Key-wind pocket watch · United States
Abraham Lincoln's Personal Pocket Watch
Partially verifiedHeld by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, the watch became widely reported in 2009 for a hidden inscription found inside the movement, reportedly added by a watch repairer in 1861 referencing the outbreak of the Civil War.
Technical facts
- Winding
- Key-wind, key-set, consistent with mid-19th-century American pocket-watch practice
- Inscription
- Hand-scratched inscription found on an inner movement component during 2009 conservation examination
Historical significance
- Held by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, the watch became widely reported in 2009 for a hidden inscription found inside the movement, reportedly added by a watch repairer in 1861 referencing the outbreak of the Civil War.
- The Smithsonian's own published account of the inscription's discovery and verification should be treated as the primary source for specific claims, rather than secondary press retellings, given how widely and variably the story circulated in 2009 media coverage.
Background
Abraham Lincoln's pocket watch was a timepiece serviced by the jeweler Galt & Bro. in Washington. In 1861, President Lincoln brought his pocket watch to the firm to be serviced. While working on the watch on April 13, 1861, the watchmaker Jonathan Dillon heard news of the outbreak of the American Civil War. Dillon made an engraving inside the watch while repairing it; Lincoln never realised that he carried the inscription, and the watch never left his jacket pocket during his lifetime.
Written from the encyclopedia entries listed under Sources; each statement was checked against the cited text.
Construction and mechanism
- The watch contains a secret hand-scratched inscription referencing the attack on Fort Sumter and the government.
Later history
- Forty-five years later, Dillon told The New York Times about the engraving he had made.
Photographs
Photographs are illustrative examples of the type, not necessarily the exact object described. Verify details against the source file page.
Sources & references
- Galt & Bro., Wikipedia (English), retrieved 2026-10-28 (text CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Smithsonian National Museum of American History, published account of the watch and its 2009 inscription examination
Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.