and a reminder to follow me on twitter at lou dobbs, like me on facebook, and instagram at "lou dobbs tonight", a lot of business to take care of on this broadcas >> a precious heirloom... >> "this was once the property of george washington." you're a v.i.p. >> [ laughing ] yeah. >> ...and the pride of a modest family. >> my father was a truck driver. we got along, but we were very frugal. >> so how did she end up with washington's wallet? >> are you a descendant of george washington? >> no, i'm not. and it's quite a long story. >> a story about love of country... >> we want these things because we want a connection to these men. >> ...the allure of big bucks... >> i established a value for the wallet. >> it was a lot of money. >> ...and some good old-fashioned intrigue... >> someone took the wallet and disappeared. [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ]

[ bird caws ] >> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm crossing the delaware river from pennsylvania into new jersey. yes, i'm following the route that general george washington took to his big victory during the revolutionary war -- the battle of trenton. i'm tracking down what i believe is the most intriguing strange inheritance i've heard of so far, something the father of our country may have been carrying that fateful night -- his wallet. >> my name is barbara farwell, and this is my daughter, linda. i inherited something from my mother, and one day my daughter will inherit it from me. >> for reasons that will become clearer as we follow the twists and turns of this story, the farwells have let their heirloom go on display right here in trenton. barbara, how are you?

i'm jamie. so nice to meet you. >> i'm glad to meet you. >> hi, linda. how are you? >> hi. i'm fine. thank you. >> so, where'd you bring me? >> this is the old barracks museum. >> and you keep something from your family here? >> yes, we do. >> come in. >> during the revolutionary war, this building housed british and hessian soldiers. in fact, it was the target on christmas night in 1776 when general george washington and his men quietly crossed the delaware and launched a surprise attack on the enemy troops who were stationed here... [ men shouting, gunfire ] ...an attack that turned the tide of the revolution and changed the course of world history. there it is! and here we are. so, this is it. it's amazing! it says, "1775." were the initials added by your family? >> no. i think that was way back when that was made. >> are you a descendant of george washington?

>> no, i'm not. and it's quite a long story. >> a story that begins back in the 1700s, when large wallets like this -- or "pocketbooks," as they're called -- are essential accessories for important men like washington. what strikes you about washington when it comes to money? >> well, he was a wealthy man, but it was mostly in land. so, in terms of cash, that was always a problem for him. >> apropos of a tale about washington's wallet, biographer richard brookhiser tells me that the great man's career revolved, more than anything, around money. the revolutionary war is sparked by cries of "no taxation without representation!" and for washington, raising an army is easier than raising the dough to pay it. >> he sees his men without shoes, he sees them without the weapons they need, and he sees

them not being paid, and he is the man who's at the center of all this and trying to cope. [ men shouting ] >> washington's ultimate victory doesn't end his country's economic woes. what do we know about the overall economic stability of our nation at that time? >> wars are always expensive. the revolution was no exception, and by the end of it, the united states was broke. >> general washington can't feel much better off. he discovers his mount vernon estate and his massive agricultural enterprise have been mismanaged in his absence. >> washington is back at mount vernon, which he's only visited once in 8 1/2 years of war. he has to get it up and running again. >> he hires this man to help, and 24-year old harvard graduate tobias lear will play a key part in this strange inheritance tale. can you tell me about tobias lear and what his role was? >> washington needs assistants,

and tobias lear is one of the people who does that for him. >> before long, duty calls washington again -- to become president of a tottering nation that, among other things, isn't paying its bills. and tobias lear goes along for the ride. washington puts him in charge of his bookkeeping, a job that, for the next seven years, engenders a close bond. that's a real relationship of trust, then, between washington and lear. >> absolutely. >> president washington does put the nation's finances on firmer footing. no wonder he's on the $1 bill. it's also why i think inheriting his wallet, of all things, is so cool. no surprise that the first person it passes to, the story goes, is tobias lear, who stays at washington's bedside at mount vernon on the night of december 14, 1799, when the former president dies at age 67.

but the modern-day heirs in this strange inheritance story, the farwell ladies, are not descendants of tobias lear, either. they invite me back to their home in morrisville, pennsylvania, right across the delaware river, to connect the dots. >> my father was a truck driver. we got along, but we were very frugal. my mother was an excellent homemaker, pretty good cook, and she was a hard worker. >> she also has a little secret. where did your mom keep the wallet? >> in a little black box squirreled away somewhere. >> after the break, the improbable path of washington's wallet, if, in fact, it's really his. she is 100% convinced this is george washington's pocketbook. are you? >> but first, our...

