Confederate Letters Confederate Letters
Courtesy of Jean Herrin Clinkscales
submitted by Gloria B. Mayfield, Rusk Co. coordinator
Biographical Sketch of Henry L. Watson
William Watson was born in Tennessee about 1815 and died in the Millville Community, Rusk County, Texas. He was married to Emily Ophelia Lamb who was born around 1818 in Tennesseee. Prior to moving to Rusk County, Texas this family lived in Monoe County, Tennessee and Arkansas. The children of William and Emily Lamb Watson were: Mary Miranda Watson, James E. Watson, Henry L. Watson, Sarah Amanda Watson, Matthew John Watson, Zachariah Taylor Watson, Nancy Jane Watson, William Silas Watson, George Buchanan Watson, and Zackary B. Watson
Henry L. Watson, the son of William and Emily Lamb Watson was born March 23, 1842 in Arkansas. He was about six years old when the family migrated to Rusk County, Texas. He was nineteen years old in the fall of 1861 when he enlisted in the 17th Consolidated Regiment of the Confederates States Army. On May 10, 1862 he was transferred to the 18th Texas Regiment Company I Infantry Division in the service of the Confederate States Army. He served for the Confederacy till the close of the Civil War. On July 5, 1864 he married Mary Jane Robertson born September 5, 1843 in Georgia. She died September 25, 1904 and Henry L. Watson on October 4, 1916; both are buried in the Pirtle Cemetery in Rusk County, Texas. Mary Jane Robertson was the daughter of Thomas Wesley and Pinnina Robertson. Mrs. Eunice (Robertson) Still in an interview on October 15, 1985 stated "Thomas Wesley Robertson was born in 1795 in Monroe, GA; his wife Pennina was born in 1808 in Georgia. Some of their children were William Robertson, Jefferson Robertson, Franklin Robertson, Mary Jane Robertson, and Lucy Robertson. My parents were Beulah Atlanta Adams and Beverly Allen Robertson, a son of John Franklin Robertson and Susan (Bradley) Robertson. John Franklin and Susan (Bradley) Robertson and Beulah and Beve Robertson are buried at the Peatown Cemetery. The Robertsons opened Robertson's store and a post office; the community of Monroe was named after their Georgia residence."
Both Henry L. and Mary Jane (Robertson) Watson were devoted Methodists. Henry was a farmer and freemason. His Masonic tombstone can be found at the old part of Pirtle Methodist Cemetery on Farm Road 181, Rusk County, Texas. They were parents to ten children all born in Rusk County, Texas: Henry Walter Watson, James Monroe Watson, William Robert Watson, John Tyler Watson, Maude Vesti Watson, Emily Pennina Watson, Zackory Taylor Watson, Carrie Virginia Watson, William Arthur Watson and Mary Eula Watson. Jean Herrin Clinkscales,Great Great Grand Daughter of Henry L. Watson
