The Watts On-line
Issue No. 88
September 1, 2001

To subscribe, just send an e-mail to ROOTS-L-request@rootsweb.com with the message

subscribe

To later unsubscribe, just send to that same address the message

unsubscribe

Thanks to all of you who have made the Watts Newsletter a success over the years.  If you are a Descendant of Edward Watts of Virginia I would hope you stay in touch with me.  Good luck to you all!  I hope to have the all the back issues uploaded at the web site by the end of the year.

Lori

CONTENTS:

1. James Watts and his Descnedants
2. Susan Watts and Carver Thomas
3. Cynthia Putnam Watts
4. James W. Watts
5. Civil War Soldiers From Jefferson County, Pennsylvania
6. James Watts, Silversmith of Philadelphia
7. Watts Query
8. Frances Watts of Orange County, VA
9. Issue #20 Correction – Henry Miller Watts
10. CHEROKEE WATTS

James Watts and Descendents

Line can be found at http://members.aol.com/seanbarry/Watts.html

 From:  Daniel Watts

 in addition here's some basic data that we are still updating that will be updated by the end of summer.

It's been a debate among the pro's including my older cousin Jean Deal, and Randy Watts who runs the Fort Freeland Hist. Society in PA for a while ever since I mentioned WALES as a source of country to them a while ago.They think Ireland or thru Ireland and from Scotland originally.

This is the debate also among the pro's out east where you are at. I only have the data for our relative Sgt.James Watts(c:1730's-1789) & Francis Watts(sim.) & possible sibling Gen Frederick Watts, but Francis only shows up for a few years in 1760 with land then no more. They all owned land very close to one another. Also the Murray's, and McKee's , and a few others are always mentioned on documents, wills as notary signings, and also owned lands to the perimeters of all the Watts' in Perry Co.,PA.  My cousin (Jean Deal)just sent me the land records showing maps from the 1700's showing their property outlines. I can Xerox /forward it to you if you need.

Any other data you may have to link them together would be appreciated. So far only Gen. Frederick Watts' signature is being shown as a testimony for having known my relative James Watts & signed his pension papers for his widow along with her sons. That's about as close as we can get to saying they are related---so far no other document says Uncle, brother, nephew, etc., for any of them.

We don't have any Bible records for that far back either(1730's). If you don't either maybe you could put out this letter to other WATTS clan members or ancestors websites and see what they have. Together eventually all the pieces fit together.
______________________________________________________________
JAMES WATTS,Sr.-lived Warrior Run (Cumberland Co.,PA later Northumberland Co., PA--now called Canton Twp., Bradford Co.,PA)1769 - 1772.B:30 July,1733 [per DAR library--however not verified any other source]Married: about 1754 to Ann(e) Walker.Sibling Frederick Watts wrote letter on behalf of Ann Watts pension for James Watts Sr.who Died in Wyoming Massacre July, 28, 1778 @ Fort Freeland [Fields Of Honor: The Battle of Fort Freeland,by Roger G. Schwartz] Buried: Canton Township, Spaulding Cemetary (his old homestead) w/ descendants & their families (3-4 gen). Brig. Gen.Frederick WATTS- of PA Militia.Francis Watts, Rye twnship, PA 1769, greenwood twnshp in 1782-85.James WATTS,Jr.- Cumberland Co.,PA militia, 1781, 3rd class.James Watts M: Ann WALKER,Francis Watts M: Jane (Jean) MEANS, John Watts M:Mary (Polly) COWELL, John B. Watts M: Catherine ROGERS,David Roine Watts M: Nancy Delilah WILLIAMS, John FrANCIS watts M: Minnie Permielia WILKINS, Willie Francis (swede) Watts m: Wanda Colene (Colene) ROSS, Willard Eugene Watts m: Andree Marie Joseph BROUSSEAU, Daniel Dominique WATTS m: Ann Marie CALISTRO
_____________________________________________________________________
Children of Sgt. James WATTS & Anne WALKER
B: July 30, 1733   Moved to Turbot Township, Northumberland Co.,PA, where he was tomahawked and put to death by John  Montour a Seneca Indian under command of British forces Capt. MacDonald, at Fort Freeland on dawn of July 28, 1779 (2 days shy of being 45 yrs old).

Children:
1. Francis Watts (Pvt., 4th Reg't Dragoons (horsemen) commanded by Col. Stephen Moylan, Continental line & 2nd Lt. in Battalion of Co. Arthur Buchanan, Cumberland Co., PA militia 1777. In 1783, as a Ranger in Continental army. He served 7 yrs.
B: 1754-55 Northumberland Co., PA
M: 1782 +/- ?   Jane Means, Northumberland Co., PA
D: 1808 on a trip outside the state (maybe Ohio?, or NY(Lancaster Co., according to DAR patriot lists)

2. James Watts. Served as a Ranger in Continental Militia and Pvt. In 3rd PA Reg't. In Rev. War.
His wife was awarded a pension. Had several children, some of whom moved to Indiana.
B: 1757 +/- Northumberland Co., PA
M: fall 1786, Sophia Bruner B: 1768 D: 1848 in Northumberland Co., PA
D:     
       
3. Frederick Watts. He was a Ranger but apparently didn't serve in the continental army.
Witnessed will of Benjamin Walker ( Anne Walker's brother in 1782)
B: 1759 +/-
M:
D:

4. John Watts
B: before 1761
M: before 13 Feb. 1782 -when mentioned on Thomas Adams Sr. Will.
Spouse: Elizabeth Adams (sibling of Thomas Adams- dau. Of  Thomas Adams Sr.)
D: before Mar. 1, 1802  His wife married John Hisler in Adams Co., Ohio, 3 Aug. 1802.

5. Margery Watts
B: 1763 +/-
M:  1783+/-
Spouse: Thomas Adams
D: before 1791 - During child birth?
Children: Catherine, James, Thomas, Ann (named after 4 grandparents)

6. Rebecca  Watts   
B: 1765 +/-
M: 1788+/-
Spouse: Thomas Adams
D: She was still living in 1791. Died: soon before 24 Nov. 1791. She was listed as Dec'd on 24 Nov. 1791 Orphans Court paper made in Sunbury, Northumberland Co., PA for her children.

Children: She raised her sister's children: Catherine, James, Thomas, Ann.....How did she die?
____________________________________________________________________
corrections:

From a photograph (the original) from Janet WATTS Segur daughter of #234 Perry Van Fleet Watts "NOT" Perry V. Watts--------I should know best since I met the man in 1980!
In writing by Perry Van Fleet Watts on the back of the photo is Written:
From left:  Corey Amos Watts ["NOT" Cory or Carey Watts as you indicate-----also note that his middle name is AMOS] daughters: MARCELETE & VIVA .........[NOT Meelette & Biva or Vivie or Viba as you indicate] and wife CLARA [you are correct here] and his father Robert A. Watts [you are correct here] and brother of Corey Amos Watts listed as C.F.(Charles Freeman) Watts for your issue #135 shown on page 5 of 9 in part 3 of 8.

