Words Linger...The Memory Misleads....
Abe Lincoln's watch had a secret message - so said Jonathon Dillon, the immigrant watchmaker who claimed to have left it. He was working on the watch when Fort Sumter was attacked, the event that began the long, bloody Civil War. According to a story in the Washington Post, Dillon told his family that he etched his name, the date of the attack and a message on the inside of the timepiece. Years later, in 1906 - forty years after he inscribed the message - Dillon told a NY Times reporter specifically what the message was: "The first gun is fired. Slavery is dead. Thank God we have a President who at least will try." The watch was donated by the Lincoln family to the Smithsonian, where it is occasionally put on exhibit but is generally considered to be a "minor artifact." The family of the watchmaker recently uncovered evidence that the family legend may indeed be fact; the Smithsonian decided to find out for sure. Yesterday, the watch was opened...a...