Van Alstyne Leader
1927
Mrs. Watson, Born in Germany, Tells of Early Days of Cattle Raising

Van Alstyne, Tex. - Aug. 3 (Special) - In April, Mrs. Martha Watson observed her eightieth birthday. She was born April 2, 1845, at Baden, Germany. When four years old she, with her parents and family, came to the United States, landing at New Orleans. They stayed in New Orleans for a few days before going north to Shreveport. The family spent about two months in Shreveport, then moved westward two hundred miles or more and camped for a short time near the site of Gainesville. At that time there was a grist mill owned by a man by the name of Mr. Twitty where Gainesville is now located, according to Mrs. Watson. After two or three weeks the family moved east, to where the present town of Whitemound is.

Mrs. Watson tells that there was a man named Ambun White living there at that time and that Mr. White ran a small store at his residence.

Much Wild Game
Her mother died when Mrs. Watson was seven years old, while they were living at Whitesboro. Later the family moved seven miles west into Cooke county. At that time the principal industry was cattle raising and the population was scattered. Mrs. Watson says turkeys, deer, and other game were plentiful and during hard winters would come up to the door of the residence. There were waxing fields of prairie grass, which was used for grazing cattle.

Her father served in the state militia during the Civil War, he being too old to join the Confederate army. When Mrs. Watson was 18, her father died and when 19, she went to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Aeck Shirley, where she made her home. The Shirley home is southeast of Anna, in Collin County, and is one of the well-known landmarks in that section. While living there she met S. G. Watson, whom she married in 1869. She and Mr. Watson moved to the old Watson home place five miles northwest of Van Alstyne and a mile south of Farmington.

Home is Burned
Farmington was at that time a thriving city, had a dry goods store, a grist mill, carding machine, Baptist and Christian churches and a good school. Mrs. Watson's husband died several years ago. She lived on the farm for 58 years, leaving it over a year ago when the large residence, which had been standing for years, was destroyed by fire. Many relics and antiques which were valued highly by Mrs. Watson were burned.

She was the mother of four children, two of whom died several years ago. She has a son, Coleman Watson, of Lockney, Texas and a daughter, Mrs. F. L. Farrington, of Anadarko, Oklahoma. Four of her grandchildren are graduates of the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College at Stillwater, Oklahoma, and another was a student there during the last school term.