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see your best self. in the mirror. by a long shot, it's c. donald trump broke the record set by george washington, who in today's money had an an estimated $525 million dollars. trump's net worth in 2017

was estimated by forbes magazine to be 3.7 billion. that makes him seven times as rich as washington. >> how neat must it be to possess a piece of history like this wallet owned by the farwell family, with the initials "g.w." and the year "1775"? >> he's the father of the country. >> richard brookhiser is author of books on several founding fathers, including george washington. what do those items from our past leaders add to our american history? >> well, it makes them vivid to see actual objects that they held, that they had, that they used. that makes them like us, because we all have similar things. we want these things because we want a connection to these men. >> i've seen that time and again on "strange inheritance," but the tricky part's proving that

thing in grandpa's attic is the real deal. the question's raised in episode after episode -- did those guns actually belong to bonnie and clyde? did jfk really sign those letters? did general pickett indeed wear that bloodstained uniform? >> the fancy term auctioneers and appraisers use is "provenance." i'd put it this way -- how can the farwells be sure their beloved family heirloom really is george washington's wallet? did the wallet come with any documentation? >> there was a letter, and it tells the whole story of how it came. >> it's actually an affidavit that's more than a century old, written by a lawyer named alfred bennett. >> linda, who was alfred bennett? >> my great-great-grandfather? >> yes. >> the letter, addressed "to whom it may concern" and signed by bennett in june 1900, traces

the wallet back to "the selling of the estate of one of the family of tobias lear, private secretary to george washington." and it concludes... "this pocketbook, to the best of my knowledge and belief, was once the property of george washington." you've heard how lear is said to have inherited washington's wallet. what happens next? in 1816, lear commits suicide, and, according to the affidavit, the wallet passes to one of his heirs -- likely his widow, frances. when that heir dies, a man named stacy hall handles the estate and, the letter says, takes possession of the wallet. when he dies, barbara's ancestor attorney john bennett gets it. from there it passes to john's son alfred, author of the affidavit, who bequeaths it to his daughter jane, who passes it to her daughter elva kiernan. and elva kiernan is barbara farwell's mother.

she treasures it as though it's the most valuable thing she has. it probably is! was she proud of it? >> yes. >> where did your mom keep the wallet? >> in a little black box squirreled away somewhere. >> and inside the wallet are two old paper bills that may well have been washington's. sadly, elva doesn't have the wherewithal to properly display the wallet or to protect it from theft or damage, so, in 1960, she proudly lends it to the nearby washington crossing museum. >> to see it on display and to bring your friends to see it -- "ooh! that belongs to you?" >> but things turn sour in 1976, when the museum renovates for the bicentennial. barbara is dismayed to find the wallet's been removed! >> when i took my friends to see it, to brag about it, "where's the wallet?"

>> barbara's mom is beside herself. >> she wanted more people to see it around that time. "i am taking the wallet to another museum," and she did. >> score one for jersey! elva crosses the delaware and lends the wallet to the old barracks museum here in trenton. they'll display it, and she can take it out any time she likes. would you not want it here as a center of a coffee table? >> no way. [ chuckles ] >> why not? >> i just was afraid something would happen to it. >> a legitimate fear. in january 1992, barbara's mother is staggered by a call from the museum. >> it's surprising she didn't have a stroke. >> who swiped washington's wallet? that's next. >> here's another...

