The Searchers

• 1802-1805 : The Onslow Company - Daniel McGinnis, Anthony Vaughan, and John Smith partnered with Simeon Lynds of Truro and formed the Onslow Company. Other members included Colonel Robert Archibald director of operations. Thirty investors included Sheriff Thomas Harris and Captain David Archibald.
   

• 1849-1851 : The Truro Company – Members included Anthony Vaughan, Dr. David Barnes Lynds, John Gammell, Adams Tupper, and Robert Creelman. The Jotham McCully was the manager and James Pitblado was the foreman. In 1859, operations resumed briefly but with no success.

 

• 1861-1865 : The Oak Island Association Syndicate with members of the Truro syndicate - This included Adam Tupper, Jotham McCully, James McNutt, Jefferson McDonald, Samuel Retti, and George Mitchell. A deal was made with Anthony Graves, that included him getting one-third of any treasure recovered. The company issued 100 shares at $20 each. Money problems ended the venture.

 

• 1866-1867 : The Oak Island Eldorado Company - Which had some of the same people associated with the previous operation. The President was H.G. Hill, secretary W.J. Vieth, treasurer A.O. Creighton. They sold 200 shares at $20 each. Their Plan was to build wood and clay dam around Smith's Cove, pump out water, completely cutting off the flood tunnel. They ran out of money as well.

 

• 1893-1900 : The Oak Island Treasure Company - Frederick Blair and S.C. Fraser formed the company, and it was incorporated in the State of Maine. The President was A.M. Bridgman, treasurer H.C. Tupper, and directors George Houghton and C.C.L. Moore. The company leased the land on Oak Island for three years for $30,000, with exclusive rights to everything recovered. The company issued $60,000 of shares at $5 per share.
   

• 1904 - Frederick Blair's agent Harry F. Black of Amherst applied for and was granted a 40-year lease under the Nova Scotia Mines Act on Oak Island to mine gold and silver, with exclusive right to deal with landowner. The next year, Black assigns the mining lease on Oak Island to Frederick Blair. This gave Blair control of the Oak Island operations for a long period of time.
   

• 1909-1911: The Old Gold Salvage and Wrecking Company -  included President Henry Bowdoin, Vice President Frederick Blair, Treasurer L.H. Andrews, Secretary G.D. Mosher, and Board Director Captain John W. Welling. The company resumed the search for the treasure of pirate Captain Kidd, or the Crown Jewels of France. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was one of the investors and spent time on the island in the summer of 1909.
   

• 1916: The Rochester Group -  began operations on Oak Island, headed by engineer William S. Lozier. Drilling found no new discoveries, but they made valuable careful measurements that will be used later.
   

• 1921-1922 - Edward W. Bowne made an agreement with Frederick Blair to search for treasure on Oak Island. His plan included digging a 6 by 6-foot shaft 15 feet from the Money Pit, with airlock at top, then probe a rod horizontally at various depths to search for treasure, but had no success locating any treasure.
   

• 1931-1932 - Frederick Blair joined with Chappell’s Limited of Sydney, Nova Scotia. The company was owned by William Chappell. His son Melbourne Chappell, brother Renerick, and nephew Claude Chappell are all involved in the operation. Discoveries are made but no treasure is located.

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• 1932-1933:  The heirs of Sophia Sellers did not renew the right to dig with Frederick Blair and sought out the next operation on their own. A group headed by Mary Steward of New York reached an agreement with the Sellers heirs. The work on the island was led by engineer, John Talbot. Talbot conducted drilling and failed to discover anything of consequence. Although they did not return to New York empty handed, Miss Steward was presented with the infamous Boatswain Whistle that was discovered in 1885 at Smith’s Cove. We will be adding more about this piece very soon.

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• 1933 – 1934: 1933 – 1934: The Canadian Oak Island Treasure Company - Thomas Nixon made an agreement with the Sellers heirs. Nixon’s plan was to drive down a circle of interlocking steel pilings 50-70 feet from the Money Pit then dig. He ran out of money and his agreement expired with the Sellers heirs.

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• 1936-1938, Gilbert Hedden of New Jersey, signed an agreement with Frederick Blair. Hedden hired Sprague and Henwood, Inc., of Scranton, Pennsylvania, to pump and re-excavate the Money Pit, Chappell shaft, and drill at depths of 125 and 160 feet. Gilbert Hedden ended his Oak Island operations to concentrate on his business.
   

