FORWARD This website is
comprised of selected material from my Watson family genealogy book
that
was compiled over a period of years with the help of dozens of
relatives (many previously unknown) from coast to coast. Again, I
want to thank
each of them for their input. The site is a works in progress and
is subject to additions and modification as time goes on. Any
applicable input will be appreciated. Please contact
me with any suggested additions,
questions
or comments. Bruce R. Watson
* * * * * *
Lester M. Watson and Grace (South) Watson were born and lived their entire lives in Greene County, in the Southwestern corner of Pennsylvania. The first Watson’s arrived in Greene County, from Ireland, in the early 1800's. The first South’s came from England by way of New England and New Jersey, in the late 1700's, soon after the Revolutionary War. Other ancestors, including the Donley’s, Rinehart’s, Lemley’s, Gwynne’s, Ingram’s, Everly’s, Bare’s and others are listed among the earliest settlers of the region, many arriving soon after the westward migration reached the area starting in about 1765. Until the mid 1700's extreme southwestern Pennsylvania (then claimed by both Pennsylvania and Virginia) was a quiet, peaceful territory inhabited only by Indians and an occasional French or English fur trapper or trader. According to Indian tradition it was a neutral, common hunting ground for members of all tribes that had participated in a long and bloody Indian war many years before. Their treaty dictated that no permanent Indian villages would be erected in the region. The first settlers found abandoned village sites but only transient Indians who were at first friendly and helpful but became more hostile as time went on, mainly due to mistreatment by a few unscrupulous whites. Within a few years many massacres were occurring. Prominent among these was the Sunday morning massacre at Gerards Fort of Reverend John Corbley’s family while walking from their home to the Goshen Baptist Church where Reverend Corbley preached. Because of these frequent problems most whites were living in close proximity to scattered forts to gain protection from the Indians. For added protection volunteers formed militia companies. Among these were Captain James Archer's Company at Fort Jackson (Waynesburg) and Captain William Crawford's Company in the Carmichaels area. Several Watson ancestors served with each of these units. The various militia units in existence at the time of the Revolutionary War formed an important part of the American Revolutionary Army. At least eight of the grandfathers (3 and 4 Greats) identified by this study are included in the roster of Revolutionary War veterans buried in Greene County. Later, GG Grandfather Joseph Watson served during the War of 1812 and is included in the relatively small group of veterans of that war buried in Greene County. The valley of Dunkard Creek, embracing the present townships of Dunkard, Monongahela and Perry, was the first part of the territory occupied. Among the first permanent white settlers were Augustine Dilliner and his wife who, in about 1755, left the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and traveled to what they then considered to be Northwestern Virginia, forded the Monongahela River near where Point Marion is now located and erected a cabin on the western bank of the river, where they made their home. The town of Dilliner is now located about one mile from the site of that original cabin. Another early settler was John Minor, from Loudoun County, Virginia who settled on Big Whitely Creek as early as 1764 where he built a cabin and later, water driven grist and lumber mills. The local area became known as Minor’s Mill, and later Mapletown. Once the mills were in operation he built a boat building yard on Whitely Creek that was a source of equipment for various expeditions down the rivers to the west, including the George Rogers Clark Expedition. Also, he has the dubious distinction of being the first person to introduce slavery into the region. In about 1765, white settlers started arriving in substantial numbers. Most of the early settlers, including our ancestors, were of Scotch-Irish, English or German descent. Most came from population centers in Southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland or Southern Virginia, where they had lived for a period of time after arriving in America at the ports of Philadelphia or Baltimore. Nearly all came by way of Cumberland, Maryland that was then a frontier military post. They made their way across the mountains to Fort Redstone, where Brownsville is now located, a staging point from which they selected home sites. This migration into the territory had been delayed by Braddock's defeat in 1755, and the French and Indian War that followed. When peace was restored in the area a veritable stampede began. Land was sold, sight unseen, to any and all who wanted it. Land went for less than a shilling per acre and land parcels up to four hundred acres or more were readily available. It was not uncommon for a rifle, an overcoat, or some other item of nominal value to be traded for a parcel of property. The journey of the pioneers to their new home was made by horseback or by oxen, and sometimes cattle were driven ahead by youths or by slaves. Others walked, packing as much on their backs as they could carry. Usually they came in groups bound by some mutual connections. Family groups related or inter-married, groups held together by religious affiliation, nationality or neighborhood ties would come together and usually settled close to each other. The area was then the frontier, and living conditions on the frontier were difficult, but little worse than the settlers had found further east where they came from. They had to build and live in log cabins with limited space and no conveniences. Since the average family of the day included eight to fourteen children the space limitations created interesting problems, but there was little time for loneliness. All family members who could contribute spent long hours in the fields, after spending many longer ones clearing fields to plant. Farms of the period were known as “plantations” and most items needed by the family were raised or made on the place, and there was a ready market for any surplus items. Almost everyone farmed for a living and many men, in addition to farming, had some trade by which he could raise the few pounds or dollars needed to supply their wants at the trading post. Early industry in the region included tanneries, saw mills, flour mills, rifle and gun manufacturing, woolen mills, boat building, and cooperage’s to make barrels for the more than seventy still houses that quickly sprang up. And coal was mined, first at Jefferson, which started a primary industry that set the course of history for the area. At that time what is now Southwestern Pennsylvania was claimed by both Pennsylvania and Virginia and until about 1770 great partisan feeling existed between the two states as to who was the rightful owner of that land. To try to settle this controversy many prominent citizens prepared and signed a petition to the Continental Congress asking that the disputed territory be made a separate state called "Westsylvania." Records show Watson ancestors on both sides of this dispute. The petition was never acted upon and the long dispute was finally ended by Virginia withdrawing from north of the Mason Dixon line after the Mason & Dixon Survey of 1763-67. The area then became part of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. On March 28, 1781 the Pennsylvania Legislature separated that portion west of the Monongahela River and named it Washington County, after the most popular person in the country at that time, General George WASHINGTON. On February 9, 1796, a portion of Washington County was separated and named Greene County after one of George Washington’s favorite soldiers, General Nathaniel GREENE. The county seat, Waynesburg, was named after General “Mad” Anthony WAYNE. John MINOR, mentioned above, was a Colonel in the Virginia Militia, commissioned by Patrick HENRY, then Governor of Virginia. As such he was one of the ranking military officers in the area during the Revolutionary War. After the war, when the area became part of Pennsylvania, he was elected to the Pennsylvania Legislature where he led the fight for formation of a new county. As a result he is often called “The Father of Greene County”. Colonel MINOR owned considerable land in the “Minor’s Mill” area. On 23 March 1787 he purchased a tract of land called “Blackbird” from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for three pounds, nine shillings and three pence. After changing ownership a couple of times over the intervening years, in 1902 a portion of that tract was purchased by my Grandfather, Joseph Christian WATSON, to become the “Watson Farm” near Mapletown and Greensboro. As happened with virtually all locations during the settlement of the United States, the initial growth in southwestern Pennsylvania continued for about one generation (30 years) and by the mid 1790's, when Greene County was formed, there were as many people leaving as there were arriving. Most of those leaving, many from the same families that had settled the region, either traveled south into Virginia (now West Virginia) or Kentucky via the rivers, or west by river or overland trail to Steubenville, where a land office was located, then on into Ohio, or farther west. This same general pattern of migration, settling in a given location for about one generation, then family members, or entire families, moving on to a new location was to continue until the entire United States was settled. Through this process WATSON relatives, like thousands of other families, became scattered coast to coast. |