JOHN AND AGNES WATSON

The following bio was taken from page 433 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Claudia Schuster

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

John Watson was born January 1, 1808 in Orange County, North Carolina. He and his mother moved to Smith County, Tennessee and he married Agnes Gardenhire. Agnes was born July 12, 1816 in Overton County, Tennessee. Their children were: James Monroe, born August 8, 1834, in Smith County, Tennessee; Maranda Jane, 1836; Alvan Benton, 1838; Andrew, 1840; Amanda, 1841; John, 1843; George, 1845; William, 1847; Susan, 1849; all in Marion County, Tennessee.

John’s parents were William and Elizabeth Watson. John had a brother, Allen and a sister. Agnes’ parents were Thompson and Susan Copeland Gardenhire, and her grandfather was Jacob Gardenhire. Agnes’ brothers, George and Jord, came to Texas before 1850 and established a home at Peatown, Rusk County, Texas.

John and Agnes decided to move to Texas, and John built a houseboat and they sailed down the Tennessee River to the mouth of the Arkansas River. They sold their boat and boarded a steamboat to Pine Bluff, Arkansas. They made a crop and resumed their trip to Texas, arriving in Peatown in the fall of 1850. They settled in the home given to Agnes by her brothers. There they lived until Agnes died. In Texas five other children were born: Lydia, 1851; Benjamin Franklin, 1853; Matt, 1856, Louise Ellen, 1858, and Mary, 1860.

When the Civil War broke out, James, John, and Benton enlisted in the Confederate Army. Benton died at Okalona, Mississippi and is buried there. John died near Austin, Arkansas and is buried there. James was seriously wounded at Chickamauga and was left on the battlefield, but one of his fellow soldiers ran out under fire and got him. He was sent to Atlanta, Georgia to the hospital. He was there during Sherman’s march through Georgia. At the hospital a silk handkerchief was drawn through the wound to clean it. One night while Jim was on pickett duty alone, he captured three enemy and marched them into camp. When asked how he captured them, he said, "I surrounded them."

A colonel in the Confederate Army in a speech before a large crowd, when he was running for Governor of Texas, said, "Jim Watson was the best soldier in the Confederate Army.

Jim Watson married Elmira Whittington and they established their home near his father’s home in the Peatown Community. Their first child was born there, and they named him John for his grandfather. In the fall of 1870, Jim and Myra bought a farm about three miles south of his father’s home and lived there until Jim died July 17, 1914.

The Jim Watsons had seven children, all born at this home except John. They were; John, 1868; Walter, 1871; Claude, 1873; Tyler, 1875; Agnes, 1877; Howell, 1881; and Jeff, 1885.

All the family except Tyler and Jeff, were buried at Peatown. Tyler is buried at Henderson and Jeff at Lubbock, Texas.

The grandchildren divided their grandfather’s land in 1975, and I, Lillian, got the old house. My niece, Hazel Doerge, and I restored it and are enjoying it to the fullest.

Submitted by Lillian Watson