A Question About My Latest Acquisition

[CW Watch & Sword Guy]

I apologize that I have no pictures to share yet - I'll post some this weekend. But I have a question about the presentation on it. But first, a general description of the item:

No one who knows me will be surprised to learn that the new item is a pocket watch. The movement is what collectors call either an E. Howard & Company (EH&Co) "Series III," in the older, more entrenched nomenclature, or a "Model 1862-N" in the more recent, and more informative nomenclature promulgated (by yours truly) beginning in 2002. The Howard factory records tell us that N Size movement S# 5,455, with Mershon's patent regulator was finished on September 19, 1864. My research indicates that this movement would have been valued at about $64, presumably the wholesale price, in the factory's inventory. All Howard movements of the period featured Reed's Patent protective mainspring barrels that protect the escapement from the consequences of mainspring failures, and keep watches running during winding. All EH&Co movements similarly featured Geneva style stopworks, an example of which is visible atop the barrel cock on Model 1862-N movement S# 5,455. Stopworks prevent overwinding and reduce the range of torque applied by the mainspring to the wheel train over the running period, promoting greater isochronism (i.e., rate uniformity over the running period). The movement is in its original 65 pennyweight 18K gold hunting style case, carrying the maker's mark of J. M. Harper. The "JMH" mark is seen on many early Howard watch cases. (The Howard firm itself never made cases for their movements.) The case contains 48.7 pennyweights, or 2.435 precious ounces net weight of pure gold, after subtracting the weight of the alloy metal, springs and crystal, which would have had a bullion value of about $50 in 1864. The quality of the case is evident not only from its weight but from the quality of the engraving and engine turning on its exterior and some interior surfaces. The retail price of this watch would have been around $150, which was about a year's pay for a Union private.

The dust cover (i.e., the interior rear lid, which has two keyholes, an eccentric one for the winding arbor, and a central one for the setting arbor) is engraved as follows:

"Presented to Benjamin W. Woodward by his Friends in the Subsistence Department, Army of the Potomac, October 1, 1864."

I have no idea who Benjamin W. Woodward was. (There was a Dr. Benjamin R. Woodward who was a major, serving as a surgeon in the 22nd Illinois Infantry, but the recipient of this watch is not him.) Given the cost of the watch, it's a sure bet that B. W. Woodward wasn't a laborer on some loading dock. He was very likely someone reasonably important to the AoP Subsistence Department's operation, whether a civilian employee (as no rank is attributed to him) or an important benefactor of some kind. I thought about looking into pension records, but I don't know whether civilian employees of the Subsistence Department would have received pensions. Does anyone know? An Internet search on numerous keyword combinations involving Woodward's name, both with and without various accompanying information, has turned up nothing useful. The source of the watch is no help, in this case, either. That trail ends with a deceased friend, and it's not clear he knew who Woodward was, either.

I seek suggestions from the Civil War collectors and artifact aficionados here on how to track this guy down.

Pictures to follow.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[major bill]

Another watch? Well I am just shocked!

 

[Package4]

Please post pictures when it arrives! I was looking through some back issues of North South Trader and found an article on struck memorabilia and one was a watch that saved the soldier's life.

Omer P Cram of Co F 2nd Maryland Inf. US, kept his watch and combo knife.

On September 30, 1864 at Pegram Farm, Lt. Omer Cram was rallying his company and was struck in the chest, his watch stopped the Williams Cleaner bullet, which must have been a captured round, or friendly fire. Almost immediately after, he was shot again, in the side, by a .69 cal. round ball, that hit his haversack and was stopped by his wooden case knife.

 

[CW Watch & Sword Guy]

As one who appreciates Civil War artifacts, I'm thinking, "What a piece of history!" But as a watch lover and collector, I want to cry.

 

[CW Watch & Sword Guy]

Well,

I have learned that a Captain John H. Woodward was in charge of beef cattle for the AoP's Commissary of Subsistence, which would have been part of the Subsistence Department, and that there is an 1894 record of a Judge John H. Woodward, possibly the same man, who was the brother of "the Hon. Benjamin W. Woodward," perhaps the recipient of the watch. So perhaps Benjamin Woodward was a benefactor of the AoP's Subsistence Dept., moved to help his brother John in his work. (It is possible that John's father was also Benjamin W. Woodward, but there is no "Jr." in the presentation.) That's the closest I have been able to come to knowing anything about this particular Benjamin W. Woodward.

If anyone else has some search ideas, I'd really like to hear them.

