Day: March 11, 2009

I heard this on NPR. It’s great that they were able to open the watch to see if the folklore was true.

NYTimes.com

Confirming a rumor that has circulated for generations, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History opened a gold pocket watch that belonged to Abraham Lincoln on Tuesday and discovered a message secretly engraved there by a watchmaker who repaired it in 1861.

“Jonathan Dillon April 13- 1861 Fort Sumpter was attacked by the rebels on the above date. J Dillon,” the brass underside of the watch movement reads. It continues: “April 13- 1861 Washington thank God we have a government Jonth Dillon.” The back of the watch movement also bears two other inscriptions: “LE Grofs Sept 1864 Wash DC,” probably engraved by another repairer, and what appears to be “Jeff Davis.” Whether the latter was intended as a retort by another watchmaker to Dillon’s pro-Union sentiments is unknown.

“Jonathan Dillon April 13- 1861 Fort Sumpter was attacked by the rebels on the above date. J Dillon,” the brass underside of the watch movement reads.

The inscription continues: “April 13- 1861 Washington thank God we have a government Jonth Dillon.”

But, perhaps the best thing was the reaction by the great-great-grandson of the engraver:

“My goodness, that’s Lincoln’s watch,” he said later in wonderment. “My ancestor put graffiti on it.”

Some Banks, Citing Strings, Want to Return Aid – NYTimes.com

The conditions are necessary to prevent Wall Street executives from paying lavish bonuses and buying corporate jets, some experts say, but others say the conditions go beyond protecting taxpayers and border on social engineering.

Some bankers say the conditions have become so onerous that they want to return the bailout money. The list includes small banks like the TCF Financial Corporation of Wayzata, Minn., and Iberia Bank of Lafayette, La., as well as giants like Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo.