My husband reads "Lost Treasure" magazine and I was leafing through some old ones (don't ask me why) with items on Iowa. The Sep. 2000 issue had the following item pertaining to Scott Co: "Madman's Castle" by Anthony J. Pallante. To say that Dr. Henry Schumacher of the tiny village of Walcott west of Davenport was a tad unusual is tantamount to stating that the Rocky Mountains are not quite flat. For one thing, Schumacher took the idea that a man's home ought to be his castle quite literally. The wood frame house he had erected in 1905 and covered with imitation stone was an exact replica of a Norman stronghold. In his basement dungeon, astonished visitors found plaster of Paris skeletons impaled on long poles and outlined in phosphorescent paint. To indulge his passion for astronomy, Schumacher spent a small fortune erecting an observatory adjacent to his castle- but then Schumacher always seemed to have plenty of money. When he died in 1934, Schumacher's heirs found but little of his ready cash. What they did find and promptly sold at public auction were "rare guns, swords used in wars in various countries, rare coins, Confederate currency, spinning wheels, and other relics...." His collection of old newspapers, already antique in 1934, was unfortunately burned in a huge bonfire. But treasure seekers should take heart-if a man like Henry Schumacher didn't bury a cache or two somewhere, it is hard to imagine that anyone did. Anyone know any more about this guy? Or related? Or know what became of his cash? Cathy