Theodore Roosevelt’s long-lost watch restored to Sagamore Hill
Historic artifact found after being stolen 37 years ago
A sentimental gift to Theodore Roosevelt was recently recovered and returned to his home at Sagamore Hill after being stolen from a display case at the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in Buffalo in 1987.
The historic artifact, a Waltham 17 jewel watch, is speculated to have traveled in Roosevelt’s pocket through the many great adventures and tribulations throughout his life, as indicated by his letters.
In Feb. 2023, the National Park Service was alerted to the potential surfacing of Roosevelt’s property at an auction in Florida, after being missing for 37 years. The watch was recognized by the inscription on the inside and Park Service special agents were able to determine that it was Roosevelt’s, according to the acting special agent in charge, Christopher Kovaleski.
The Resource Crime Unit worked quickly to retrieve the missing artifact, returning it to the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site where it will be displayed permanently in the museum alongside 90,000 other objects.
“It was with him pretty much all of his life. I would love to hear it talk,” Tweed Roosevelt, the former president’s great-grandson, said. “It’s terrific that it’s back, and the work that everybody did to get it here is really extraordinary.”
The pocket watch, which Roosevelt reportedly wore for decades, was a gift to him from his sister, Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, and her husband, Douglas Robinson Jr., in 1898. The watch accompanied the former president through his service in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.
It remained with him while exploring the Amazon in South America and hunting in Africa on the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African expedition, according to Clare Connelly, Sagamore Hill’s chief of cultural resources. In 1913, while recovering from his expedition in the Amazon, Roosevelt had the watch repaired from damage caused by the dangerous excursion.
“Today, each of us here may give it slightly different meaning: a way to tell time, a memory of the 26th President of the United States or his many ventures, an indicator of the past or how our culture has changed,” Connelly said. “To some, it may be a work of art, an example of early American timekeeping and manufacturing, or they may take their meaning from the inscription on the inside of the case.”
Connelly passed around high-resolution photographs highlighting the detailing on the silver, which reads THEODORE ROOSEVELT FROM D.R. AND C.R.R. She described the significance of the watch among the tens of thousands of other museum artifacts, using material culture theory.
“All of this gives us an indication of why it is so important to preserve and protect our country’s heritage so that we can tell the many stories of our country’s past,” Connelly continued.
When Roosevelt died in 1919, the watch was left to Sagamore Hill, before being donated to the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in Buffalo in 1971.
The investigation into the whereabouts of the 126-year-old watch has been in progress since its original disappearance, and many museum staff members and volunteers over the years have taken part in the search for the missing artifact. After it resurfaced over a year ago, the recovery effort extended to include many members of the NPS, the FBI, the Department of Justice, the US Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Florida and in Western New York, and other law enforcement agencies, according to NPS Director Charles F. Sams III.
“We are proud that this was our team’s professionalism and leadership that could assist with bringing this watch home where it belongs at Sagamore Hill. This is a happy ending,” said Spencer Morgan, the executive director of the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site in Buffalo.
“This is a testament to the talent of both the TR site staff, the National Park Service, the FBI, and all of those employees and volunteers who came before us many decades ago.”
Jonathan Parker, the Superintendent of Sagamore Hill, commented on the historical and national picture that the watch helps paint, which is a testament to good fortune, historic preservation, and perseverance.
“One aspect that excited us about this watch, that drove us during the long hours and millions of collective seconds of this investigation, what drove us was the power,” said Parker. “The return of this watch gives all of us the opportunity to dream what it might be like, and to learn what it was like, to experience life alongside Teddy Roosevelt.”
The well-traveled watch will now be on public display at the Old Orchard Museum at Sagamore Hill. For more information about Sagamore Hill and its various exhibits and tour times, visit NPS.gov/sahi/index.htm.
