Individual Details
John Watts
(1799 - 4 Feb 1865)
John Watts was born in Virginia, and lived in Tennesse where he was an Indian agent. He moved to Searcy County, Arkansas where he owned and operated a grist mill. He was killed by Jayhawkers on February 4, 1865.
He is supposed to have had two sons, William and John Harvey by his first wife, Asa Watts by his second wife and another son, Francis Marion, by his third wife.
From https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Watts-7344
Family lore says that John Watts moved to Searcy county from Kentucky about 1832.
The following letter was written by Sarah Watts Pruett on July 5th, 1962 to her sister Artie Watts Pfister in Marshall, Searcy County, Arkansas. [I have reformatted it for ease of reading. Some of what she relates is unclear. For instance, I haven't been able to figure out how the Pleasant Watts she mentions fits into the family. I've looked at all of Ben Watts' sons and there is no Pleasant listed in any of the records.]
"The generations of the Wattses: Jack Watts came from Louisville, Kentucky. Jack Watts was our great grandfather. [Note. This conflicts with another tradition that states that John Watts came from Hickman Co., Tennessee.] Albert Watts was our grandfather. Our father was Henry Lafayette Watts. Thomas Albert Watts was the fourth generation who lived in Searcy County.
Pleasant Watts was Ben Watts' son. Pleasant said Ben Watts put his family on a flat boat in Tennessee near the Kentucky line, and went to Arkansas on the Cumberland River. This would fit in with the trading posts in Paducca (sic) and Mayfield, Kentucky. He must have lived near the Cumberland River in order to have travelled by river and not by wagon train. The Cumberland River runs near the Kentucky and Tennessee line.
Ben Watts also went on this trip. Ben Watts was my grandfather's [Albert] brother. A brother of Ben Watts went on this trip, and could have been Albert Watts, our grandfather. He came from Tennessee too. This was about the time Bennett(?) Watts came to Arkansas (I) found him in the census records in Tennessee in 1834. 1820 was about right for when they came from Virginia into North Carolina, and on to Tennessee. They were of Scotch and Irish descent. There was a tradition that we were of Scotch and Irish descent."
John Watts' son William Alexander Watts is said by one descendant to have been born in Giles Co., Tennessee. This tallies with his being a son of U. S. Army sergeant William W. Watts, whose daughter Margaret was also in Giles county at the same time. She married Josiah Minter Hillhouse in Giles county. William W. Watts was discharged from the army in 1817 (in either Nashville, Tennessee or Fayette Co., Kentucky). Either he, or his wife and children, resided in Giles county for a period before moving back to Kentucky.
John Watts is said to have been married three time - Jane Hatchett, Rebecca Jencie Smith and, lastly, to Christina Whitmire in 1850. By the time of the 1850 Searcy Co. census he appears to have been widowed with a number of underage children in his household.[1][2]
He was murdered by jayhawkers in 1865.[3] The jayhawkers were originally anti-slavery, but as time went on they descended into simple robbery and murder.
There are the usual online claims that he is descended from the Cherokee Chief John Watts, but there is nothing to back this up.
Sources
↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M67W-KBS : 12 April 2016), John Watts, Wiley Cove, Searcy, Arkansas, United States; citing family 243, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, Searcy, Arkansas, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M87Y-8B8 : 13 December 2017), John Watts, 1860. Teny, 45, lives with him.
↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #35545046
John Watts was an Indian agent in Tennesse. He came to Arkansas during the Trail of Tears. He owned a grist mill on the Little Red River in Searcy County, Arkansas. He was killed by Jay Hawkers during a raid in 1865 when he was 65 years old.
His first wife died in Tennesse. He came to Arkansas in 1830 or 1838 with two of his brothers or sons of his brother, William and Richard. Wiliam's wife's last name was Bratton.
He is supposed to have had two sons, William and John Harvey by his first wife, Asa Watts by his second wife and another son, Francis Marion, by his third wife.
From https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Watts-7344
Family lore says that John Watts moved to Searcy county from Kentucky about 1832.
