Submitted by Ann Brown, anebec@aol.com
Some Interesting Facts about Jefferson County, Mississippi was written by
W. H. Watkins ... and it relates the story told by his father, John
A. Watkins
Colonel John A. Watkins, son of Asa and Sarah
McDonald Watkins, was born December 3, 1808 in Jefferson County,
Mississippi Territory. He was the grandson on his mother's side of
Willis McDonald, of General Marion's Brigade. The early boyhood days
of Colonel Watkins were passed amid the troublesome and exciting
scenes incident to the great Creek War of 1813 - 1814, of which he
retained a vivid recollection to his dying day.
His early
education was received in the "old field schools' of Jefferson
county. At the age of seventeen he was sent by his father to St.
Joseph's Academy, Bardstown, Kentucky, to complete his education. At
some time in 1825, while on a trip to Rodney from Vicksburg - the
Mississippi being the name of the steam boat on which he traveled -
he met the Natchez bearing General Lafayette, then on his way from
New Orleans to St. Louis. The two boats tied together in midstream
so as to enable the passengers of the Mississippi to see the guest
of the Nation. General Lafayette stood on the boiler deck of the
Natchez and bowed to his applauding admirers, among whom was young
Watkins. After attaining his majority, Mr. Watkins moved into the
town of Rodney, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and soon
became one of the most prominent men of the community.
A man
of culture and wife information, he attracted to himself the
foremost men of this time, and entertained at his house such men as
Henry Clay, General Zachary Taylor, Governor McNutt, Governor
Poindexter, General Leslie Combes, Judge F. J. Lee, of Virginia,
Thomas Corwin, and Dr. Drabke, the well-known scientist. With these
men he was on terms of intimate familiarity.
He also
corresponded with On. R. C. Winthrop of Massachusetts, B. W. Leigh,
William J. Duane, Jackson's Secretary of Treasury, and with Mrs.
Torrance, wife of the Chief Justice of Canada, who was a lady of the
highest literary culture. During the course of a long life, he never
ceased to be a correspondent of several newspapers in various parts
of the United States.
While living in Rodney, Colonel
Watkins came much in contact with the Choctaw Indians of that
vicinity, and thus acquired a taste for ethnological pursuits, the
results of which were embodied in a series of articles from his pen
and published in the American Antiquarian.
On May 8, 1832,
Colonel Watkins married Miss Caroline Elizabeth Campbell, a daughter
of William and Sarah Smith Campbell. She died in New Orleans,
November 9, 1867. In 1848, Col. Watkins removed to New Orleans where
he held a prominent social and official position, serving for many
years as councilman and as State and City assessor.
In 1852
he refused a nomination for Congress in a Whig district, when he
could have been elected without opposition, giving as a reason that
he was to poor to accept an office. Who in these days would have
made that excuse for declining a political nomination?
During the inter-state war, Col. Watkins was an ardent supporter of
the South, and while the Federal troops were in possession of New
Orleans, he spent his time and money freely in alleviating the
sufferings of the Confederate Prisoners.
He continued in
active business life until 1883, when advancing years compelled him
to retire. From this time until the day of his death, he enjoyed a
vigorous old age, with a mind unimpaired and a physical frame that
seemed to defy the assaults of time, a vitality no doubt inherited
from his hardy Highland ancestors. He could read the finest print
without glasses. The Bible and Shakespeare were the favorite
literary recreations of his old age. Almost to the the day of his
death he enjoyed the society of his friends and carried on more or
less correspondence.
He died on the 27th day of August 1898,
lacking three months and six days of completing his ninetieth year.
Colonel Watkins left one child surviving him, Mrs. Sarah C. Divine
of New Orleans.
This obituary was written by H. S. Halbert
This is the last of this series of the Panic of 1813 and the
life of Colonel Watkins. I hope that you enjoyed it.