Please give me credit for these corrections and also make note of original photograph in my possession taken by a person named (per his stamp on back) V.H. Close - AMATEUR , Canton, PA. It's very old and yet in great shape. It's probably taken 1900 - 1901 just after Corey Amos Watts' father Robert A. Watts moved in with them and years before he passed away since little VIVA looks to be only about 2- 3  years old in the photograph.

P.S. The name of one of the books I have by Edward Coolbaugh Hoagland is Titled "162 Allied Families" on the outside edging. Inside the cover page is transcribed as follows exactly:

TWIGS FROM FAMILY TREES
or
162 Early American and Foreign Lineages
of the First Settlers in This Country
And Their Descendants
Who Were Pioneers in
Northern Pennsylvania and Central New York;

Together With

Royal Lineages, Revolutionary Journals,
Incidents and Anecdotes of the Old Timers, and
A Register of the Marriages and Deaths of the Pioneers.

Carefully Compiled from Authentic Sources
By
EDWARD COOLBAUGH HOAGLAND
Author of "Coolbaughs In America"
Member of The New England Historic Genealogical Society
Fellow of the Institute of American Genealogy

published by the Author
Wysox, Pa.
1940

Edward published this book from his home---I know because he told me. He didn't have very many copies made either--I think he said less than 100 copies made. He did say the library in Towanda had a copy. His home was in Wysox on a 3 corner street intersection. I haven't a clue how "Sean Barry"  received a copy of its pages unless Jean gave Xerox's of the Xerox's I sent to her. She doesn't own an original copy of it. I do. I also have his other book mentioned on the Coolbaugh family. He had descended from them and was proud of his Coolbaugh name and family history AND HIS LIFE's work on it!  -----he did alot of the work !

Here's a letter I sent to him---please don't take it as being meant towards you in any way. It's directed at him.

This might be sketchy and bounce around a little bit but here goes.........

I'm happy you have our family history all down. Jean and myself had planned for over 15 yrs now to place this final work someday on the computer network for all to see.

I think it's great you have dedicated this site to our family but nowhere do I see credit for your sources given ... and I mean in the genealogy field ... ALL sources of where the information was found...who found it and then ... the original source given. That's genealogy done the way Mr. Edward Coolbaugh Hoagland did it & please pay homage to his work also...God rest his soul. A good man.

Both /Myself "Daniel Dominique WATTS " & my cousin "JEAN DEAL" worked "extremely" HARD to research and GET, RETRIEVE, AND FIND this data..........not to mention the traveling...COSTs involved to copy, buy, and copy photographs and have negatives of old ancestors, mail letters to possible family, inquiry of "professional searchers"---very expensive, "get paid" assistance from the gov't for their archives, pension papers, retrieve #'s of gov't documents, and I don't know how many thousands of hours spent at the DAR, Chicago's Gov't Pension Office, Salt Lake Cities Mormon Archives, Washington D.C.'s Library of Congress----getting special permission to EVEN SEE the originals was tough enough!!!
You might also consider trying to place some of the stories I'll place below onto your website. It will help to fill in the detail which makes our family so interesting to study anyway. The stories were told to me personally by both my grandfather Willie "Francis" (Swede) Watts and also Veola "Ollie" Watts. I have lots of other stories as well and most have been written down in OUR histories which I've prepared many years ago. The cemetery information about the gravestones I think should be included just because it is so fascinating as a link that in my mind did prove beyond a doubt that we really were from the Canton, PA families--since they did the same practices on their graves.

I started in 75'.....I have also the ORIGINAL BOOKS that you reference including the ones called "TWIGS" from Edward Coolbaugh Hoagland.

I met him at his humble home in July 1980 & purchased the fragments he had from his work of 60 years in Towanda's Newspaper industry & as a postman. HE DESERVES all the credit. His VAST archival data ... all numbered and catalogued like the Library of congress does, however very difficult for almost everyone to decipher except probably myself since I saw the whole home including all of his kitchen cubbards FILLED with them has all his life's work. I also purchased two books he'd written. His work upon his death he told me would become a part of the archives at Towanda's collection in their township building. I haven't verified that they did receive it upon his death but Jean Deal says they do have it but don't know what to do with all of it. It's easily about 2 semi-trucks full of data. He typed on any old papers he could find -- even the backsides of junk mail he'd receive. It wasn't uncommon for him to do. He did have several other family books he'd printed in the 40's and 1950s and even the early 60's but I didn't have very much money on me to buy them. I bought what I could with what I had. I regret not ever buying more from him. I'm sure the local library there would have them though. He was an interesting man who wore a red plastic billed hat that I believe Jean Deal told me was a hat that people who work at old newspaper companies--typesetting and ink people -- used to wear in the old days -- but that might be the wrong profession--it's been way too long ago since she told me.

Please also give me credit (which retrieved most of the data from John B. Watts back to James Watts linkage) and also the offshoot families that JEAN DEAL found----give her credit also. I am responsible for most if not all the data from the ROGERS family research and data. We do also have alot of original [photos} and other data. I was the person who found Catherine's fathers stone overturned in the Fiedler Cemetery in 1978. I was shocked that it was him. At Fiedler Cemetery, the Gravestone was in somewhat bad shape but with my father and uncle Bob WATTS, and Uncle Donald Wood (wife Nancy Watts) , we pulled it upright and placed a small concrete base under it. I made a concrete headstone for John B. Watts & Catherine (ROGERS) Watts gravesite which had only been marked by 2 pink peony bushes since my great grandmother Nancy (WILLIAMS) Watts [their daughter-in-law] planted them in the early 1920s. No other gravemarkers were placed there. We all knew who was buried there, however. The peonies fortunately are still there. The concrete stone I made is  still there after my father helped at my insistence to make/erect it in summer 1980 after my trip to Canton, PA. I found seashells broken covering the grave after I dug down to place the headstone on John B. Watts' grave. The shells were a symbol the WATTS family used in PA also however the real meaning is lost, Jean Deal & myself feel that it was used to symbolize going back to their roots /ancestors...to tie them all together as a family. My family since John B. (possibly Benjamin) Watts' death has since not used this practice of seashells being placed upon the grave to cover the entire shape of the casket below the ground. I did place some of the shells into the base that we made on the site so they would be there for all to see for eternity. I'm very proud of my work on it and Stephen Wilkins' fathers stone being propped up also--& my father Willard E. Watts for his help in doing it also. Since then ... last summer, my father along with his brother "Bob" (Ronald) Watts rebuilt the Headstone base for Stephen Wilkins father "Ezekial Wilkins" by placing concrete very deeply. My father said they dug until "he" hit something very hard (assuming it was the wood casket) then quit digging & poured several bags work of mix into the hole. They then made a deep "notched" recess in the top of the poured concrete to put the tombstone into built a temporary wooden enclosure to help hold the stone in place.