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>> 15 children, by two wives. [ telephone rings ] >> it's january 1992. 83-year-old widow elva kiernan gets a devastating phone call from the old barracks museum in trenton, new jersey. her precious heirloom, a leather wallet identified as george washington's, has been stolen from its case! >> someone took the wallet and disappeared. the new jersey detectives and the police were on the lookout

for it. >> did you post a reward? >> yes. total was $1,000 -- $500 from my mother and $500 from the barracks. >> it's all elva can afford, and, presumably, the barracks, too. weeks go by. then... it's back. a local lawyer followed an anonymous tip and secures the wallet's return on presidents' day, 1992. and this is classic -- the 200-year-old bills, presumably washington's, are missing. >> i was upset because i knew, as a child, i had seen the bills many, many times. >> did the lawyer ever disclose who brought him the wallet? >> no. >> do you remember, linda, if there was any information about who actually returned the wallet? >> no. >> but you gave it back to the museum? >> yes. >> that is, after the museum agrees to install a security system. and there it stays for the next

decade, until the farwells finally decide to have it insured. >> the first time i saw it was at one of my antique-appraisal events. >> lori verderame is an antiques appraiser with a phd in art history. you established a value for the wallet? >> based on comparable sales records, condition, provenance, and also my research, the insurance appraisal that i signed -- the pocketbook here was worth $75,000. >> it was a lot of money. >> enough to give any working-class family pause. >> that much money would really be a nice addition to our bank account [laughs] but my mother was very sure that that wallet shouldn't ever be sold. it should be for everybody to see. >> in fact, elva makes it all the way to 100 and never sells. she passes away in october 2008. barbara not only inherits the

wallet but the cachet that comes with it when she takes her bridge club to the old barracks for a personalized tour. tell me about it -- when you're able to share it with the ladies at the senior center. >> well, they're amazed. >> you're a v.i.p. >> [ laughing ] yeah. >> that pride in her family's small connection to the father of the country is why she agrees to tell her story to "strange inheritance." but will our questions spoil everything? i'm just curious, once we decided to do an episode of "strange inheritance," whether your thoughts about it changed in any way. >> i honestly did look in the files. >> that's next. we'd love to tell it! send me an e-mail or go to our website. yeah, that's half the fun of a new house. seeing what people left behind in the attic. well, saving on homeowners insurance with geico's help was pretty fun too. ahhhh, it's a tiny dancer.

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>> now back to "strange inheritance." >> i certainly enjoy being the owner and being known as a

[chuckling] celebrity. >> something curious happened after barbara farwell and her daughter, linda, agreed to let us tell the story about how their family inherited george washington's wallet. they keep it in trenton's old barracks museum, displayed above a decades-old plaque which flatly states it belonged to the father of our country. but when we ask to shoot inside the museum, a member of its staff tells us that now they're no longer sure if that's accurate. uh-oh! i'm wondering whether you took a second look at it and whether your thoughts about it changed in any way. >> i honestly did look in the files. we did not have an exact paper trail that goes right to 1775. >> richard patterson is the director of the old barracks museum. >> we don't have a receipt from washington. if we had a paper trail that went back a century or more, when you have some items that

are attributed to a particular person, particularly a famous person, that sort of adds to the level of documentation that you would like to have. it appears to be authentic to the period, and it's something that, quite plausibly, was carried by washington. >> mild-mannered barbara can't believe the museum, after all these years, is waffling on the wallet. >> i really am very sure that that's george washington's pocketbook. >> "plausibly" just doesn't cut it for her. washington biographer richard brookhiser understands. is it okay if we just believe it, or do we really need to know for sure? >> no, we want to know for sure. >> and we do know for sure, insists appraiser lori verderame. i ask her to make her case. >> the first thing we're gonna look for is age. i'm also gonna look for construction. the binding is just like what we would typically see. it's made the same way cambridge university would actually make its books. the age of the leather is

correct, and these little bands indicate where it was kept and what was in it. >> another key detail... >> you'll notice that sunburst in between the monogram of the "g" and the "w." >> yes! >> george washington was part of the freemasons, and that particular sunburst is an image in the 18th century that was also used by the freemasons. >> had washington lived in another age, it might be easier to remove all doubt -- if he'd been photographed with the wallet or if you could swab it for his dna. but dr. lori says that for a 240-year-old artifact, you'll rarely do better than her final piece of proof. >> so, this is where people say, "oh, we don't have a document." we do have a document. >> that affidavit attesting to the chain of custody from washington to farwell's ancestors. never sold, right? >> no, never sold -- always handed down in the family. >> that provenance, dr. lori adds, has never been challenged by anyone outside the farwell family. has dr. lori persuaded you?

