Two watchmakers managed to engrave secret messages inside President Lincoln's watch. It seems even the watchmakers were divided during the Civil War.
Jonathan Dillon, an Irish immigrant and a watchmaker, was repairing Lincoln's watch at the time when he heard the news that Fort Sumter was attacked. So he unprofessionally dared to scratch in some of his personal writings on the watch of a very important client. The message reads as follows:
Jonathan Dillon April 13, 1861. Fort Sumter was attacked by the rebels on the above date. J Dillon
April 13, 1861 Washington Thank God we have a government. Jonth Dillon
Then another watchmaker came a few years later and wrote his counter message:
L.E. Grofs Sept 1864 Wash D.C.
Jeff Davis
The messages are cleverly etched on the back of the movement, so when the dial is assembled back in, nobody really can see them.
These messages were only rediscovered after Dillon's descendent, Doug Stiles, contacted the Smithsonian about his family legend. An elderly watchmaker named George Thomas did an honor of reopening the watch on March 10th, 2009, while Dillon's descendent and others excitedly waited to witness "the moment of truth".
President Lincoln probably would never have known that his watchmakers had intentionally damaged his watch, or that the name Jeff(erson) Davis was so close to him during the war.
Another bitter yet intriguing sidenote in history, I suppose.