It had been forgotten about & lost for along time & no-one including my grandfather who mowed & took care of the Fiedler cemetery from 1950s until his untimely death in the mid 70's knew of its existence.

Willie "Francis" (nicknamed Swede by his friends & called Francis by our family ) Watts (HE HATED THE NAME "WILLIE" AND NEVER USED IT EVEN ON HIS GOV'T PAPERS AND MILITARY PAPERS. His wife, Wanda "Colene" Watts also hated her name Wanda and never used it. She put Colene on all her Gov't & other records. The only place it ever shows up is on her birth, marriage, death record.

Willie "Francis (Swede) Watts had been named after Willie Williams, his fathers relatives in Southwest City, MO. Grandfather (Francis) didn't hate the Williams but rather cared greatly about his relatives the Williams and saw them often. However he  disliked the name "Willie". Strangely enough my father "Willard" has had several of his friends thru the years at John Deere Co. in Ottumwa just before he retired in the late 1980s call him "Will" & mom's family always called him "Willie". He actually prefers this nickname. Funny isn't it! The Williams family is still close with our family & I've seen Frank & Ralph Williams as recent as late 1980s at a family reunion in Ottumwa - they visited my dad's home & their old families homesteads with us in our car. They saw the cabin Jim Williams built & the old Williams homestead that is still on the road just before Fiedler Cemetery as you drive from south Ottumwa through country gravel roads that our family has traveled since early 1900 to get there.  The Williams family married into our family 2 times with grandkids marrying grandkids. Maybe that's why the Watts blood is so pure on our side. It also is pure in the PA & NY families. In 1980 on my trip out east to see Canton, Towanda, Church on the Green, in Morristown , NJ where David WATT is buried & Schenectedy,NY to visit Charles Watts, his neighbor (architect like me) thought I was Charles son home from college for the week. I was told I resembled him and Charles showed me a photo. I didn't think I looked that similar however ..a close resemblance.

My father Willard E. Watts is now the Watts clan head & keeper of the Cemetery upon his father Francis' death when his father asked just before he died that my father do this every year as he had to keep up the graves & make the whole cemetery look nice/ mowed. I even remember as a boy helping Francis my grandfather to mow the cemetery several times. Sometimes it even rained on us after we started. So now the county mows it regularly as they do all the other county/rural cemeteries----however my father still does his part to make sure it's mowed and does sometimes mow it and do things like I mentioned earlier.
It will pass onto me for the task. He also has the responsibility to care for Mars Hill church which my grandfather also cared for----where James Buchanan's wife (our ancestor) is buried. Her ancestors helped to build it. It is the oldest log cabin church west of the Mississippi. We've replaced the glass windows many times -- the original mid 1800s glass gone for along time....sometime in the mid 70's if I remember correctly. Very sad.

We still have the old WATTS family bibles  and her families' bible is there. It's now under lock and key (the church that is). Someone a few years ago as a group of kids tried to burn a ring of fire into the floor as a seance taking place inside it. Fortunately not too much damage was done and the fire was put out.

Hope to hear a good response from you with appropriate "authorities " & credit given. You may take all the credit however for inputting the data into the computer & creating a web page. That's indeed alot of work also. But not as hard as the countless hours spent reviewing microfilms in the mid 70's and early 80's that I did before any "indexes" were made and also the hundreds of hours digging thru "old" newspapers in Bloomfield, IA & Ottumwa from early 1900 - 1904 to make sure I had everything on our family. I spent several weekends with those dusty pages in the top of an old barn a block north of the main town square in Bloomfield sorting thru them with the owner and it was very hot. My sweat poured onto the old pages even though I tried to make sure it didn't. I felt bad that it did & tried my best to preserve their integrity being fragile at best. I'm thankful to all the countless people who've directed /guided me to information & spend time with me (county officials) showing me the Wapello County books and the "legal" paper cases so I could peruse the original data,copy, & even get official Xerox's of it also.

Catherine ROGERS Watts & John B. Watts had a legal case against their son Andrew Jackson Watts for how he "lacked" to care for them after they sold their home & belongings to help pay for their care at their son's expense since they lived there for a short time before dying. Catherine died in Andrews home. John B. said in the court papers that he felt Andrew had killed her in her sleep by suffocating her. He was very angry & bitter. It caused a riff in the Watts family still lost today.

((more recently 5/01- I've contacted thru email a descendant of his to catch up with and to share data)).

Andrews family was outcast from the rest of his siblings families. I heard the story from my aunt "Ollie" Veola WATTS Galey before she passed away that she was taken by John B. Watts as a very small child to visit Fiedler cemetery for lunch one day when they still lived on the Watts farm by Millers chapel just south of Ottumwa, IA & north of the Fiedler Cemetery 4 or 5 miles. She wasn't even 4 yrs old if I remember correctly. She said John B. had stayed with them (John Francis) Watts homestead for about a year or more because he'd had an old accident on his side and leg that was almost paralyzed from the civil war when he'd had a wagon he was driving overturn on him. I think it was a cannon cart being pulled at the time of the accident, if I remember correctly, during a battle. It's all documented, I think, anyway. Anyway,--he slept out on the back enclosed porch in a small bed and aunt "Ollie" had remembered him taking "LAUDANUM"---pronounced to me by aunt Ollie as "LOCKNUM", a very potent pain killer in those days, for a more recent accident that he'd had on a visit to downtown Ottumwa on main street where it intersects Market St. There a streetcar on the old brick streets had hit him and caused him further ailments. He was seeing the doctor at the time if I remember the story correctly----it was only a few weeks prior to his death. They went together, aunt Ollie and him, to the cemetery to have lunch and sit upon the tombstones (as people did out east, I'm told, until the mid 1940s when it wasn't popular to do anymore).
He'd brought along some string and stakes to mark out just "where" he wanted to be buried. They were there in the early morning. Catherine's grave was already present. He marked it out with string and then they had lunch. After lunch they went home. Aunt Ollie didn't know why he'd placed the string on stakes into the ground at the time but she just said she enjoyed the time spent with him since she felt she rarely was able to spend so much time alone with him. (He must really have been in alot of pain) She said later that night he took an overdose of the "LAUDANUM" she felt purposely to end his painful life. Maybe so but maybe not. No-one will ever know. He was very old at the time and he was in tremendous pain but maybe he felt it was time for him to die as some people do instinctually know & knew he would die during the night anyway.

My grandmother Colene (ROSS)Watts told my father this same thing before she died & also her mom "Estalena" Delca May Ross (BEST) Cohagen told Colene Watts 3 weeks before she died that something was terribly wrong with her she knew, and that she would soon die. She asked Colene to stay with her at her home, so Grandmother (Colene) had her stay with her. I always referred to Grandma "Estalena" as grandma "ROSS"even though she had technically been remarried to grandpa Cohagen for yrs. He'd passed away when I was a small child. He died on Ward Street in their home their at the time. The little home is still there. It's next to my uncle John Vernon Watts' home. They'd purposely moved there from their earlier home a block south of 521 Lee Avenue where Grandma Colene Watts lived and a few blocks east. Ironically Grandma Ross moved back closer to their older home after his death where she died.