>> the initials and so on look like they were done quite some time ago. >> in a graceful denouement, richard patterson seems to buy it. dr. lori is 100% convinced this is george washington's pocketbook. >> cool. >> are you? >> why not? i was leaning in that direction. >> barbara farwell is also pleased to hear dr. lori thinks the wallet could fetch a higher price -- if she wants to sell. >> value has increased, and condition has basically stayed the same because it's been protected in a museum environment. so i would appraise this george washington pocketbook for $100,000. [ cash register dings ] >> but barbara and linda still say their strange inheritance is not for sale. why is it more important to own the wallet than to sell it and have the money? >> because my mother really wanted us to keep it and pass it down through the ages.

it'll be more valuable and more interesting as the years go by. >> what happens if linda sells it? >> she said she wouldn't. >> i won't. >> i think i understand it now. >> i wouldn't take it now without an escort. [ chuckles ] >> what is it you're worried will happen to it? >> i don't want it to get stolen again, that's for sure. but did you not say you'd like to see it in the smithsonian? >> yeah, eventually. >> that's where millions of people would see it. >> yeah. >> word traveled fast of washington's victories after he crossed the delaware, with or without that wallet in his vest pocket. frederick the great of prussia said, "the achievements of washington and his little band of men were the most brilliant ever recorded in the annals of military achievements." the father of our country went for broke and pulled it off and so handed down an inheritance to

all americans. i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance." and remember, you can't take it with you. >> a sailor who was with jfk aboard pt-109. >> the ship came out of the dark, and harold was killed. >> the young man's mother begins a correspondence with the future president. >> i was actually shocked when i saw what the letters detailed. >> the letters are tucked away for years. >> these documents could be of significant historical value, and they could also be worth a lot of money. >> this is one of those treasures that surfaces that nobody knew existed. >> a treasure, all right, if they can prove they're real. >> the signatures looked authentic. >> looked authentic. and this is a real signature? >> that's a real jfk signature. >> you're 100% sure? >> will bidders open their wallets? >> looking for $100,000. bid $100,000.

looking for $100,000. yes, now $110,000. $110,000, now $120,000. [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] >> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm on my way to fall river, massachusetts, about an hour south of boston. i'm going to meet a man who's strange inheritance begins with his family's powerful connection to a future president. >> i'm dennis harkins. our mother passed in 1990. she left us with correspondence regarding our uncle harold who was lost in the south pacific during world war ii. >> dennis. i'm jamie. >> pleased to meet you. >> what is this place? >> this has to do with our inheritance. >> these ships. >> mm-hmm. yes. >> let's check it out. the battleship cove museum here in fall river has two of the last remaining pt boats from

world war ii. dennis' uncle harold, who served on a pt boat, joined the navy in november 1941. >> he was the impish, typical younger brother. i think it was probably exciting for him. >> then, a month later, pearl harbor. [ explosions ] with the u.s. at war, harold is shipped to the south pacific. he puts in a request to join a pt boat crew. "pt" is navy lingo for "patrol torpedo." in addition to torpedos, the 80-foot boats were armed with twin machine-gun turrets, including one just to the right of the captain's helm. >> they could lay low in the water, wait for the enemy ships to pass, and then attack them with the torpedos. >> the museum's pt boat curator, don shannon, shows me around.

wow. tight quarters. why are they called the mosquito fleet? >> mosquitos could infect you with malaria. so, they were deadly, and they were small and fast. >> by the summer of 1943, harold is stationed aboard a pt boat, like this one, near the solomon islands. harold's captain -- 26-year-old navy lieutenant junior grade john f. kennedy. so, don, this is where john f. kennedy, lieutenant junior grade, controlled the ship from. >> correct. >> right here. can barely see over. and they operated in the dark of night? >> yes. >> four feet away is where harold was operating that turret. this really puts it in perspective. >> the idea was to go out and attack the destroyers and sink them. >> but no radar. >> the 109 did not have radar. so, you know, try driving down the highway at night with your headlights off. >> on one such night --

