In 1960 descendants of General David Meriwether (Mrs. Sue Matt Meriwether Hotchkiss and Mrs. Lucile Parsons of Jackson) presented Meriwether’s watch to President Holt. The watch would be displayed in the McClung Museum upon the completion of that facility. General Meriwether, a first cousin of Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was born in 1755 and died in 1825. He served in the battles of Monmouth, Trenton, Brandywine, Savannah, and Charleston during the Revolutionary War and made important treaties with the Cherokee Indians. He served two terms in Congress.
When his personal friend Thomas Jefferson gave him the watch in 1793, Jefferson suggested that Meriwether might someday give it to his son, Thomas Jefferson Meriwether. The watch had been in the Meriwether family since its presentation by Jefferson.