This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/17/2021
At the end of the American Civil War, there was perhaps no more disdained man in the Northern States than Confederate President Jefferson Davis. He was imprisoned in Fortress Monroe for 2 years and was slated to be tried for treason, which carried a penalty of hanging. At the last moment, and with concerns over the repercussions of martyring Davis, the United States Government accepted a $100,000 bond, paid for by several notable anti-slavery advocates including Horace Greely, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Gerrit Smith. With concerns over his safety if he stayed in the United States, Davis fled to Canada with the stipulation that he return at a later date for a final disposition. When he headed to Canada, he found the city of Quebec to be too busy, and he left for Lennoxville instead. While in Lennoxville, Davis was faced with a difficult situation; with all of his assets seized, Davis was functionally broke, but still needed to secure a way that would allow him to take care of his family and start a new life. Critically, he needed a new pair of boots, and there was only one shoemaker listed in Lennoxville, Robert Balfour. In order to secure the new pair of boots, Jefferson bartered his silver pocket watch to Robert Balfour in payment. When it was bartered to the family, the family kept it in their possession for over 100 years before the bloodline died out with Helen Parks Wood, at which time it passed to her husband, Raymond Wood. Upon Raymond's death, he passed the watch to his neighbors, Thomas and Doris Courchene, who had cared for him in the last 14 years of his life and managed his home. In 2002, the watch was loaned to the Historic Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and Museum in Biloxi, Mississippi before it was sold at auction in 2004 and kept in private possession. Between 2006 and 2010, the Watch was also displayed at the First White House of the Confederacy in Alabama, and has since remained in private possession. The watch itself is a hunting case pocket watch with stamped and chased engraving in scroll patterns and highlighted with multi-colored enamel work. The dial is marked "DENT LONDON". Dent was a respected watchmaker and known as the maker of the Great Clock of Westminster (Big Ben). Dent, as other prominent firms, engaged in the practice of buying rough finished watch movements and either finishing themselves or subcontracting the work, and then putting their own name on the watch as a budget alternative to a "true" Dent. The case is marked for distribution by T.R. Losada, an international importer and dealer primarily focusing on South American and Spain. The movement is Continental and probably made by V.A. Pierret of Paris, finished by a subcontractor for Dent, sold by Dent to Losada, who cased it for sale. The key wind and key set and other features indicate manufacture between 1850 and 1865, which puts it in the appropriate time frame for Davis to have possession of the watch before leaving for Canada. The watch is housed in a case made of wood with carved floral designs and French fitted to fit the watch and opened at the top for the stem. The case is then housed in a modern watch case to protect the watch and contains the winding keys. A small "WB / 84" is incised on the inside of the case. PROVENANCE: This watch is accompanied by a binder of extensive provenance, which is covered here in order presented. A letter from Patrick Hotard, Curator of the Beauvoir, The Jefferson Davis Home & Presidential Library, dated 2000 returning the material that the Courchenes had provided for the Library and asking for them to put the watch on loan at the Beauvoir and a second letter dated 2003 thanking the Courchenes for loaning the watch to the museum, where it was displayed in the rotunda of the Confederate Soldiers Museum, with photos of the display, and signed by Alice West Bellanger, archivist. There is also a letter from Rebecca A. Rose, the Director of Collections and Registrar for the Museum of the Confederacy, a branch of the American Civil War Museum, expressing their interest in acquiring the watch for the museum as a donation and sending them the paperwork to start the process, which ultimately did not occur. A third letter is from Cameron Freeman Napier, the Regent for Life of The First White House Association, thanking Mr. and Mrs. George Berry for the loan of the watch and detailing that the watch will be displayed in the First White House of the Confederacy once renovations are complete. A write up of the make and model of the watch by David A. Christianson, the technical editor of the Horological times and certified Master Watchmaker, detailing the make and features of the watch, with a final note on valuation that the watch needed to be taken to an auction house and he could not provide an estimate. Numerous photos and press releases from these institutions are also present, including one of Bertram Hayes Davis, the last living relative of Jefferson Davis. Correspondence and a printout of Time For Remembrance, an online archive of watches associated with military endeavors and is run by PrimeTime of Exeter. There is also correspondence with the Lennoxville-Ascot Historical and Museum Society with the Courchene family identifying certain lots owned in Lennoxville by the Balfours including