Posted on 07/10/2012 7:18:19 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Secret Message in Lincoln’s Pocketwatch, 1861
‘In 2009 the Smithsonian found a “secret” message engraved in Abraham Lincoln’s watch by a watchmaker who was repairing it in 1861 when news of the attack on Fort Sumter reached Washington, D.C.
‘In an interview with The New York Times April 30, 1906, 84-year-old Jonathan Dillon recalled he was working for M.W. Galt and Co. on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, where he was repairing Lincoln’s watch. The owner of the shop announced that the first shot of the Civil War had been fired. Dillon reported that he unscrewed the dial of the watch, and with a sharp instrument wrote on the metal beneath:
‘The first gun is fired. Slavery is dead. Thank God we have a President who at least will try.’
‘He then signed and dated the inscription and closed the dial. Dillon told The New York Times in 1906 that to his knowledge, no one ever saw the inscription.
‘After being contacted by Dillon’s great-great-grandson, the museum agreed to remove the dial to see if the watchmaker’s message was inside. The museum did find a message inscribed on the brass underside of the movement. The wording was slightly different from Dillon’s own recollection. The actual engraving says:
‘Jonathan Dillon April 13-1861 Fort Sumpter [sic] was attacked by the rebels on the above date J Dillon April 13-1861 Washington Thank God we have a government Jonth Dillon
‘“Lincoln never knew of the message he carried in his pocket,” said the director of the National Museum of American History. This inscription remained hidden behind the dial for almost 150 years.’
The “6” might be a “4” perhaps the date and name of the watch maker?
You shouldn’t deface somebodies property without their permission.
Is it just me or does *Thank God we have a government* seem different than the rest. It looks like girl writing, more modern and isn’t as squiggly? scratchy? as the rest. It looks like it was done with a machine to me.
How much was he charged for the extra “work”
History is always fresh and new-—that’s why I like it.
Jefferson Davis ordered Gen P.G.T. Beauregard to demand the surrender of Ft Sumter, and if it did not, to reduce the fort before a relief expedition could arrive. The Confederate cabinet, meeting in Montgomery, endorsed Davis’s order on April 9. Only Secretary of State Robert Toombs opposed this decision: he reportedly told Jefferson Davis the attack “will lose us every friend at the North.
My favorite part of that movie. And that is saying a lot about that little perfect movie.
“You should talk to a professional about them. “
Even professionals can’t make a child mature.
Bet it was scribbled on there many years later. Smells suspicious. Any reputable jeweler would never have defaced a watch with such. If he had, he’d have done it one time and been extremely sorry when I found out.
"Jeff Davis" is in a different handwriting than "Jonathan Dillon." Compare the "J" in Jeff and Jonathan and the "D" in Davis and Dillon.
Post 19 as well.
Seems some are always brave and loud, long after the deed was done.
Davis was inaugurated provisional President of the Confederacy on February 18, 1861.
“... sucks dirty donkey d-—.”
Those sir, are fighting words, you damned Yankee.
Then with the addition of Jeff Davis inside, and if the man was informed of current events, that makes it likely that the repairman was actually sympathetic to the South.
Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."
Instead, we allowed them to fight a guerrilla war in various guises and forms for nearly a hundred years following their humiliating and just defeat, even as they rewrote history to portray their despicable cause as (somehow) "noble."
All I do on FR with regards to the Civil War is try to set the record straight. As for Jeff Davis, if there's a just God, he is burning in Hell.
And all of the turd polishing in the world won't put a shine on Jefferson Davis, nor transform a war waged against the United States Of America to hold millions of human beings in bondage as property into something noble and just.
Thanks for sharing your opinion.
Yeah, that's why he calls them rebels.
Since you didn't know that Davis was already a well known traitor when Fort Sumter was fired on, calling his provisional leadership of the rebellion "a tidbit," you probably also aren't aware that in the North, "the Government" to which the watchmaker also plainly refers, was -- like "The Union" -- equivalent to "The United States of America." (Read Lincoln's Second Inaugural, or the Gettysburg Address if you want to educate yourself.)
Again, thanks for sharing your opinion.
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