A stolen silver pocket watch once treasured by President Theodore Roosevelt has been found!
The timepiece was stolen from the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in Buffalo, New York in 1987 while on loan from the National Park Service. Nearly four decades later, a Florida auctioneer contacted the NPS to research its authenticity. Both the NPS and the Federal Bureau of Investigation began investigating the case and determined it was indeed the long lost time piece.
The watch was given to President Roosevelt by his youngest sister, Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, and his brother-in-law, Douglas Robinson, Jr., in 1898, prior to Roosevelt’s departure to Cuba for the Spanish-American War. The inscription reads: “THEODORE ROOSEVELT FROM D.R. & C.R.R.” He carried it with him during his charge up San Juan Hill and during his travels to Africa and down the Amazon River.
The watch is now at its rightful home in the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site. Sagamore Hill in New York was home to President Roosevelt from 1885 until his death in 1919.
Neither the FBI nor the NPS revealed whether any suspects have been identified in this case.