august 1st, 1943 -- out of the darkness comes the amagiri, a japanese destroyer traveling at 40 knots. 19-year-old harold marney is stationed in that gun turret. >> harold gave the alarm, "ship at 2:00." >> the amagiri slices right through pt-109. >> and right here, where you're standing, this wing tank actually exploded. >> it's hard to imagine anyone could have survived. >> things happened so fast. he probably got sucked into the wake of the ship. >> harold and a second sailor, andrew kirksey, didn't have a chance. the surviving sailors swim to a small string of islands and take refuge until they're rescued six days later. distraught over the loss of his men, lieutenant kennedy writes to harold's mother, jenny marney. what did jfk tell her? >> "dear mrs. marney,

this letter is to offer my deepest sympathy for the loss of your son." >> kennedy goes on to write, "i realize that there is nothing i can say can make your sorrow less. harold had come on board my boat a week before to serve as an engineer. he fitted in quickly and was very well-liked." jenny writes back to kennedy right away, thanking him for his letter and asking if it's somehow possible that her son harold could still be alive. kennedy responds, "when the crew was finally united around the floating bow, we could find no trace of him, although every effort was made to find him. i am terribly sorry that i cannot be of more help or encouragement to you." >> my grandmother jenny, who we called mum, was from amherst, nova scotia. she was very english. she was very proper. >> and she feels she's made a friend. in early 1944, mum learns that kennedy will be back in boston to get treated for the back injuries he sustained on pt-109.

she goes to visit him in the hospital. you don't just get in to see jack kennedy. >> no. no. no, you don't. [ chuckles ] >> but somehow, she does, more than once. >> what they talked about, god only knows, but i'm sure they talked about harold. they probably talked about his brother joe. >> jfk's older brother joe was a naval aviator. when he's killed in a top-secret mission over england, jenny sends her own letter of condolence. jfk writes back. it says, "i want you to know how much i appreciated your card." standard "thank you" note. but he goes on to say, "i know you know how we all feel. boys like harold and my brother joe can never be replaced." incredible. and he says, "i hope that i shall see you sometime again." >> yes. >> in 1946, kennedy is elected to congress. six years later, to the senate.

and in november 1960, kennedy wins the white house, narrowly defeating vice president richard nixon. >> the torch has been passed to a new generation of americans born in this century. >> just three months after taking office, in april 1961, kennedy writes to mum again. he sends her a photo of a memorial wall at the manila american cemetery in the philippines that's inscribed with harold's name. kennedy closes his letter saying, "if ever you are in the nation's capital, i would like very much to have the white house and other public places here shown to you." then comes that awful day in november 1963. [ gunshot ] >> president kennedy was shot today, just as his motorcade left downtown dallas. >> it's the end of the white house camelot years and the end of mum's

relationship with the most powerful man in the world. jenny marney dies in 1973 and bequeaths her carefully preserved letters from kennedy to her daughter, dennis' mother, elaine. elaine gives the letters to her son in 1985, just five years before she dies. >> when i first looked at them, it was, "oh, wow." and promptly put them in a safe deposit box. >> there they remain for the next quarter century. but a surprise phone call from a stranger will re-ignite this family's interest in their unique inheritance. >> i got on the phone and left this very strange message. "are you the nephew of pt-109 crew member harold w. marney?" >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. what's the most expensive piece of presidential memorabilia ever

sold at auction? is it washington's personally annotated draft copy of the constitution, lincoln's signed emancipation proclamation, or fdr's "date of infamy" speech with his handwritten notes? the answer in a moment.

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personally annotated draft copy of the constitution. it sold for nearly $10 million in 2012. >> for years, jenny marney corresponds with john f. kennedy after her son harold was killed on the pt boat jfk commanded. they remain friends until jfk's assassination in 1963. neither dennis harkins nor francis piorek, who are half-brothers, ever met their uncle harold. >> what i heard about my uncle was really just whispers and stuff. "oh, you know, uncle harold was on pt-109, and john f. kennedy was the commander." >> but when francis grows up, he catches the genealogy bug and starts posting messages online. i came to the realization that, geez, i didn't really know much about my family. and my uncle was kind of semi-famous. >> francis says he's looking for any unknown relatives of harold marney.

