The Eagle Gem
Monday, November 24. 2008
Wisconsin (Oct 12, 2008)
I changed retroactively the photo in this post because it was making for a good story, but not for a good picture. The main photo is now a landscape found somewhere in Illinois. The original photo is now posted as a thumbnail (click on it to see full size) below.
A month ago, in our peregrinations in southern Wisconsin, we saw by chance the funny looking water tower in the picture on the left. Definitely one of the larger smileys I have ever found.
Today, also by chance, I stumbled onto this page on the internet, telling the story of the tower, and of something historical related to it. Well, it seems that in the same very spot where this tower now stands, in 1876 a large “gem” was found by a Charles Wood as he was digging a well. Thinking that it was a topaz, he gave the sparkling stone to a girl the Woods were caring for. The girl kept it for a while, and then left, leaving the stone behind. At that point Ms. Wood brought the gem to a jeweler in Milwakee, that finally payed it $1. The jeweler then had the stone appraised by a geologist in Chicago, that found it to be a 15.37 carats rough diamond (the largest ever diamond found in the continental US at that time) valued $700. When Ms. Woods knew about what happened she felt cheated, and sued the jeweler, but in the end lost the cause.
Due to the ongoing suit, the diamond was never cut, and was sold for $800 to Tiffany in New York. After the first World War it ended up in the hands of J. P. Morgan, who gave it to the Museum of Natural History as part of his exposition, together with the famous Star Saffire of India and the DeLong Ruby. The diamond, by that time called “Eagle Diamond”, was worth $25,000.
On October 29, 1964, Jack (Murph the Surf) Murphy and two accomplices, were inspired by the movie Topkapi (about a fabled robbery in the museum in Istanbul), stole the entire gem collection, including the three most precious gems. The robbery was facilitated by the fact that only the Star of India had an alarm, but its battery in it was dead. The total value of the theft was over $410,000 (the biggest jewelry heist in American history), most of which recovered when Murph the Surf was arrested, and after the DeLong Ruby was left in a bust station locker in Miami, upon payment of $25,000 of ransom. Only one gem was never recovered: the Eagle diamond, most probably cut in smaller stones and lost forever.
Murf the Smurf (that before the robbery had been a campion surfer, a violinist at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, a tennis pro, a movie stunt man and a high tower circus diver) was sentenced three years in prison. In 1968 he was sentenced to life in prison in Florida for the murder of a woman in California, and then to another life in prison plus 20 years for the attempted robbery of a woman in Florida. In 1974, the Smurf had a revelation (after a visit in its prison by Bill Glass, Roger Staubach and McCoy McLemore, as part of a Bill Glass “Champions for Life” weekend) and decided to dedicate the rest of his life to a higher cause. He became a minister and, after being pardoned in 1986, became the International Director of “Champions for Life” Prison and youth Ministry. You can visit his website (where he also sells his paintings of lighthouses) here.
The hills (a glacial moraine) where the diamond was found is now called “Diamond Hill”.