The following letter was written by Sarah Watts Pruett on July 5th, 1962 to her sister Artie Watts Pfister in Marshall, Searcy County, Arkansas. [I have reformatted it for ease of reading. Some of what she relates is unclear. For instance, I haven't been able to figure out how the Pleasant Watts she mentions fits into the family. I've looked at all of Ben Watts' sons and there is no Pleasant listed in any of the records.]
"The generations of the Wattses: Jack Watts came from Louisville, Kentucky. Jack Watts was our great grandfather. [Note. This conflicts with another tradition that states that John Watts came from Hickman Co., Tennessee.] Albert Watts was our grandfather. Our father was Henry Lafayette Watts. Thomas Albert Watts was the fourth generation who lived in Searcy County.
Pleasant Watts was Ben Watts' son. Pleasant said Ben Watts put his family on a flat boat in Tennessee near the Kentucky line, and went to Arkansas on the Cumberland River. This would fit in with the trading posts in Paducca (sic) and Mayfield, Kentucky. He must have lived near the Cumberland River in order to have travelled by river and not by wagon train. The Cumberland River runs near the Kentucky and Tennessee line.
Ben Watts also went on this trip. Ben Watts was my grandfather's [Albert] brother. A brother of Ben Watts went on this trip, and could have been Albert Watts, our grandfather. He came from Tennessee too. This was about the time Bennett(?) Watts came to Arkansas (I) found him in the census records in Tennessee in 1834. 1820 was about right for when they came from Virginia into North Carolina, and on to Tennessee. They were of Scotch and Irish descent. There was a tradition that we were of Scotch and Irish descent."
John Watts' son William Alexander Watts is said by one descendant to have been born in Giles Co., Tennessee. This tallies with his being a son of U. S. Army sergeant William W. Watts, whose daughter Margaret was also in Giles county at the same time. She married Josiah Minter Hillhouse in Giles county. William W. Watts was discharged from the army in 1817 (in either Nashville, Tennessee or Fayette Co., Kentucky). Either he, or his wife and children, resided in Giles county for a period before moving back to Kentucky.
John Watts is said to have been married three time - Jane Hatchett, Rebecca Jencie Smith and, lastly, to Christina Whitmire in 1850. By the time of the 1850 Searcy Co. census he appears to have been widowed with a number of underage children in his household.[1][2]
He was murdered by jayhawkers in 1865.[3] The jayhawkers were originally anti-slavery, but as time went on they descended into simple robbery and murder.
There are the usual online claims that he is descended from the Cherokee Chief John Watts, but there is nothing to back this up.
Sources
↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M67W-KBS : 12 April 2016), John Watts, Wiley Cove, Searcy, Arkansas, United States; citing family 243, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, Searcy, Arkansas, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M87Y-8B8 : 13 December 2017), John Watts, 1860. Teny, 45, lives with him.
↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #35545046
John Watts was an Indian agent in Tennesse. He came to Arkansas during the Trail of Tears. He owned a grist mill on the Little Red River in Searcy County, Arkansas. He was killed by Jay Hawkers during a raid in 1865 when he was 65 years old.
His first wife died in Tennesse. He came to Arkansas in 1830 or 1838 with two of his brothers or sons of his brother, William and Richard. Wiliam's wife's last name was Bratton.
Events
| Birth | 1799 | Virgina | |||
| Marriage | Abt 1825 | Jencie | |||
| Marriage | Abt 1829 | Wayne County, Tennessee - Jencie | |||
| Death | 4 Feb 1865 | Leslie, Searcy County, Arkansas | |||
| Burial | Watts Cemetery, Leslie, Searcy County, Arkansas |
Families
| Spouse | Jencie (1815 - 1840) |
| Child | Asa Watts (1831 - 1904) |
| Child | Benjamin Garfield Watts (1833 - 1910) |
| Spouse | Christine "Tennie" Whitmire (1805 - 1876) |
| Child | Francis Marion Watts (1850 - 1917) |
| Spouse | Living |
| Child | James Albert Watts (1822 - 1912) |
| Child | William Alexander Watts (1823 - 1892) |
| Child | John Harvey Watts (1824 - 1917) |