My father purchased her home & both neighbor homes in early 1980's due to their landlord trying to raise their rent and never taking care of their homes roofs or siding repairs ever. I helped dad remove an old black walnut tree from my Grandma Ross' back yard and reroofed her home soon after dad purchased them away from the slum lord. Dad promised her and the neighbors they could live in their homes until they passed on and only charged a ridiculously low $75/month rent from them. They had paid over $200/month. Dad still owns the homes and several others in Ottumwa that had similar results. He's always cared for them and kept them maintained as well. He owns over 5 that I'm aware of. He's raised the rent since then to $200/month +/- but still remains the "lowest" rental properties in the county-----an honor the Ottumwa Courier paper gave him in an article they anonymously did on him in the mid 80's.

<<Your References:
Clement Ferdinand Heverly, Pioneer and Patriot Families of Bradford County, PA. (Towanda, PA: Bradford Star Print, 1913), Vol. I 1700-1800, p. 287; Military Pension Certificate No. 4152, Watt, James, widows pension record W 3367 Watt, Sophia, National Archives, Washington, DC, Robert McKee declared on 7 Dec. 1838 that James Watt's father was killed near the the taking of Freeland Fort, Turbut Twp. Northumberland Co., PA; DAR Application 17042, Eloise Keeler Clark, 5 Oct 1896, notes dates of birth, death for James Watts, seen at the Library of the Daughters of the American Revolution, copy in possession of the writer.>>>>>

I've seen Heverly's papers and also the original sources. Jean and Myself are very aware that Heverly wrote WATT instead of WATTS on his work. The original sources say WATTS. We also have the original papers from Fort Freeland and the story of the battle/ killings made there by the indians on their raids from Canada's Indian nations. I wouldn't mind your putting this data on your site also but ----you MUST absolutely mention your sources. Jean Deal found the data on Fort Freeland's history & battles including the data on James Watts who died there, the story, & deserves credit for finding it. She has been an invaluable resource in our family writing our history & we've worked closely together since 1975 on it. She worked before that in the early 60's but quit before 74. I asked her to help assist me again in 1980 after I found 3  generations before John B. Watts.

Our family in New York State--Charles Watts of Schenectady, NY & his brother, have data from his ancestors work in the 30's and 40's. I also have (original) photos of their ancestors Perry Van Fleet Watts (whom I met in his old age at his daughters home in Canton, PA & interviewed just shortly a year or so before he passed away----his daughter said for along time after our visit that he spoke of how happy it had made him to meet his families descendant that went away to Iowa that he'd last only seen as a small child.

Perry Van Fleet Watts was blind, 90%, when I saw him--he could only see strong light from darkness. {{Our family in Iowa has also has blindness problems in old age. John B. Watts had bad site in his old age. John Francis Watts was blinked partially by a fire cracker accident in the late 40's & gradually went blind near his last years also aided by a cane to walk. G.G.Aunt Veola "Ollie" Galey had cataracts in her eyes very badly & wore thick glasses to see. Her husband, Uncle Charlie, only wore reading glasses. My great aunts Margaret & Isabelle whom I've named my daughter Isabella Margaret Rose Watts after had cataracts & wore glasses. Aunt "Maggy" (Margaret) had cataract surgery to remove them. My father wears reading glasses & I had a small stigmatism in my left eye that was finally corrected in my final year of undergraduate college in 1983. I only had to wear the corrective glasses for one year. I'd never been diagnosed at the eye doctors before with an eye problem & always had trouble studying -- my eyes would grow tired & soon find myself falling asleep after reading an hour or so. In college w/ even bad lighting it really became an issue.}}

Perry V.F. Watts felt my face which brought on a huge smile from him. We spoke for several hours & I asked him to tell me stories of our family. After his death, his daughter (Janet) WATTS Segur of Canton, PA, whom I wrote to often, sent me the original photos she had of her families ancestors since she's the last in her families line: Charles F. Watts, Cora Amos Watts, Charles A. Watts, daughter Marcelate, Viva, wife Clara, and his  (Charles A. Watts')father Robert Watts-----(brother of John B. Watts), & here to date the only photo of a brother of John B. we have. I'm eternally grateful to her.

It was the oldest generation photo I had until a few years ago when Jean found a woman out west in Oregon I believe that had descended form the Rogers family when they came to Iowa---a sister of Catherine ROGERS Watts who gave her copies of All of the ROGERS family including the girls and the spouses that weren't at war. John B. & his brother-in-law were not present in their spouses individual photos. Catherine's father evidently had some money having paid for individual photos around the civil war--& not small ones either. We have nice copies made fortunately. It was interesting to receive from her a photo of John B. Watts with Catherine when they were much older. The only photo of John B. Watts we have. He even looks like he's in pain. They had boards hidden behind their heads that they were strapped to as common in those days I'm told to keep their heads straight during the long photo process according to Jean Deal, my 3rd cousin.  

hope you can place some of this data on the site. The detail is interesting and may help other researchers with their families also. Jean has Great family medical history which I think should also be included on your site right along w/ their vital statistics. It's interesting to see eye color, hair color, blood type, cause of death, etc., all together--adds lots of details that one can see how were passed down from the past.

From:  DWATTS77@aol.com

********************************************
Susan Watts and Carver Thomas
From:    dewey@cac.net (dewey thomas)

I wonder if any of your Watts researchers have information about the above couple. They were married 1807 in Albemarle Co. Susan (Susannah) was the daughter of Sarah Bush and David Watts; Carver Thomas was the son of David Thomas and Anne Rhodes. I am seeking birthdates and death dates for each of them and would like to know if they had children and, if so, how many and their names. Thanks for your help. Pam Thomas

********************************************
Cynthia Putnam Watts

From:  WRick73000@aol.com

Hi Lori: I'm a long time Watts researcher and contacted you long ago (BC) Before Computers. I am descended from Young Tassel's brother Garrett Watts. I would like help on this problem: Refusing to comply with Andrew Jackson's mandate to move out on the Trail of Tear or face extinction, many Wattses escaped to what was known as "the wilderness": Mississippi/Louisiana. Cynthia Putnam Watts with three sons, escaped to Livingston Parish c.1840. Her husband's name has never been found (at lest in my research) on any record. Her three sons living in Livingston Parish, Louisiana were: George Washington, Commodore Perry and Francis Marion. Their descendants still live there.  Neither they, nor anyone with whom I've corresponded, know who Cynthia's husband was. My gr-grandfather, Willis E. Watts, tutored his children at Commodore Perry's death. If anyone knows of Cynthia's husband's name, I'd greatly appreciate a message at wrick73000@aol.com.  Thank you very much and best of luck with your most beneficial Wattsonline.
Frederick "Rick" Watts, Dallas, Texas

********************************************

James W. Watts
From:  DWATTS77@aol.com

1936 Walter Freeman and James W. Watts help promote lobotomy in the USA.

 ********************************************
Civil War Soldiers From Jefferson County, Pennsylvania

2nd Regiment U.S. Sharpshooters, Company C

From:  DWATTS77@aol.com

This list is extracted from:  Caldwell's Atlas Jefferson County, PA 1878 Published by J.A. Caldwell Condit, Ohio 1878.  All the information on these pages is from Caldwell's Atlas except where noted (*).

