Added by [apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo) The record Bibliographic records are CC0. Take this one as CSL-JSON, BibTeX or RIS. [CSL-JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CR7HQJW3XSN/discovered-the-secret-of-beales-treasure/csl.json)