burial plots and a note that the family history of Kerr-Irwin mentions that the family was given a silver watch by Jefferson Davis in payment and noting that the financial situation of the Davis family it was "highly probable" that the watch was bartered for shoes, as well as including a copy of a blueprint drawn from the memory of a survivor of a fire that nearly burned Lennoxville to the ground showing Robert Balfour as the sole shoemaker. In 1884, Robert Balfour dies, and the watch presumably passes to his son William, which would explain the "WB/ 84" inscription, standing for "W(illiam) B(alfour) / (18)84". Included is a memorial to William from fellow students at Bishop's College reading "In affectionate remembrance / of William Alexander Balfour / Student of this College. We his / fellow-students erect this tablet mourning not as without hope / that he departed into the Bosom of the father Sept: 17th in the / year of our Lord 1886 / Aged 20 years". The watch then continued to stay in the family going from mother Catherine Balfour, to Henrietta Balfour, the youngest daughter, to Helen Parks Wood. Several articles are included from this time frame including the baptismal certificate for Helen Parks dated 1886, the birth record for Helen Parks, a copy of the marriage service booklet for the wedding of Helen Parks and Raymond Wood. Copies of Raymond's and Helen's (a remarkable woman in her own right, having served with the Harvard Unit in World War I as an operating nurse with French and English armies until 1916, entering the reserves, and then reenlisting as an anesthetist in 1917 till the end of the war) obituaries. Critically, the obituary mentions her sister, Barbara O'Conner, who penned a letter, included, that recounts the history of the watch from the family perspective (as Helen's sister, Barbara also would have been a niece of Kate Balfour, the wife of Robert), as being received as trade from Jefferson Davis who was in exile and he traded a silver watch in 1867 for custom boots. Barbara then follows the line of succession going from Kate, to Henrietta (Kate's last surviving daughter), to Helen and then to her husband. Also included is a family history for the Kerr-Irwin family, starting in 1828 and going till 1953, including a footnote in the section referencing the shoe shop Kate's husband ran, reading "Jefferson Davis, ex-president of the Confederacy, was one of their customers and the family had a silver watch he gave in payment 1867". A letter signed by Doris and Thomas recounts the transfer of the watch from Raymond Wood to them as a thank you for the care given at the end of his life, indicating that the numerous documents concerning the Balfour family and even the Balfour family bible were all presented with the watch. Several loan agreements are also included, including the original loan agreement and return of loan documentation with the Beauvoir Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library, indicating loan off of "One (1) pocket watch + case (Dent watch) - 19th century watch owned by Jefferson Davis". In 2004 the watch was then purchased by George and Lilliana Berry, who loaned it to the First White House of the Confederacy in Montgomery, Alabama, with the incoming loan agreement and the notification of the lease termination of the watch. Finally is extensive correspondence with institutes such as the Jefferson Davis papers at Rice University, Edward K. Eckert of Saint Bonaventure University, New York, who notes that while Jefferson Davis never makes mention of the fact that he traded away his watch, it is still possible as Davis would have been embarrassed by his need to barter one of his watches for boots and would not have kept a record of the transaction, familial letters that do not reference the watch but help further cement familial connections, Bishop's University records which indicate that Robert Balfour was a listed shoemaker in the 1875-1876 Gazetteer and Directory but he is not listed in their copy dated 1867. Extensive handwritten documentation and notes from the compiler of this document is also included. Impressively, the Balfour family bible is also included with some scraps of paper that appear to be period and probably marked favorite passages and includes significant family events, including Robert Balfour's marriage to Catherine Kerr, the births of William, Robert, Annie, and Henrietta Balfour, and the death of Robert Balfour in 1884. Finally, is a statement from Bertram Hayes-Davis, a direct descendent of Jefferson Davis, attesting to the information in the documents being truthful and accurate to the best of his knowledge. Having such extensive documentation, including original letters from those intimately familiar with the family and the provenance of the watch, represents the best possible provenance for this item, excluding a letter from Jefferson Davis himself, which, as pointed out earlier, is unlikely to have been written given the embarrassing nature of the situation. This is a wonderful example of the personal effect of a massively important figure in American history and the opportunity to add items of this caliber to one's collection is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as most pieces of this caliber are in museums (as this example was several times and courted as well). EMW
Paperwork
Binder of Provenance, Balfour Family Bible