This page was created by Brenda Uplinger.

The following, from Jefferson County, were members of "Berdan's Sharpshooters." They were mustered into the United States service October 5th, 1861.

Second Lieutenant
Ira I. Northup Sergeant
Franklin Rumbarger Corporals
Isaac Lyle
John McMurray Privates
G. W. Boals
J.B. Bronson
E. H. Chilson
R. M. Chilson
John Callon
John Carey
Geo. W. Dunkle
J. S. Geer
S. J. Howard
W. E. Jacox
L. C. Jacox
M.E. Kroh
Samuel Lattimore
James Law
Samuel Lewis
Thomas Long
W. D. Lytle
William McCullough
I. G. Miller
J. Prindle
Jno. W. Pearsall
L. W. Scott
B. W. Scott
W. C. Thompson
James Watts
S. F. Williams

********************************************

James Watts, Silversmith of Philadelphia

From:  DWATTS77@aol.com

The following came from Silver Magazine found at  http://www.silvermag.com/SILVER.HTM#398

 Dear Connie:
I suspect you will be inundated with responses to Mr. Clancey's query because many collectors are familiar with the mark of James Watts, a prolific Philadelphia manufacturer (1, 2). Mark “B” is probably that of James Watts if we assume the drawn head of mark “B” is a horse head. My collection has examples of the following incuse retailers' marks along with the maker's mark of James Watts: Bixler & Fox; G. Gordon; Patterson; J. Fries; Watts & Butler; McN & S.
In reference to “KELLEY”, I do have an example by a “J.C. KELLEY”, although there are several other contemporaneous KELLEY retailers.
I also have an example of mark “A” if it is a horse head over a shield with a star in the center. My example was retailed by a “J.C. DOLON”. I do not know who the manufacturer was, but suspect Don Soeffing can shed considerable light on this.
All the best.
Sincerely yours,
Richard C. Weiss
Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania

(1) “James Watts, Silversmith of Philadelphia” by V. Stephen Vaughan: Silver Magazine, Volume XXI, Number III, May-June 1988
(2) “Comments on the James Watts Article” by D. Albert Soeffing: Silver Magazine, Volume XXI, Number V, September-October 1988

 ********************************************

Watts Query
From:  Wmiller717@aol.com

I am interested in receiving the Watt's newsletter I am researching my ggrandmothers side (Arzella Watts) She is the daughter of John Watts and Harriette Maggard they were from Hindman, Knott Co. Kentucky. I have very little information on this side and I am hoping that the newsletter will aid in my search.
                                          Thank You
                                          Wesley Miller                  

********************************************

Frances Watts of Orange Co., VA

Posted to the Randolph County, Missouri Roots Web site by  mkbowlin@iland.net (MKathy Bowlin ) and James Bagby    Jbagby4893@aol.com

23 Sep 1904--Walter H. Bagby and Miss Catharine Rhodes, of Orange County, VA, were
married at the home of the former, about 6 miles northwest of town, Wednesday, Sept 21,
1904, Rev. H. P. Bond, of Clifton Hill, officiating.  Mr. Bagby is one of Randolph's most
substantial and prosperous young farmers, while the bride is a most charming young lady,
who has won many warm friends during her short stay here.  The NEWS joins other
friends in extending good wishes.

From:    Jbagby4893@aol.com

My Grand Father/Mother Walter Horsley Bagby- b-Sep.19-1866. d.Aug-02-1940 Note:The 21st was Sat.not Wed.  23-1904 was Wed.
   S/O Oweh Henry & Mariah Jane Yager, Bagby
Katherine Gertrude Rhoades. b.Jan.31-1876. Madison CO. VA. d.Apr.30-1955.
    D/O Richard Benjamin Rhoades & Mary Gertrude Kube
  Both W.H. & wife were buried in Bagby Cemetery first, then removed to Huntsville Cemetery.
                             Children of.
Maurice Rhoades Bagby. b.Nov 9-1905-d. Aug.6-1866 Woodlawn, Indep. MO.
Bernice. Bagby               b. Oct17-1908. Alive in 2001.
Owen Richard         "       b.May12-1910 d. July 19-1975. buried at sea
(Pacific)
Henry Earl              "       b. Sept27-1911 d. Feb24-1996, St Mary's,
Moberly, MO
Mary Katherine        "      b.May26-1916   alive in 2001

Katherine Traveled from Rhoadesville, Orange, CO. VA.  To the Worlds Fair held in
St Louis, MO. Then came to Randolph CO. to meet Relatives (should have been in  news paper)
Unknown to some Bagby researchers: Mariah Yagers Mother, Frances Watts,  also was the Great Grandmother of Katherine Rhoades. From Frances Watts first marriage.                  

Issue #20-----corrections (Henry Miller Watts)

From:  DWATTS77@aol.com

          Henry Miller Watts was a lawyer and diplomat.  born at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, henry was the son of David and Julia Anna (Miller) Watts.  He is a descendant of Frederick and Jane Murray Watts, who emigrated to Pennsylvania about 1760.  Henry received his education at Dickinson College graduation in 1824.  He studied law under Andrew Carothers, and was admitted to the bar in 1827.  Practicing in Pittsburgh, Watts was appointed deputy attorney-general of the state of Pennsylvania in 1828.  he was elected to the state legislature in 1835 as a delegate from Allegheny County, and served three terms until 1838.  President Harrison appointed Watts U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Pennsylvania in 1841.  Watts traveled widely in Europe in 1857, and in 1868 was appointed U.S. minister to Austria, a post which he held for only a year.  During the later part of life.  Watts participated in the development of his home state's iron and coal resources.  In 1838 he married Anna Marie Shoenberger.   

The Watts Family, Heritage Press, Inc.  Washington D. C., 1975. pa. 77-78.  
 
Please note for all future references..........This was originally shown in "Twigs" books series published by Edward Coolbaugh Hoagland of Wysox, PA from 1938-1945 time period in 4 volumes and a few looseleaf bound volumes of which I own several of them.  I feel it's a disgrace for the Heritage Press, Inc.  Washington D. C., 1975. pa. 77-78.
to take full credit for his work...... please do Edward a favor and give him the credit for his lifes work on your site...Thanks
Daniel Watts

********************************************

CHEROKEE WATTS
From:    dlaffert@netdoor.com (Diane Lafferty)

Hi Lori

Is this something of interest. 
Diane

Hi, Diane,

Surely, please send it over to the WATTS list and see what anyone might know.

