William Watson and Mary M. Campbell

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Husband William Watson ^{1 2}

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           Born: 12 Feb 1838 - near Whithorn, Wigtonshire, Scotland 2
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         Father: Alexander Watson (1810-1894) 1 2
         Mother: Elizabeth Arnot (1806-1892) 1 3

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       Marriage: 

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   Other Spouse: Mary A. Sarver (Abt 1842-1874) 4

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Wife Mary M. Campbell ⁵

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           Born: 
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         Father: Joseph Campbell (      -      ) 6
         Mother: 

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Children

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General Notes: Husband - William Watson

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For a number of years he was concerned in the stirring life on the frontier, engaged for a time in mining in the vicinity of Pike's Peak and other points and after he returned to Pennsylvania, served for ten months as an officer in Com­pany D, Sixth Regiment, Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, in defending the city of Wash­ington, during the Civil War. After the close of his military life, Mr. Watson bought a farm in Buffalo Township, Butler County, which he sold in 1876, when he bought an inter­est in the mercantile business of Alexander Campbell & Sons, at Mount Chestnut. In 1878 he became the owner of the whole business, which he conducted under his own name until 1892, when he admitted his son, Edwin A. to partnership.

He had a long and eventful life, many of the details being un­usually interesting. He attended school in Buffalo Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, and remained at home until the spring of 1858, when he went to the Territory of Kansas. For about one year after reaching there he worked on a farm near Lawrence and then secured a contract to cut timber in the Delaware In­dian Reservation. About this time came the discovery of gold at Pike's Peak and the subsequent public uproar and Mr. Watson became affected by the general excite­ment. In partnership with his brother, John A. Watson, he bought three yoke of oxen and a wagon and easily obtained a load of freight and passengers. The party arrived safely on the present site of the city of Denver; at that time the city consisted of but thirteen mud-covered shanties. During this jour­ney, Mr. Watson and his companions be­came accustomed to sights which no pre­vious experience had prepared them for. He was particularly impressed with the vast herds of buffalo and was ten days in passing them on the range, there being hundreds of thousands of the animals.
Mr. Watson remained in the vicinity of Denver all that summer, engaged in pros­pecting for gold, and when the season was well advanced he engaged, for several months, in hauling lumber into Denver. After this work was completed he came down the Platte River and wintered in Missouri. On his journey down he had an experience which he related somewhat as follows: “One night, when about twelve miles up the river from Fort Kearney, the company went to sleep in the wagons as usual but the wind changed so suddenly to the North that they had to quickly rouse and turn the ends of the wagons to the storm to prevent them being upset. In the morning the snow was falling and the wind was howling. They hurried the cat­tle together and started for Fort Kearney, the storm, in the meanwhile, growing worse every minute, and when they finally reached Fort Kearney, with the expecta­tion of receiving assistance, the com­mandant there refused them the shelter of one of the abandoned shanties about the fort, this refusal making it necessary for them to endure the storm for a half mile farther, where they found a ranchman who was willing for the party of sixteen to crowd into a little adobe hut with dimen­sions of 8 to 10 feet. Two of the travelers wrapped themselves in blankets and slept in the wagon, for want of space in the hut, but one of the oxen, which had only the shelter of a hay-stack, was frozen and on the following day a second ox shared its fate. This noted storm occurred Novem­ber 11, 1859, and lasted for two and one-half days.”
Mr. Watson engaged in cutting wood on a farm until the spring came and then went to Brownsville, Nebraska, where he bought a pony and outfit and with it started out alone to the Little Blue River, where he joined others and then proceeded to Russell's Gulch, where he mined in the moun­tains until in the fall of 1861. He then re­turned home on a visit, and shortly after­ward enlisted in Company D, Sixth Regi­ment, Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, and was in the regular service for about ten months, or until the close of the war, being con­nected with the force defending Washing­ton during the greater part of the time. He entered the service as first corporal and was promoted to sergeant. After he returned from the field to the forts, he put in his time studying artillery practice and became so proficient that he was de­tailed as an artillery instructor.
After the close of his military life, Mr. Watson bought a farm in Buffalo Town­ship, Butler County, Pennsylvania, on which he remained for ten years, selling in 1876 and buying an interest in the business of Alexander Campbell & Sons, at Mount Chestnut. Within two years, Mr. Watson acquired the whole bus­iness and he conducted it under his own name until 1892, when he admitted his son, Edwin A., to partnership and the firm name was changed to William Watson & Son. In addition to general merchandise, the firm handled farm machinery, fertiliz­ers and feed. In 1897, they established a store in the northwestern part of Franklin Township, at Isle, of which Edwin A. Watson had charge. William Watson gave the name to that village and station, in memory of a little town that stood within two miles of his birthplace in Scotland. On No­vember 1, 1908, William Watson sold his Mt. Chestnut store and property, defec­tive hearing having induced his retirement from business. He was a Republican in political sentiment, but he was never a seeker for political honors but had frequent appointments in that line. He served many years as a school director and to his judgment, in the early days, may be attributed the excellence of the schools of his district, for he was always a practical man. For many years he served on leading committees in the po­litical councils of his party and was a delegate to Congressional and Senatorial conventions. [TCHBC, 968]

1 Editor, History of Butler County, Pennsylvania (R. C. Brown & Co. Publishers, 1895), Pg 866.

2 James A. McKee, 20th Century History of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and Representative Citizens (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1909), Pg 968, 1184.

3 James A. McKee, 20th Century History of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and Representative Citizens (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1909), Pg 968.

4 James A. McKee, 20th Century History of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and Representative Citizens (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1909), Pg 1184.

5 James A. McKee, 20th Century History of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and Representative Citizens (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1909), Pg 1185.

6 James A. McKee, 20th Century History of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and Representative Citizens (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1909), Pg 970.