PRESIDENT LINCOLN ENGLISH GOLD WATCH

Abraham Lincoln's English gold watch words are seen engraved inside on display at the National Museum of American History

WASHINGTON - For nearly 150 years, a story has circulated about a hidden Civil War message engraved inside Abraham Lincoln's pocket watch. The museum curators confirmed Tuesday that it was true. A watchmaker used tiny tools to carefully pry open the antique watch at the National Museum of American History and a descendant of the engraver read aloud the message from a metal plate underneath the watch face.

Part of the inscription reads, "Jonathan Dillon April 13 - 1861, Fort Sumpter (sic) was attacked by the rebels on the above date." Another part reads, "Thank God we have a government."

These words were etched in a tiny cursive handwriting which filled the space between tiny screws and gears jutted through the metal plate which can be read by a magnifying glass.

The story of Jonathan Dillon, then watchmaker of Pennsylvania Avenue went unconfirmed when he had Lincoln's watch in his hands during the Civil War that transpired in South Carolina. The Irish immigrant later recalled being the only Union sympathizer working at the shop in a divided Washington.

His story was passed down among his family and friends, eventually reaching a New York Times reporter. In a 1906 article, an 84-year-old Dillon said no one, including Lincoln, ever saw the inscription as far as he knew.

Dillon had a fuzzy recollection of what he had engraved. He told the newspaper he had written: "The first gun is fired. Slavery is dead. Thank God we have a president who at least will try."

The watchmaker's great-great grandson, Doug Stiles, first heard the tale of the engraving from his great uncle decades ago. He said the story had reached extended family as far away as Ireland.

A few months ago, he used Google to find the New York Times story, and last month he passed the information along to Smithsonian curators, who knew nothing about the engraving.

On Tuesday, watchmaker George Thomas, who volunteers at the museum, spent several minutes carefully opening the watch as an audience of reporters and museum workers watched on a video monitor.

"The moment of truth has come. Is there or is there not an inscription?" Thomas said, teasing the audience, which gasped when he confirmed it was there. He called Stiles up to read his ancestor's words, drawing smiles and a few sighs of relief.

"Like Pearl Harbor or 9/11, this was the reaction he had (to the Civil War,)" Stiles said of the inscription.