WATSON.
William Watson came from Charles City County, and
resided on land east of North Garden Depot, which in 1762
he purchased from John Leake and William and Joseph
Fitzpatrick. He died in 1784. His children were John P.,
Richard P., Joseph and Nancy, the wife of Thomas Cobbs.
John P. died in 1812, and his widow Martha, to whom he
devised his estate, became the wife of John Brown in 1816.
Richard also died in 1812. His wife was Ann Anderson,
and his children William, Lucinda and Ann, the wives
respectively of Wilson Gregory and Francis Staples, both of
Henrico. Richard's widow was subsequently married to
Dr. C. Lewis Carr. The lands of this family have passed
into other hands, though their name is still remembered in
the neighborhood.
Another William Watson married Susan, daughter of
David Watts, and in 1767 received from his father-in-law a
portion of his estate on the west side of the South West
Mountain, not far from Stony Point. His children were
John, Matthew, Elizabeth, Sarah, Lucy, the wife of Thomas
Johnson, Mildred, Ann and Mary. John succeeded to his
father's place. In 1804 he bought from Thomas Wells
nearly five hundred acres of the Carter land south of Charlottesville,
part of which was sold in 1818 by Matthew and
his wife Lucy to William Dunkum, and part in 1836 by John
and his wife Mary to Samuel Mitchell, of North Carolina.
There being for many years simultaneously three John Watsons
in the county, this John was described as of the Little
Mountain.
William Watson, son of Little Mountain John, had for a
long period charge of the county jail. He was a saddler by
trade, and in the early years of the century was associated in
business with Edward Stone, who removed to Davidson
County, Tennessee. They owned the north end of the lot on
the west side of the Square. In 1819 Watson bought from Edmund
Anderson the lot on the west side of Park Street, where
he built the brick house which was long the residence of the
late Thomas Wood. He was Jailor from 1811 to 1828, and
again from 1832 to 1841, when during the imprisonment of
Joseph E. Semmes, he was succeeded by his son, James A.
Watson. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Barksdale,
and his children were James Albert, who married Mary,
daughter of Anderson Brown, and Mildred, the wife of a
Jones. He died in 1853, and his son James A. in 1857.
In 1779 John Watson purchased land in the northwestern
part of the county on Rocky Creek. He was succeeded by
his son John, who was distinguished as John Watson, of
High Top. The latter died in 1833.
About 1790 John Watson, known as of Milton, came to
the county from Amherst. He was the son of James Watson,
formerly of James City County. He settled in Milton,
and was closely identified with its interests from its foundation.
He was appointed a magistrate in 1800, and served as
Sheriff in 1825. In 1813 he purchased from Brown, Rives
& Co. Forest Hill, a plantation on the south side of the
Rivanna below Milton, containing upwards of a thousand
acres. He made this his residence until his death in 1841.
His wife was Jane, daughter of Richard Price, and his children
Eliza, the wife of Ira Garrett, James Richard, John W.
C., Isabella, the wife of Charles B. Shaw, Matthew P.,
Egbert R., and Ellen, the wife of John C. Sinton. J. Richard
married Ann, daughter of James Clark, was a merchant in
Charlottesville, and a hotel keeper at the University, and
died at Forest Hill in 1867. John W. C. was admitted to
the Albemarle bar in 1830, married Catharine, sister of professor
John A. G. Davis, and removed to Holly Springs,
Miss. He represented that State in the Confederate Senate
during the war. Matthew P. married Eliza, daughter
of Opie Norris, and removed to Southwest Virginia.
Egbert spent his life in Charlottesville, as one of the leading
lawyers at its bar, and Judge of the Circuit Court at the close
of the war. He was thrice married, first to Mary, daughter
of Opie Norris, secondly to Jane Creigh, of Greenbrier, and
thirdly to Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac White. He died in
1887. Dr. Daniel E. Watson, a kinsman of this family,
came to the county from Amherst, and in 1837 bought from
Francis B. Hart the plantation in the Rich Cove, on which
he resided till his death in 1882. He was appointed a magistrate
in 1838. He married Mary, daughter of Henry T.
Harris.
Joseph Watson, an immigrant from Ireland, in 1832
bought from Andrew Leitch, agent of the Dinsmore estate,
Orange Dale, where he lived until his death several years
ago. His wife was Ellen Leitch, a sister of Samuel
Leitch Jr.