Did the file come through okay to you?  In it it mentions VA, NC, AL, Arkansas and Texas.  
Some of what is in the file is information from the FTM webpages of James HICKS and some of that is as follows.  
Looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Bellinda Myrick - Barnett
BandB4951@aol.com

**********

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/i/c/James-R-Hicks/BOOK-0001/0025-0006.html

25. SISTER OF4 DOUBLEHEAD (GREAT3 EAGLE, MOYTOY2, AMATOYA1) (Source: C002.)
was born Abt. 1736.
She married JOHN WATTS, SR. He was born Abt. 1730 in Bowling Green, Carolyn Co, VA, and died Abt. 1771

More About SISTEROF DOUBLEHEAD:
Blood: Full Blood Cherokee
Clan: Ani'-Wâ'di = Red Paint (Wurteh)

Notes for JOHN WATTS, SR:
John Watts
Little Tassel
Old Forked Tongue
************************
Old Frontiers, John P Brown, pg 353;
...a white trader who served Captain Demere as interpreter during the building of Ft Loudoun. His wife
 was the sister of chief's Old Tassel, Doublehead, and Pumpkin Boy.

More About JOHN WATTS, SR:
Blood: Non-Cherokee

Children of SISTER OF DOUBLEHEAD and JOHN WATTS are:
48. i.      WURTEH5 WATTS, b. Abt. 1750, Tasagi Town.
49. ii.     JOHN WATTS, JR, b. Abt. 1752, Willstown, AL; d. 1808, Willstown, AL.
50. iii.        UNACATA WATTS, b. Abt. 1754.
51. iv.     UNKNOWN WATTS, b. Abt. 1756.

John Watts of Will's Town (near Fort Payne, Alabama), became the new Chickamauaga leader of the united war effort. Cherokee resistance continued - led a big campaign against settlements in Nashville
 (Buchanan Station 1793) and in upper east Tennessee led the combined Cherokee-Creek attack at Cavett's
Station in 1793 in which there were no white survivors.
*********
>
48. WURTEH5 WATTS (SISTEROF4 DOUBLEHEAD, GREAT3 EAGLE, MOYTOY2, AMATOYA1)
 (Source: Benge, Robert, Cronology of.) was born Abt. 1750 in Tasagi Town.
She married (1) JOHN "TRADER" BENGE (Source: Benge, Robert, Cronology of.) Abt. 1761.
He was born Abt. 1735 in Albemarle Co, VA, and died Abt. 1800 in Georgia.
She married (2) NATHANIAL GIST Abt. 1778, son of CHRISTOPHER GIST, CAP. He was born Abt. 1730.

More About WURTEH WATTS:
Blood: Full Blood Cherokee
Clan: Ani'-Wâ'di = Red Paint (Wurteh)

More About JOHN "TRADER" BENGE:
Blood: Scottish
Emigration: Abt. 1777, TN
Occupation: Indian Trader
Residence: Aft. 1777, Running Water Town, TN
 (His first wife was Elizabeth LEWIS.)

Notes for NATHANIAL GIST:
"Myths of the Cherokee", James Mooney, Dover Publications, Inc, NY, p 108;

...by a KY family it is claimed... Sequoya's father was Nathaniel Gist, son of the scout who accompanied  [George] Washington on his memorable excursion to the Ohio. As the story goes, Nathaniel Gist was captured by the Cherokee ar Braddock's defeat (1755) and remained a prisoner with them for six years, during which time he became the father of Sequoyah. On his return to civilization he married a white woman in VA, by whom he had other children, and afterward removed to KY, where Sequoyah, then a Baptist preacher, frequently visited them and was always recognized by the family as his son.
**********************************
Old Frontiers, by John P Brown, 1938, Southern Publishers, Kingsport, TN, pg 158;

Nathanial Gist first appeared among the Cherokees as a messenger of Governor Dinwiddie in 1755.
Following the French and Indian War he formed a trading partnership with Richard Pearis and lived in the
Cherokee country for several years. During that time, he took as his Indian wife, Wurteh, sister of Chief Old Tassel, and became the father of Sequoyah.

More About NATHANIAL GIST:
Blood: Non-Cherokee

Children of WURTEH WATTS and JOHN BENGE are: 

113.    i.      ROBERT6 BENGE, b. Abt. 1766, probably in the village of Toquo [TN];                                            d. April 09, 1794, Stone Gap, VA.
          ii.     UTANA BENGE (Source: Benge, Robert, Cronology of.), b. Abt. 1768;  d. 1838, VA.

More About UTANA BENGE: Blood: 1/2 Cherokee Clan: Ani'-Wâ'di = Red Paint (Wurteh) Residence: 1794,   Willstown, AL

114.    iii.        _____ BENGE, b. Abt. 1769.
   iv.     TASHLISKE BENGE (Source: Benge, Robert, Cronology of.), b. Abt. 1770.

    More About TASHLISKE BENGE: Blood: 1/2 Cherokee Clan: Ani'-Wâ'di = Red Paint (Wurteh)

115.    v.      LUCY BENGE, b. Abt. 1772; d. October 10, 1846.
116.    vi.     RICHARD C BENGE, SR, b. Abt. 1774.

Child of WURTEH WATTS and NATHANIAL GIST is:
117.    vii.        GEORGE6 GUESS I, b. Abt. 1778, near Tuskeegee, Monroe Co,  TN; d. August 1843,
  near the village of San Fernando, Mexico.
************
49. JOHN5 WATTS, JR (SISTEROF4 DOUBLEHEAD, GREAT3 EAGLE, MOYTOY2, AMATOYA1)
 (Source: W001.)
was born Abt. 1752 in Willstown, AL, and died 1808 in Willstown, AL. \
He married (1) WURTAGUA (Source: P001.), daughter of ATTAKULLAKULLA and OLLIE. She was born Abt. 1760.
He married (2) _____ MAW, daughter of HANGING MAW and BETSY. She was born Abt. 1765.

Notes for JOHN WATTS, JR:
John Watts, Jr
Young Tassel
Kunoskeskie

More About WURTAGUA:
Blood: 3/4 Cherokee

More About _____ MAW:
Blood: 3/4 Cherokee

Children are listed above under (21) _____ Maw.

50. UNACATA5 WATTS (SISTEROF4 DOUBLEHEAD, GREAT3 EAGLE, MOYTOY2, AMATOYA1)
 (Source: W001.)
was born Abt. 1754.

Child of UNACATA WATTS is:
   i.      SALLY6 WATTS (Source: E250, 44.), b. Abt. 1771; m. _____ BENGE; b. Abt. 1766.


51. UNKNOWN5 WATTS (SISTEROF4 DOUBLEHEAD, GREAT3 EAGLE, MOYTOY2, AMATOYA1)
was born Abt. 1756.
She married UNKNOWN NATCHEZ. He was born Abt. 1750.
 
Notes for UNKNOWN NATCHEZ:
Could this be the Leckickee that commanded a company in the 1814 Creek War?

