# McCully 1862: The Oak Island Diggings > J. B. McCully, 1862. 21 records on Mysteries Department cite it. The primary narrative source; everything about 1795 to 1851 traces to this and to the… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D52WP62302N/the-oak-island-diggings Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) --- [Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[Oak Island money pit](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island)McCully 1862 **0** # The Oak Island Diggings J. B. McCully, 1862. _Liverpool Transcript, October 1862_. The earliest detailed narrative of the 1795 discovery, the Onslow Company dig of the early 1800s and the Truro Company dig of 1849 to 1851, written by a Truro Company organiser. It is the first printed mention of the inscribed stone and of the layers in the pit. **Oak Island money pit** ArticleChecked against the original0 ## What it's used for here The primary narrative source; everything about 1795 to 1851 traces to this and to the 1864 'Member' series. ## Cited by on this site 21 records [A shaft at least 90 feet deep was dug and refilled with platforms before 1795 to hide a deposit.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/answers/ANS0D52X4B62ZZW/a-shaft-at-least-90-feet-deep-was-dug-and-refilled-with) Answer ANS [A stone bearing deliberate cut characters was found at about 90 feet by the Onslow Company.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/answers/ANS0D52XAEG7XM2/a-stone-bearing-deliberate-cut-characters-was-found-at-about) Answer ANS [One or more tunnels were cut from Smith's Cove (and the south shore) to flood the shaft when it was breached.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/answers/ANS0D52X8861XXJ/one-or-more-tunnels-were-cut-from-smiths-cove-and-the-south) Answer ANS [The drains are the intake of an engineered flood system built before 1795.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/answers/ANS0D52XDC87X7Q/the-drains-are-the-intake-of-an-engineered-flood-system) Answer ANS [Smith's Cove timber structure and drains](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/artifacts/ART0D52XZP607A7/smiths-cove-timber-structure-and-drains) ART [The inscribed stone (the "90-foot stone")](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/artifacts/ART0D52XKFJ73SG/the-inscribed-stone-the-90-foot-stone) ART [Three links of gold chain from the 1849 auger](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/artifacts/ART0D52XYF46J6R/three-links-of-gold-chain-from-the-1849-auger) ART [Accounts of 1862 and 1864 describe oak platforms at regular intervals and layers of charcoal, putty and…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/evidence/EVD0D52X4K07KKA/accounts-of-1862-and-1864-describe-oak-platforms-at-regular) Evidence EVD [McCully (1862) and 'A Member' (1864) report a stone with characters cut into it, found near 90 feet.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/evidence/EVD0D52XAPA0F30/mccully-1862-and-a-member-1864-report-a-stone-with) Evidence EVD [The stone is first mentioned in 1862, fifty-eight years after its supposed discovery.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/evidence/EVD0D52XCMT5KPS/the-stone-is-first-mentioned-in-1862-fifty-eight-years-after) Evidence EVD [J. B. McCully publishes "The Oak Island Diggings"](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/events/EVT0D52WZYJ2CSA/j-b-mccully-publishes-the-oak-island-diggings) EVT [McGinnis, Smith and Vaughan dig the first pit (by tradition)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/events/EVT0D52WYQG58ZT/mcginnis-smith-and-vaughan-dig-the-first-pit-by-tradition) EVT [The Onslow Company digs to about 90 feet and reports the inscribed stone](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/events/EVT0D52WYZA3N84/the-onslow-company-digs-to-about-90-feet-and-reports-the) EVT [The Truro Company re-digs the pit, augers through "metal", and finds the Smith's Cove drains](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/events/EVT0D52WZ743AHY/the-truro-company-re-digs-the-pit-augers-through-metal-and) EVT [Anthony Vaughan](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/people/FIG0D52WVSR0YX8/anthony-vaughan) FIG [Daniel McGinnis](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/people/FIG0D52WVA45JJR/daniel-mcginnis) FIG [J. B. McCully](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/people/FIG0D52WW1J5VQ0/j-b-mccully) FIG [John Smith](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/people/FIG0D52WVHY3FGR/john-smith) FIG [The Oak Island money pit](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island) The mystery article MYS [Onslow Company](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/organisations/ORG0D52WX8M2VZF/onslow-company) ORG [Truro Company](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island/organisations/ORG0D52WXGE5DHG/truro-company) ORG ## Cite it ``` McCully, J. B. (1862). The Oak Island Diggings. Liverpool Transcript, October 1862. https://criticalenquiry.org/oakisland/diggings.shtml ``` [Read it free at criticalenquiry.org](https://criticalenquiry.org/oakisland/diggings.shtml) Key **SRC** 0D52WP62302N Kind Journal article Rights public-domain Kept 27 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/SRC0D52WP62302N/the-oak-island-diggings/csl.json)