Teddy Roosevelt’s long lost ‘favorite’ personal item finally found after thief swiped it
It’s high time this stolen slice of history was returned.
Theodore Roosevelt’s cherished pocket watch — which he wore everywhere from the battle of San Juan Hill to adventures in the Amazon — was finally recovered after a thief swiped it from an upstate museum nearly four decades ago, authorities said Thursday.
The treasured timepiece, described by his great-grandson as the former president‘s “favorite” personal item, was only found after an FBI probe into its theft ran cold — and it then popped up again at a Florida auction house last year, National Park Service officials said.
“It’s probably the single item that was with him the most. Even [more than] his glasses,” Roosevelt’s 82-year-old great-grandson, Tweed Roosevelt, told The Post.
“It went to the governor’s office with him. It went to the White House with him. It went on his various adventures afterward, to Africa and Brazil,” Tweed said. “It witnessed history in a way that no one else did.”
The engraved sterling silver watch — which was given to the rough-riding war hero by his sister — went on display Thursday at the Sagamore Hill Historical Site in Cove Neck, LI, where the 26th president lived from 1885 until his death in 1919.
The watch’s rough ride began July 20, 1987 — when it was mysteriously swiped from an unlocked, glass-enclosed case on display at Buffalo’s Wilcox Mansion, where Roosevelt was quickly sworn in as president in 1901 after President William McKinley’s assassination.
A rep for the museum later said security hadn’t been much of a concern at the time and that the crook must have simply “waited for a moment when no one was around,” according to the Buffalo News.
The artifact’s disappearance baffled history buffs and prompted an FBI investigation that eventually ran cold — until last year.
In early 2023, the owner of Blackwell Auctions in Florida was given the watch to sell by a private owner, authorities said.
He verified its authenticity and reportedly estimated the historic artifact was worth half a million dollars.
The research alerted federal officials that the historic artifact had resurfaced — and they ended up seizing it in March 2023, National Parks Superintendent Jonathan Parker said during a press conference at the Sagamore Hill Historical Site on Thursday.
No charges were filed, and the identity of the thief remains unknown.
Roosevelt’s great-grandson said the former president loved the watch so much that he had it fixed after accidentally hopping in the Amazon River while wearing it.
“When he went into the water, which he did many times in the Amazon, the watch finally gave up the ghost,” Tweed said.
“When he came back, he had it fixed. It shows you how important that watch was to him. Then [he] carried it the rest of his life.
“It must have been his favorite. He had it with him all the time,” Tweed added. “It’s really remarkable if you think about it.”
As a young Army colonel, Roosevelt was said to have checked the pocket watch before charging up San Juan Hill during the 1898 battle that made him a war hero.
He also wore it as he served as the 33rd governor of New York and on an African safari that collected 11,400 animal specimens.
Made by the high-end company Waltham Watch Co, the timepiece is engraved with Roosevelt’s name and the phrase “17 Jewels.”
Special Agents of the National Park Service along with the FBI, the US Department of Justice and two US attorney’s teamed up to help recover the watch, Parker said.
The pocket-watch theft isn’t the only time that a fascinating slice of Roosevelt memorabilia has been pilfered from a museum.
In February 2010, a 15-inch walrus tusk that belonged to Roosevelt was stolen from a sealed-off guest room at the Sagmore Hill mansion, prompting an FBI investigation.
The thief snatched the polished ivory tooth — part of a set owned by the wildlife-boosting former president — from a fireplace mantel on the second floor, authorities said at the time.
Dubbed Roosevelt’s “Summer White House,” the 23-room Sagmore Hill estate sits on 83 leafy acres and now serves as a museum with tours.