• 1938 - 1943, Professor Edwin Hamilton of New York University took over the search from Gilbert Hedden, when Hedden ran into financial problems. Hamilton made progress but ceased his search for treasure due to World War II.
   

• 1951 - M.R. Chappell and Frederick Blair partnered to work on Oak Island. An electronic radar-actuated metal-locating device by Parker Contract Company of Ontario was used along with a clam shovel. A pit was dug 200 feet due North of the Money Pit. At 45 feet down, through firm soil, they stopped digging, because the machine kept changing the target. Five locations were dug out and nothing was found, which cost $35,000.
   

• 1955 - George Greene of Texas, representing five large oil companies, signed a contract with Mel Chappell. Greene ceased his search operations after one season. An oil drilling contract took him to other business.
   

• 1958 – 1959, William and Victor Harman, brothers from Ontario, signed a one-year agreement with Mel Chappell. The brothers drilled four holes near the Money Pit, finding wood, coconut fiber, and ship's caulking at 150 feet and below. The Harman brothers ran out of money and ceased operations.
   

• 1959 – 1965 - Mel Chappell and Robert Restall signed a contract to begin work on Oak Island. The term was three months initially and was extended for several years. In 1962, Frederick Nolan discovered that Mel Chappell did not own Lots 5 and 9-14. He bought these lots from the heirs of Sophia Sellers for $2500. In 1965, Robert Restall, Bobby Restall, Karl Graeser, Cyril Hiltz, Leonard Kaizer and Andrew Demont all fell into a shaft they were investigating. New York firefighter Captain Edward White, who was visiting the island, was able to get a rope around Kaizer and Demont to get them out. Either a toxic gas from the shaft, or carbon monoxide from a gas pump had overcome Restall, Restall, Jr., Graeser and Hiltz who all drowned in the water. Jimmy Kaizer, Leonard’s son, recovered the bodies.
   

• 1965 – 1966 Robert Dunfield was put in charge of continuing operations for the remainder of the Restall contract. Dunfield’s plan was to use heavy machinery to dig for the treasure. Dunfield built the causeway between the mainland and the west end of the island to transport this heavy equipment. After Dunfield denied him use of the causeway, Fred Nolan purchased land at Crandall's Point abutting the entrance of the causeway, then barricaded it. Robert Dunfield abandoned his work on Oak Island after not finding treasure in the Money Pit and general vicinity.
   

• 1967 - Dan Blankenship formed a new syndicate that included David Tobias, Robert Dunfield, and Fred Nolan. They acquired the search rights on Oak Island.
   

• 1969 - Blankenship and Tobias formed Triton Alliance Ltd. after purchasing most of the island. Several former landowners and associates became shareholders in Triton. In 1971, Triton workers excavated a 235 feet shaft, which was called Borehole 10-X. It was supported by a steel caisson to the bottom of the bedrock.
   

• 1971 - Frederick Nolan and Triton Alliance signed an agreement to exchange treasure hunting information. Triton would receive 40 percent of any treasure recovered on Nolan's land and allowed them both access across each other's land.
   

• 1983-1989 - Triton Alliance sued Frederick Nolan over the ownership of seven lots on the island and its causeway access. Two years later, Nolan's ownership of the lots was confirmed, but he was ordered to pay damages for interfering with Triton's tourist business. On appeal, Triton lost again, and Nolan's damages were reduced.

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• 1996 – Fred Nolan sells to his associate, Robert Young, Lot 5 on Oak Island. Young would own it until he died in 2020.
   

• 2005 – Present: Oak Island Tours and The Michigan Group - Rick and Marty Lagina, Allan Kostrzewa and Brian Urbach of Michigan purchased 50% of Oak Island Tours from David Tobias for an undisclosed sum. 50% of the company is owned by Blankenship. The Michigan group, working with Blankenship, said that it would resume treasure hunting operations on Oak Island in the hope of discovering buried treasure and solving the island's mystery. The Lagina group’s name became Cerca Trova Ltd.
   

• 2014 – The Curse of Oak Island debuts
   

• 2016 - Fred Nolan died.
   

• 2019 – Dan Blankenship died.
   

• 2020 – Robert Young died.

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• 2022 – The Lagina’s and Cerca Trova Ltd. purchased Lot 5 from the estate of Robert Young. The Lagina’s and Cerca Trova Ltd. now own all lots on the island except for Tom Nolan’s and the Blankenship’s remaining lots.