June 30, 2020 Fine Pocket Watch
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/30/2020
Important 18K Pink Gold Private Label M.L. Smith & Co., Detroit, Mich., Chronograph Hunter Case Pocket Watch Made for Former Civil War Union Army Captain, Dated 1872. Engine turned case with "DE" within oval maker's mark, numbered and stamped with raised crown over "18" purity mark. Cuvette is hand engraved for retailer, and reads "No. 3542, M.L. Smith & Co., Detroit, Mich., made for J.P.C. Emmons, 1872". The watch was gifted to Emmons to commemorate his being appointed as Florida Attorney General. There are a few dents around the outer rim of case, and a hinge-tube repair to front cover, otherwise in very good condition. The chronograph function is activated with a nearly flush to case, low profile button located at the 12 o'clock position. Movement unmarked.
Jedediah Philo Clark Emmons (1818-1877). With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Emmons enlisted in the Union Army, serving in Company K of the 1st Michigan Cavalry. Emmons, who began as a private and rose all the way to captain, was also part of the Michigan Brigade, which was under the command of Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer. This brigade, a collection of various Michigan cavalry regiments, fought in every major campaign of the war from the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 to the Battle of Appomattox Courthouse in April 1865.
After the war, Emmons settled in Jacksonville, Florida. In 1872, Florida Governor Harrison Reed, another carpetbagger Republican from the Midwest, appointed Emmons as Florida Attorney General following the resignation of Horatio Bisbee, Jr. Emmons served in this position until January of 1873, when Judge William A. Cocke was officially elected to be Bisbee's successor.
Condition: (Good-Very Good).
Case Material
18K Pink Gold.
Case Type
Hunter Case, Engine Turned.
Dial
White Enamel, Single Sunken.
Chapter
Roman, black, with red Arabic outer five minute divisions.
Subsidiary Dials
Constant Seconds.
Hands
Blued steel spade w/breguet chronograph pointer.
Movement
Keyless Lever-Set, unmarked.
Complications
Chronograph.
Condition
Excellent working order.