{"id":26273,"date":"2013-10-01T00:02:49","date_gmt":"2013-10-01T07:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=26273"},"modified":"2013-10-01T00:34:28","modified_gmt":"2013-10-01T07:34:28","slug":"secret-message-hidden-abraham-lincolns-pocket-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/secret-message-hidden-abraham-lincolns-pocket-watch\/","title":{"rendered":"The Secret Message Hidden in Abraham Lincoln’s Pocket Watch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"pocket-watch\"<\/a>Today I found out<\/a> about the secret message hidden in Abraham Lincoln\u2019s pocket watch.<\/p>\n

On the surface, it could be any other high-end watch from the mid-1800s. Inside, however, amidst the cogs and gears, is a different story. The words \u201cFort Sumpter was attacked by the rebels. Thank God we have a government\u201d are etched there, though the author of the text remembered writing something a tad different, as you’ll soon see.<\/p>\n

The watch was Abraham Lincoln\u2019s. On April 13, 1861, it was being repaired by Jonathan Dillon at M.W. Galt and Co. jewelers. Dillon reported that he was just screwing on the dial when one Mr. Galt approached him with the news that shots had been fired on Fort Sumter.<\/p>\n

Fort Sumter was a federal fort in South Carolina, which had seceded from the Union in December 1860\u2014however, because the fort was owned by the federal government, it remained part of the Union and was manned by Union troops. To fire upon the fort was an act of war, and Dillon knew he was hearing of history. Indeed, the shots fired on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861 kicked off the Civil War.<\/p>\n

Forty-five years later, the Union was whole again and Abraham Lincoln was dead. Dillon reported what he did to the New York Times<\/i>, saying, \u201cI unscrewed the dial, and with a sharp instrument wrote on the metal beneath: \u2018The first gun is fired. Slavery is dead. Thank God we have a President who at least will try.”<\/p>\n

The watch was still around, but for whatever reason the claim about the message wasn\u2019t investigated further\u2014perhaps because people were skeptical of the legitimacy of Dillon\u2019s claim. It wasn\u2019t until Harry Rubenstein, the chief curator of the Abraham Lincoln bicentennial exhibit, received a phone call from Douglas Stiles, Dillon\u2019s great-great-grandson, that the message came to light.<\/p>\n

Deciding to check for the message was a slightly risky move as one doesn’t take apart a complex piece of machinery, and a priceless piece of history, on a whim.\u00a0 Nevertheless, Rubenstein decided to take the risk, and in March 2009 the watch was carefully opened up at the National Museum of American History by master watchmaker George Thomas.<\/p>\n

Sure enough, there was a message there, just not quite what Dillon himself had reported, but the sentiment was more or less was the same. Historians speculate that Dillon was rushed while writing the message, and perhaps meant for something with more meaning which he added in the interview with the Times<\/i> 1906. Alternatively, perhaps he just ran out of room to give his full thought.<\/p>\n

Whatever the case, besides Dillon’s message, when they opened the watch in 2009, they were surprised to find other writing as well. Specifically, there are two other messages that were added to Dillon\u2019s: \u201cLE Grofs Sept 1864 Wash DC\u201d and simply, \u201cJeff Davis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jefferson Davis was, of course, the leader of the confederacy during the Civil War. However, it\u2019s unknown whether he somehow got hold of the watch after the war and scribbled his name in it (unlikely), if someone else named Jeff Davis managed to put his name in the watch, or if someone knew it was Lincoln\u2019s watch and decided to write \u201cJeff Davis\u201d to be contrary- the 19th century watchmaker version of the classic children’s taunt “Jeff Davis Rules, Lincoln Drools”. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

As for LE Grofs, it\u2019s likely that he was another jeweler\u2014the watch would need to be taken in for cleaning every now and then, after all. It\u2019s possible that he wrote \u201cJeff Davis\u201d in the watch in 1864, at the height of the Civil War.<\/p>\n

The inscription find doesn\u2019t change history, of course, but it\u2019s uplifting to think that Lincoln carried a message of support in his pocket during the war, apparently without ever knowing that it was there.<\/p>\n

In the end, despite it saying something slightly different than originally reported, Stiles was happy to be able to see his ancestor\u2019s inscription, saying, \u201cThat\u2019s Lincoln\u2019s watch and my ancestor put graffiti on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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