Rev. Dr. William B. Watkins, D.D. and Rebecca Mills

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Husband Rev. Dr. William B. Watkins, D.D. ^{1 2}

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           Born: 2 May 1834 - Bridgewater, Columbiana Co, OH 1
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         Father: John Watkins (      -      ) 1
         Mother: Sarah Hunter (      -      ) 1

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       Marriage: 6 Oct 1868 3

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Wife Rebecca Mills ^{2 3}

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         Father: Rev. James Mills (1801-1878) 3 4
         Mother: Delilah Jones (1797-1882) 2

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Children

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1 F Annie Watkins ³

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2 F Lucy Watkins ³

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3 F Ella Watkins ³

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4 F Cora Watkins ³

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General Notes: Husband - Rev. Dr. William B. Watkins, D.D.

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His parents moved to Wheeling, West Virginia, when he was a child, and he received his earliest education there, attending the first public free schools established in that place. He also attended the Lindsley Institute, and afterward became assistant teacher in the high school in Wheeling, devoting much of his leisure time to the study of classics. He afterward served three years as principal of a graded school. In 1854 he began the study of law, but before he finished his course he was elected a member of the Pittsburgh Conference, accepting his first charge in 1856. The first five years of his ministerial life were spent in Ohio. In 1861, he was in Wellsburg, and in 1862 he came to New Brighton, Beaver County, Pennsylvania. He resided in Pennsylvania thereafter, except four years spent in Ohio as presiding elder of Steubenville District. Nine years of his life as a minister were spent in Pittsburgh. In 1884, at the close of a three years' service at the Pittsburgh Smithfield Street Church, he was sent again to Beaver County. He was the author of the McGuffey Spelling Book, and the Alternate. He also assisted in revising Webster's Dictionary. He was a popular speaker, and lectured in many states. He had an extensive work under preparation: The Etymological Dictionary of American Geographical Names. He had visited sixteen different European countries.

1 —, History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and Chicago: A. Warner & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 731.

2 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 143.

3 —, History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and Chicago: A. Warner & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 732.

4 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 143, 338.