WILLIAM AUGUSTUS WATSON
William Augustus Watson, b July 21, .1835 in Alabama, d January 11, 1908
and buried in Thornton Cemetery, Limestone County, Texas - was a son of John D.
Watson, b 1796 in Dublin, Ireland, d 1876 in Grimes County, Texas - a son of
John D. and Eliza Watson, Sr. John D. Watson, Sr. was a teacher, and John D.
Watson, Jr. was able to speak six different languages. William Augustus Watson's
mother, Avah (Curry) Watson, b December 4, 1804 in Georgia, d December 6, 1890
and buried in Thornton Cemetery, Limestone County, Texas - was a daughter of
John C. Curry. John D. Curry, Jr. came to America from Ireland, where he was a
teacher and bookkeeper, via South America, where he immigrated in 1816 and was a
soldier there for a year before moving to New Orleans, Louisiana, and
subsequently to Claiborne, Alabama, and then Sparta, where he taught school. He
brought his family to Texas in 1844, settling first in Montgomery County, and
then Grimes County, where he continued to teach and keep books, and was also a
Prison Guard. The Watsons were of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and John
D. Watson was a Master Mason.
William Augustus Watson remained at with his parents, until he
entered the Confederate States Army during the Civil War - serving in Company H,
4th Texas Infantry, Hood's Brigade, and in twenty of the main battles of the
war. He was knocked down by a cannon ball at Gaines' Mill, shot three times at
the Wilderness, and again wounded at Cold Harbor. He was "Orderly" of his
Regiment at the time of the surrender.
On December 21, 1865 in Grimes County, Texas, William Augustus Watson was
married to Martha Joanah Lown, b September 24,1841 in South Carolina, d August
1, 1922 in Thornton and buried by her husband in Thornton Cemetery – a daughter
of John Lown, b December 13, 1795 in Germany, d April 24,
1856
in Lexington, South Carolina, and his wife, Anna
(Bookman) Lown, b November 9, 1807 in
South Carolina, d January 3,1864 in Grimes County, Texas. Anna (Bookman) Lown
moved with her children to Grimes County, Texas after the death of her husband,
to live near the families of her four brothers who had settled there by 1846,
Joseph Bookman, Daniel Bookman, Jesse Bookman, and Samuel Bookman.
William A. Watson had accumulated quite a nice property before the Civil
War, but lost all he had during that time. He and Martha Joannah became members
of the Cumberland Presbyterian faith, and he be- came an Elder in that Church in
1869. Before his death, he owned two gins in Limestone County, Texas, 280 acres
of land, and had about forty head of cattle, and horses. He was a Mason.
William Augustus and Martha Joanah (Lown) Watson did not live in Falls
County, but were only a few miles from the northeast Falls County community of
Stranger - then called Blue Ridge. They were very active in the Fairview
Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Limestone County - as were many families from
Stranger; and two of their eight children (which included a pair of twin
daughters) married into old Stranger families - the Garrett and Steele families.
The eight children of William and Martha Joanah Watson were:
John Jacob Astor Watson, b October 18, 1866 in Grimes County, Texas d
October 9,1875 in Thornton, Limestone County, Texas.
Avy Anna Watson, b October 8, 1867, d July 22, 1869 in Grimes County,
Texas.
Mary Magdaline Watson, b February 22, 1870, d August 29, 1873 in
Thornton, Limestone County, Texas.
Mary Frances Watson, b October 13, 1872 in Thornton, Limestone County,
Texas, d 1950 in Denton, Denton County, Texas - was the second wife of Samuel R.
Lattner, b September 2, 1869, d April 26, 1936 and both buried in Thornton
Cemetery, Limestone County, Texas. They were married December 23,1891 in the
Fairview Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
William Franklin Watson, b March 24, 1876 in Thornton, Limestone County,
Texas, d June 5,1952 in Dallas County, Texas - married September 21, 1901 in the
Fairview Cumberland Presbyterian Church to Ola Mae Garrett, b November 28, 1880
at Stranger, Falls County, Texas, d July 7, 1921 in an automobile accident and
buried in Oakland Cemetery in Dallas, Texas - a daughter of James Odell Garrett
and his second wife, Elizabeth Ann (Jackson) Garrett, of Stranger. Frank and Ola
Mae were the parents of three children: Helen Grace Watson, b July 30, 1903 -
married Oscar Eugene Poole; William Franklin Watson, Jr., b October 20, 1909 -
married Virginia Elizabeth Revis; and Ola Mae Watson (called "Dolly"), b May 2,
1912 - married Howard O'Dell Hudson. After the death of his wife, William
Franklin Watson married second in 1924 to Clara Stewart, b August 9, 1881, d May
5, 1971. Frank and Clara are both buried in Crown Hill Memorial Park in Dallas
County, Texas.
Tempa Ophelia Watson, b February 28, 1879 in Thornton, Limestone County,
Texas, d June 14, 1940 in Marlin, Falls County, Texas - married
October 16, 1901 to William John Steele, b February 29, 1876 at Stranger, Falls
County, Texas, d May 29, 1959 in Marlin, Falls County, Texas and buried there in
Calvary Cemetery - a son of Robert A. and Ellen (Poll) Steele - natives of
Antrim County, Ireland, who settled in Stranger in 1867. They were the parents
of twelve children.
Cora Adella Watson - a Twin, b December 27, 1885 in Thornton, Limestone
County, Texas - married Thomas Kilpatrick.
Ora Ann Ella Watson - a Twin, b December 27, 1885 in Thornton, Limestone
County, Texas, d June 19, 1966 and buried in Thornton Cemetery - married Thomas
Arney, b October 20,1887, d October 31,1969 and buried by his wife in Thornton
Cemetery.
Descendants of William Augustus and Martha Joanah (Lown) Watson continue
to reside in Falls County, Texas.
Copyright Permission granted to Theresa Carhart for printing the biographies of
these Falls County Families to this Web page.
"Families of Falls County", Compiled and Edited by the Falls County Historical
Commission, page 475 column 2 and page 476 column 1 and 2.
Member of Falls County Historical Commission.