his message goes unnoticed until 2013, when brian willette, the junior vice commander of a vfw post, petitions to place a headstone for marney in a veterans' cemetery near springfield, massachusetts. >> i could not find him anywhere honored, and not even in springfield. and he was from east springfield. >> brian comes across francis' post from way back in 2001. >> i got on the phone and left this very strange message. "are you the nephew of pt-109 crew member harold w. marney?" >> it was quite shocking to get a call out of the blue. >> in august 2013, that gravestone for uncle harold is placed at the veterans' cemetery. it gets dennis thinking about those four jfk letters written to his grandmother that he's been holding on to for 25 years. isn't time he did something with them? but then comes another kind of reckoning for dennis and

francis. their brother john dies of diabetes at the age of 57. >> it kind of makes you start to think about what do you want to do with the rest of your life, 'cause his death was unexpected. >> they retrieve the letters, which francis has never seen. >> and i was actually shocked when i saw what the letters actually detailed. >> why now? >> the driving thing was the loss of our brother john. >> yeah. >> it was like a wake-up, you know, 'cause i know i'm not getting any younger. these documents could be of significant historical value. and they could also be worth a lot of money. >> you had a big decision to make. >> mm-hmm. >> yeah. >> i just kind of thought they were worth something. um... >> give me a number. what did you think? >> $30,000, $40,000, perhaps. >> dennis didn't pull that number out of a hat. the son of andrew kirksey, the other sailor who died aboard pt-109, sold his grandmother's letter from kennedy. that single letter went for

$9,500. >> we had four. was one worth $9,500 or was it worth $20,000? i mean, we have no idea. >> but dennis and francis are about to learn that authenticating jfk documents for auction is a lot more complicated than they imagined. >> one of the most important things you need to know if you're ever gonna buy a john f. kennedy letter is he's one of the most forged autographs there is. >> is a jfk signature easy or difficult to spot a fake? >> jfk is perhaps the most difficult. >> that's next on "strange inheritance." >> here's another quiz question for you. babe ruth is the most forged autograph of all time. what's the most forged outside the sports world? is it neil armstrong, marilyn monroe, or elvis presley? the answer in a moment. introducing voltaren arthritis pain gel.

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save 25% on the sleep number 360® c4 smart bed with any smart adjustable base. plus 0% interest for 36 months. ends tuesday. >> so, what's the most forged signature outside the sports world? it's "c," elvis presley. that's according to psa/dna authentication services. >> for 25 years, dennis harkins keeps an old family heirloom stored away in a safety deposit box -- four letters written to his grandmother, jenny marney, from john f. kennedy, three written by hand before kennedy became president and a fourth typewritten on white house stationery. in 2013, dennis and his brother francis decide it's time to sell. enter bobby livingston of rr auction. he knows anything associated with jfk can fetch big bucks.

>> kennedy's a very important figure in american history, thus collectible. people really related to the kennedy family, and pairs of jacqueline kennedy's shoes sell for $30,000. >> according to livingston, the brothers' jfk letters hold their own unique value. and the reason goes back to that fateful pt-109 mission. >> there are no other letters that we know of from john f. kennedy where he gives his personal account of what happened that night. when someone walks in with john f. kennedy letters, letters that no one has ever seen and never read, we get excited. >> but many a collector has been burned after plunking down a fortune for a newly-discovered document that turns out to be a fake. jfk is ranked by memorabilia dealers as the fourth most-forged non-sports signature on the market after elvis, the beatles, and neil armstrong. so, how does a handwriting authenticator gives his stamp of

approval on these letters? is a jfk signature easy or difficult to spot a fake? >> jfk is perhaps the most difficult. 80% of the process is "does the signature and handwriting match known exemplars?" jfk's handwriting changed so much there was an entire book done in the 1960s just on kennedy's handwriting. >> why would he change his signature? >> his personality changed and his signature changed. and it changed more dramatically than any other president and pretty much most famous people. >> the brothers know the handwritten letters to their grandmother, going back to 1943, must be real. but bob eaton can't just take their word for it. he compares them to a known jfk letter. show me. >> i've got a letter from 1940,