 

[CW Watch & Sword Guy]

Well, here belatedly, are the pictures I promised of my latest acquisition. Not only the interior of the front lid, but also the gold bezel that holds the watch crystal, is beautifully engraved.

 

[Michael W.]

Well, here belatedly, are the pictures I promised of my latest acquisition. Not only the interior of the front lid, but also the gold bezel that holds the watch crystal, is beautifully engraved.

Well, whoever he was either liked or respected...

 

[Michael W.]

Please post pictures when it arrives! I was looking through some back issues of North South Trader and found an article on struck memorabilia and one was a watch that saved the soldier's life.

Omer P Cram of Co F 2nd Maryland Inf. US, kept his watch and combo knife.

On September 30, 1864 at Pegram Farm, Lt. Omer Cram was rallying his company and was struck in the chest, his watch stopped the Williams Cleaner bullet, which must have been a captured round, or friendly fire. Almost immediately after, he was shot again, in the side, by a .69 cal. round ball, that hit his haversack and was stopped by his wooden case knife.
View attachment 175425

Now that was one lucky dude.

 

[CW Watch & Sword Guy]

OK, I found some more information.

Benjamin Weston Woodward was born about 1837 in Hector, NY, Schuyler Cy., and received an M.A. from the Geneva Academy (which became Hobart Smith College) in 1862. A catalog of Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity members lists Benjamin Weston Woodward from Hector, NY, class of '62 as "Commissary of Subsistence, N.Y. Vol." It is not known whether the services he rendered to the AoP were performed in NY, or somewhere else, but I suspect he never left NY (see below). One of several siblings, Benjamin's brother Captain John H. Woodward, was in charge of beef cattle for the AoP's commissary. (As their father also was named John, I am inferring that the captain was an older, and probably Benjamin's oldest male sibling.) Benjamin married in July of 1864 and was presented with the watch on October 1, 1864. He was admitted to the NY bar in 1865 and became (whether appointed or elected, I'm not sure) a judge in Schuyler Cy. in 1866, then residing in Watkins, now "Watkins Glen," NY, also in Schuyler Cy. A later source lists him as a "former" NY State Supreme Court judge (which was not the highest court in the state), but I can't find confirmation of that.

From the above information I infer the following:

Benjamin was a civilian volunteer with the AoP's Subsistence Department. Shortly after marrying in July of 1864, he decided to focus on his career, but his prior services to the Subsistence Department, which remain unknown, had been sufficiently important or meritorious to warrant the very luxurious parting gift of a gold watch by a prestige maker. Benjamin's decision to volunteer his services to the Subsistence Department is easy to understand, given the patriotic fervor of the time and the fact that his oldest brother was serving with it. The timing of the gift is also probably explained by his recent marriage a few months earlier and the career decisions that often accompany such events. The biggest unknown is exactly what he did for the Subsistence Department. According to Mapquest, Watkins Glen is only 24 miles (and probably fewer, as the crow flies) from Elmira NY, which was a major recruit collection and training base (as well, of course, as a fairly notorious prison camp), so it is not hard to imagine that Benjamin's services could have been useful right in his vicinity in all kinds of ways.

As luck would have it, I had already planned to be in Watkins Glen next month for a vacation, so I'll see if I can find out anything more on location.

 

[CW Watch & Sword Guy]

An update: It turns out that Benjamin Weston Woodward and his brother Charles were both clerks in the AoP's Subsistence Department, both of whom worked for a third, older brother, James, who was a captain, then later a major, in charge of beef cattle for the department. I had thought B. W. Woodward had been a civilian, but now I am persuaded that he, like his younger brother Charles, was probably an enlisted man who worked as a clerk. Inasmuch as Woodward had graduated with a law degree the year before his federal service began, it may well be that the valuable service he rendered that warranted the handsome gift of a gold Howard watch was of a legal nature. With the help of the Schuyler County Historical Society, I was able to obtain a drawing, attached, which was probably made from a photograph, of Judge Woodward, the source being: History of Schuyler County New York; with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Men and Pioneers, printed in 1879 and partially reproduced in 1976.

As I mentioned, purely by a lucky coincidence, I had planned a vacation in Watkins Glen, NY, a place I had never been before, before I knew anything about Woodward's origins. By a further coincidence, the B&B I chose in Watkins Glen is directly adjacent to the Glenwood Cemetery where Benjamin and his brother Charles are both buried. Yesterday, my wife and I visited that cemetery and searched out the grave of Judge Woodward. We found him, and his brother Charles nearby. I then briefly reunited Judge Woodward, just over 116 years after his death, with the watch that was given to him in 1864 as a token of appreciation for his Civil War Service - picture attached.