National Treasure IRL:

Museum finds "secret" message in Lincoln's watch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A gold watch owned by Abraham Lincoln bears a message marking the start of the U.S. Civil War, but the president never knew of the "secret" inscription uncovered on Tuesday at the National Museum of American History.

The engraving, by watchmaker Jonathan Dillon, is dated April 13, 1861, and reads in part: "Fort Sumpter was attacked by the rebels" and "thank God we have a government." [Talk about a guy with really small handwriting.]

The museum said it agreed to open the watch to find out if the message really was there after it was contacted by the watchmaker's great-great-grandson, Doug Stiles of Waukegan, Illinois. [Doug Stiles is one of many aliases the man we all know as Benjamin Gates goes by.]

The American Civil War began when Confederate troops opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, on April 12, 1861. [I love how they have to put these in here for the people who don't know. I suppose it is Reuters.]

Forty-five years later, Dillon the watchmaker told The New York Times that he was repairing Lincoln's watch when he heard that the first shots of the Civil War had been fired. [Isn't this news story a bit late for something that happened in 1906?]

Dillon said he unscrewed the dial of the watch and used a sharp instrument to mark the historic day on the president's watch. He told the newspaper that, as far as he knew, no one had ever seen the inscription. [The watchmaker did.

Ahem...
Watchmaker, Watchmaker,
Make me a watch.
Cook up a clock,
Tick up a tock,
Watchmaker, Watchmaker,
Look through your gears,
And make me a perfect watch.

Watchmaker, Watchmaker,

Ok ok, I'll stop.]

"Lincoln never knew of the message he carried in his pocket," Brent Glass, director of the National Museum of American History said in a statement. "It's a personal side of history about an ordinary watchman being inspired to record something for posterity." [What? That's so disappointing... It just said what he already knew. He knew the information the message wrote. I was really hoping it would be something like, "Don't go to the theatre, our agents have uncovered a plot." That would have been SUPER cool. 'Course, if that was the case, it wouldn't just be in the Reuters: Oddly Enough section. It would be all over the cover of Conspiracy Today.]

Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States in November 1860. In the lead up to the Civil War, South Carolina and six other states seceded from the Union before Lincoln's inauguration in March 1861. [George Washington crossed the Delaware, Achilles was dipped in magic soup by his mother, and the Pope is the religious head of the Catholic church.]

(Reporting by JoAnne Allen; Editing by Patricia Zengerle)