Child of UNKNOWN WATTS and UNKNOWN NATCHEZ is:
118.    i.      NANCY6, b. Abt. 1790; d. 1843.
**********

John Watts of Will's Town (near Fort Payne, Alabama), became the new Chickamauaga leader of the united war effort. Cherokee resistance continued - led a big campaign against settlements in Nashville
 (Buchanan Station 1793) and in upper east Tennessee led the combined Cherokee-Creek attack at Cavett's
Station in 1793 in which there were no white survivors.
*********
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/i/c/James-R-Hicks/BOOK-0001/0025-0006.html

21. _____4 MAW (BETSY3, NANCY2 MOYTOY, AMATOYA1) was born Abt. 1765. She
>married JOHN WATTS, JR
 (Source: W001.), son of JOHN WATTS and SISTEROF DOUBLEHEAD.
He was born Abt. 1752 in Willstown, AL, and died 1808 in Willstown, AL.

More About _____ MAW:
Blood: 3/4 Cherokee

Notes for JOHN WATTS, JR:
John Watts, Jr
Young Tassel
Kunoskeskie

Children of _____ MAW and JOHN WATTS are:
46. i.      THOMAS5 WATTS, b. Abt. 1780.
    ii.     PEACH WATTS, b. Abt. 1782.
    iii.        TANNY WATTS, b. Abt. 1784.
   iv.     WATT WATTS, b. Abt. 1786.
   v.      RAVIN WATTS, b. Abt. 1788.
   vi.     CHARLES WATTS, b. Abt. 1790.
vii.        JINNIE WATTS, b. Abt. 1792.
  viii.       BETTIE WATTS, b. Abt. 1794; m. JOSEPH BLACKBIRD; b. Abt. 1791.

************
46. THOMAS5 WATTS (_____4 MAW, BETSY3, NANCY2 MOYTOY, AMATOYA1) was born
Abt. 1780.
He married NELLIE ?. She was born Abt. 1786, and died Bet. 1852 - 1860.

Children of THOMAS WATTS and NELLIE ?are:
112.    i.      POLLY6 WATTS, b. 1815, CNE; d. Aft. 1906.
    ii.     DO-YOU-NE WATTS, b. Abt. 1817; d. Abt. 1844.
    iii.        LINDA WATTS, b. Abt. 1819; d. Abt. 1864.

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/i/c/James-R-Hicks/BOOK-0001/0025-0006.html

Date unknown, circa 1777: John Benge, Wurteh, and their family moved with Dragging Canoe to the south near the southern border of Tennessee [from Evans, 1976].

Date unknown, after 1777: Robert Benge lived at Running Water Town in Tennessee next to the  northwestern border of Georgia

-----Original Message-----
From: BandB4951@aol.com <BandB4951@aol.com>
To: dlaffert@netdoor.com <dlaffert@netdoor.com>

Hi,
This info is regarding the Chief DOUBLEHEAD who is in the file of information that I sent.  Chief DOUBLEHEAD was an uncle of Robert "Bob" BENGE.

Bellinda

Slaves Purchased and Sold in Madison County   http://oldhuntsville.com/doublehead.htm

Old Huntsville Magazine

Chief Doublehead, the Cherokee Cannibal
>
For longer than anyone could remember, the Tennessee Valley had been the ancestral hunting grounds of the Cherokee, Chickasaw and Creek nations.  This was a land where Indians could live peacefully without fear of encroachment from the whites.

By the late 1700s, however, times began to change as white settlers from Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia began moving onto the Indian lands.

The great Indian nations, decimated by war and fragmented by internal strife, could no longer offer resistance. Only one man stood in the way of this movement.

Part cannibal, part savage and part statesman, Chief Doublehead would leave his bloody mark on the pages of the Tennessee Valley's history.

Doublehead was born into the Cherokee aristocracy in the Cumberland foothills of Tennessee. His father had been a ferocious warrior, well-known for his bravery and his brother, Tassel, was a principal chief and statesman. His oldest sister, Wurteh, married a white man, Nathan Gist, and produced a son who was destined to become the greatest of all Cherokees, Sequoyah. Another sister married a white soldier and their son, John Watts, became the Chief of Chiefs among the Cherokee Nation.

The Indian nations were a scene of much turmoil during Doublehead's youth. Part of the tribes wanted to fight the white men who were taking their lands, while others, guided by their heads rather than their hearts, charted a course of peaceful cooperation.

To say that Doublehead was a rebellious youth would be an understatement.  Even as a child, barely out of puberty, Doublehead began leading raiding parties against white settlers. Although too young to fight, the youths would  lie in wait until the settlers were away from home, then sneak in, burn their cabins and run off the livestock.

Soon tiring of this, Doublehead began to look for other ways to harass the settlers. The isolated settlements depended on traveling peddlers for necessities such as salt, gunpowder and cloth. Realizing this,  Doublehead fanned his group of teenage warriors out across the wilderness trails where they laid in ambush. Within a short while no peddler dared to enter the territory unless provided with a large armed escort. The few brave souls who did go alone met with a premature, and often gruesome death.

Doublehead purposely cultivated his image as a bloodthirsty savage. Though the taking of scalps was not common among the Cherokees, he quickly made it his trademark. Even more grisly was his habit of cannibalizing his enemies' bodies. After a successful raid he would cut a piece of flesh from one of
his victims, and often with blood running down his chin, eat it as a sign of the conquered's impotence. Afterwards, he would demand that his warriors, as a symbolic blood oath, do the same.

Years later, when in Philadelphia meeting with President George Washington, an inquisitive reporter asked Doublehead's opinion of the white race.  Without even giving the matter a moment's thought, the chief replied: "Too salty."

In order to keep his warriors loyal to him, Doublehead knew he had to do more than merely lead them on raiding parties. He made the acquaintance of several white traders who quickly met an untimely death. Soon he was selling their goods to stores in the white settlements. Doublehead made enough money to
supply his band with guns, powder and other items not normally available to the Indians.

Despite Doublehead's growing popularity among the tribes, his days of running wild throughout the Cumberlands were numbered. The whites were putting increasing pressure on the Indians as a result of the raids and even many of his own tribesmen were beginning to turn against him.

Realizing this, Doublehead gathered his band, a motley mix of Cherokees, Chickasaws and Creeks and moved to the sanctuary of the Tennessee Valley.  They settled on a site several miles south of the present day Athens, Alabama, which in a few years became a thriving village.

The land was supposed to be shared as a hunting ground by the Cherokees and Chickasaws, with none of them actually living on it. Doublehead quickly solved this problem by giving two of his sisters to George Colbert, the chief of the Chickasaw Nation.

Though Doublehead continued to be a nuisance, leading occasional raiding parties against the Tennessee settlements, it was the murder of his brother, Tassel, that ignited the fires of open hostility.

