Eagle Diamond

Workers discovered the 12-sided stone while digging a well for Samuel Wood. It came into the possession of Clarissa Wood who was unaware of its worth.[1][3]

According to court testimony provided by Wood, in September or October of 1883, she went to Samuel B. Boynton, a jeweler in Milwaukee, to have a pin mended. As she was paying for the repair, Wood asked Boynton what he thought the stone was. Wood told Boynton she had been told it was a topaz. Boynton, offering to buy it for $1.00, said it might be. Wood declined the offer and left. On or about December 28th, 1883, Wood, needing money, returned to Boynton's shop and sold it for the $1.00 he had previously offered.[4]

Boynton took the stone to Chicago to be analyzed, where he discovered it was a diamond appraised at $700.[1] When Wood learned of the appraisal, she attempted to buy the stone back from Boynton for $1.00 plus 10 cents interest. When Boynton refused her offer, Wood sued unsuccessfully to have it returned in a case that was ultimately decided by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.[4]

Boynton sold the diamond to Tiffany's in New York City for $850[5] ($20,500 in 2020 dollars). It remained at Tiffany’s until World War I. J.P. Morgan bought the diamond, and presented it as a gift to the American Museum of Natural History, in New York City, of which he was a benefactor. It was displayed in the J.P. Morgan Memorial Hall along with the Star of India and the DeLong Star Ruby until October 29, 1964 when it was stolen, by Jack "Murph the Surf" Murphy and his two accomplices, Allen Kuhn and Roger Clark. The diamond has never been recovered and is thought to have been cut into smaller stones.[6][7]