which is three years prior. and the similarities -- he always had a tendency, even later in life, when he made a "t," he would continue. it wouldn't be a short little "t." he also would break words up. >> bob confirms the letters to jenny marney also have jfk's unique "t." but how do you authenticate the one from the white house? the president can't sign every letter by hand. what about that one? how do you tell it's not a secretary? >> most of kennedy's letters from that time period were secretarials and autopens. but he had a bond with this family. >> and this is a real signature? >> that's a real jfk signature. >> you're 100% sure? >> i am 100% -- 110% sure. >> so, how much are they worth? >> we've never seen anything like it from kennedy, so we estimate it to be worth $50,000 or more. >> wow. [ chuckles ] that's a little more than i had thought.

>> of course, anything could happen at auction. >> was your heart palpitating? >> just about out of my chest. >> this is our remarkable rarities auction. >> that's next. ♪ ♪ ♪ smooth driving pays off with allstate, the safer you drive the more you save you never been in better hands allstate click or call for a quote today

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>> now back to "strange inheritance." >> for 25 years, dennis harkins has kept his strange inheritance locked away in a safety deposit box -- these four letters written to his grandmother by john f. kennedy after her son harold was killed on pt-109. it's september 18th, 2014, in boston. dennis and his brother francis are ready to sell. a small crowd gathers at a hotel while hundreds more are bidding by phone and online. >> let's start now. this is our remarkable rarities auction.

>> we started getting a little excited, maybe some butterflies as to what is this going to do. >> all right. >> here we go. >> here we go. >> it's a great lot right here. john f. kennedy, pt-109 letters. one-of-a-kind archive of kennedy's letters to the family of his lost crew mate. >> i got $22,000. >> all right. we're starting with a $22,000 bid on the internet. now $23,000. >> remember, the preliminary estimate for all four of dennis and francis' jfk letters was $50k. >> $45,000 on the phone now. $47,500. $55,000, now $60,000. >> they had the auction people there, and they're hoop-dee-doing and hollering and pushing. >> $90,000. $95,000. looking for $100,000. bid $100,000. looking for $100,000. yes. now $110,000. $110,000. now $120,000. $130,000. >> holy cow. >> wow. >> looking for $130,000 now. $140,000? >> but don't hammer the gavel too soon. the bidding's not over. >> $140,000. now $150,000.

$150,000. $160,000 is the high bid on the phone. looking for $170,000. and we'll say fair warning. >> then the final call. >> and this is sold -- $160,000... >> wow. >> ...on the phone. >> wow. >> that's three times more than the brothers had originally hoped for. >> i'm flabbergasted, 'cause it just was amazing to watch it unfold. >> i would hope that the successful bidder enjoys them. perhaps they'll put them in a museum. >> a young man makes the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. that legacy, he left for all of us. the letters his commanding officer and future president writes help lighten his mother's grief and, decades later, become a substantial financial boon for family he never knew --

a strange inheritance indeed. how hard to part with them? >> it was hard, but it was time. like your old jalopy pickup truck. it's -- you love it, but it's just time to let it go. think it's become time in life to move on. >> dennis' mum always relished her special relationship with john f. kennedy, and she wasn't shy about calling in a favor, even in her later years. family legend has it that when mum retired to connecticut and had trouble receiving her social security benefits, she turned to her friend, now president kennedy, for help. when letters on white house stationery arrived at the local social security office, officials there jumped to fix the problem. and from then on, mum always got her checks on time. i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." thanks so much for watching. and remember -- you can't take it with you.

do you have a "strange inheritance" story you'd like to share with us? we'd love to hear it. send me an e-mail or go to our website -- strangeinheritance.com. thanks. elizabeth: breaking news, president trump is expected to leave walter reed medical center at this hour at 6:30 p.m. eastern time. we're live on the story. marine is expected to fly the president back to the white house. essentially the reverse of friday night and what we reported to you. again we are staying on the story live throughout the hour. we will break down the firestorm of controversies and how the media reported it. how it all went down with the president dealing with his covid-19 prognosis. as more white house officials contract the virus. we have edward lawrence with the latest from walter reed. he is with us on standby for the next hour, covering all the breaking new