Tassel, head chief of the Cherokees, had been invited to meet with Major John Hubbert under a flag of truce. After a series of talks, the unarmed chief was escorted to a smoke house where he was to spend the night. That night, with Hubbert guarding the door, a youth armed with a tomahawk, entered the building and killed the chief as he lay sleeping. To the whites this was only justice, as the youth had recently lost his parents to a Cherokee war party.

A murderous rage descended upon the Tennessee Valley when Doublehead learned of his brother's death. His name soon became synonymous with terror as his band fanned out for hundreds of miles in every direction dealing death and destruction to any settlements in their paths.

Knowing the importance of symbolism among his Indian warriors, he used the death of Captain William Overall to enhance his already gruesome reputation.  Overall had distinguished himself as a particularly brave fighter before finally falling under Doublehead's tomahawk.

Doublehead carried the captain's body back to his village, where in full view of everyone he dismembered the body and began eating the choicest parts, inviting his tribesmen to join him.

"The white man is no more than a dog, or a pig of the woods," he reputedly said, "and should be treated the same way."

Perhaps the most unforgivable atrocity, and the one that turned many of the Cherokees against him, happened in 1793. Doublehead's brother, Pumpkin Boy, had been killed in a recent raid against the whites and he was still bitter about it when he entered a village and saw a small white child mounted on a horse behind his nephew, John Watts. Watts had captured the child while assaulting a white settlement, and as was Cherokee custom, had taken the child to raise as his own.

With a wild scream of uncontrollable rage, Doublehead charged, burying his tomahawk deeply in the body of the small child. Afterwards for the rest of his life he was known as "Kill Baby" to many of the Indians who were shocked by the ghastly incident.

Suddenly and with no apparent reason, in 1794 Doublehead abruptly quit the warpath. Almost immediately he began displaying a new found wealth. Indian couriers were sent to Nashville on a regular basis to purchase furniture and other items for his house. He became a collector of fine race horses, once sending all the way to Charleston, South Carolina to purchase one that had captured his fancy. He even began to dress the part of a wealthy man.

The source of his wealth became an item of speculation for people who knew him. Especially intriguing was the fact that much of his wealth seemed to be in the form of bars of silver bullion. At first it was supposed that this was treasure he had stolen during his days on the warpath, but as time went on people realized there had to be another answer.

Before long everyone in his tribe was wondering about the source of the bullion. According to legend, Doublehead once asked two of his warriors to accompany him on a trip. After walking for days he finally led them to a cave where a great quantity of silver was stored. The men loaded as much as they could carry in backpacks before returning to the village, where Doublehead warned the Indians against ever revealing his secret, under pain of death.

Quite naturally, as Doublehead had expected, later that night one of the Indians revealed to his wife what he had seen. Doublehead, who was lurking outside the cabin listening, immediately burst into the cabin and killed the hapless Indian.

No one in Doublehead's tribe ever again spoke of the mysterious silver bullion.

Though secure in his new found wealth, Doublehead still took his life in his hands when he traveled outside of the Indian lands. For the people whose relatives had been murdered by Doublehead, there could be no forgiveness.

In 1794, a leading group of Cherokees had been invited to Philadelphia to meet with the president, and  Doublehead, aware of the political ramifications of such a visit, appointed himself as the spokesman. With his tall,  foreboding looks and dressed in an elaborate costume, he was the center of attention. People nudged and poked one another to catch a glimpse of the man reputed to be the most bloodthirsty savage in America.

Doublehead undoubtedly capitalized on his reputation, for when he left, Secretary of War Henry Knox awarded him an annual annuity of $5,000. Knox probably realized this was cheaper than having  Doublehead return to the warpath.

This also placed Doublehead under the protection of the United States Government, much to the ire of the whites who had lost their homes and relatives to his murderous band.

Doublehead quickly settled into his new life-style. He made frequent trips to New Orleans, Pensacola, Charleston and even visited New York once, where he was described as "the classic example of the noble savage." Strangely enough, Doublehead, who once feasted on his enemies' bodies, even visited some of
the finer restaurants and attended a play while in New York.

Unfortunately, although Doublehead had become wealthy and was prospering, the Cherokee nation was not. Every year with every treaty the Indian lands became smaller. John Hunt had already settled near the Big Spring in northern Alabama and more settlers were pouring in every day.

In January of 1806, Doublehead and the other chiefs of the Cherokee nation signed a treaty giving up all the land lying between the Tennessee and Duck rivers. Unbeknownst to the other chiefs, Doublehead had negotiated a secret agreement with the Indian agent where he received a large tract of land, numbering in the tens of thousands of acres, in exchange for signing the treaty.

If Doublehead was hoping his duplicity in the treaty would go undiscovered he was sadly mistaken. Several months later, while attending an Indian ball game at Hiwassee, in the Indian Nation, he was accosted by a fellow chief named Bone Polisher, who loudly denounced him and called him a traitor to his people.

As matters reached the boiling point, Bone Polisher drew his tomahawk and rushed Doublehead, swinging wildly at his head. Doublehead, despite having received numerous wounds managed to shoot his assailant through the heart.

Onlookers carried the wounded chief to McIntosh's Tavern where they sought assistance. Instead of help, however, they were confronted by another group of angry accusers who also called Doublehead a traitor. Someone in the tavern (it's never been established who) extinguished the light. Instantly, as soon as the tavern went dark, a shot rang out. When finally the light was relit.  Doublehead was lying on the floor mortally wounded.

Friends hastily carried the chief across the field to the home of the schoolmaster where they attempted to hide him. Unfortunately, his blood trail was easy to follow and within minutes another group of avengers appeared to finish the task.

Doublehead, the scourge of the Tennessee Valley, was dead.  Doublehead's death signaled the end of the Cherokees in North Alabama.  Though they would remain here for another thirty years, they would never again be a powerful force.

Almost immediately after Doublehead's death, people began searching for the source of his wealth. In 1840 two prominent men of the Shoals area, Levi Cassity and James Thompson found a cave that they believed to be the source of Doublehead's treasure trove. In the cave they found tools and crucibles used for melting silver. Many of the tools still had traces of silver on them.

But there was no mine or any ore. The closest thing resembling a treasure were a few old Spanish coins retrieved from the cave floor.

Were the coins part of Doublehead's treasure? Many people think so. When Hernando de Soto visited North Alabama during his explorations he was alleged to have hidden a large amount of silver coins somewhere in present day Jackson County. Could Doublehead have stumbled across the treasure and transported part of it to a cave closer to where he lived? If so, it would explain the tools and crucibles, as many people who would readily accept bullion would not take two hundred year old Spanish coins.

We will never know, for as Doublehead once said, "When I die, my secrets are forever buried.

(For those of you interested in the Cherokee Watts line, Paula McGee is putting out a Cherokee Watts Newsletter and she has an active discussion group going.  You can contact her at pmcgee@socal.rr.com)

********************************************
Watts’ On-Line:  Compiled from E-mail and other sources
Distributed by Lori Watts Linnell    Lorlin@aol.com