What happened to the men who originally found the silver mine?

The discovery of the silver mine corrupts those men who find it. The inn-keeper figures that, as he's so rich and no longer has to work, he can spend all day drinking. One night, the drunken inn-keeper drives off in his wagon, which overturns, killing him. The peasant Israel Per Persson mistakenly thinks that the silver is just glitter, so he sells his share of the silver to Olaf Sward—another one of the men who discovered the mine—for a relatively small sum of money. When the pastor tells Israel that the silver's real, the poor old peasant realizes his terrible mistake and weeps bitterly. As for Olaf himself, he gets into an argument with his brother Eric. The quarrel becomes violent and Olaf ends up killing Eric. For this serious crime, Olaf is sent to prison.
Given the great unhappiness that the silver mine has brought those who discovered it, it's not surprising that the pastor and the villagers make the decision to have the mine concealed forever. It has already ruined four good men, and human nature being what it is, it would almost certainly ruin a good many more.