Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-01-10

Che Is the son of Elizabeth Ward
Gaines. widow OF Bernard Gaincs) and
Obedience Turpin. his wife, were: Au-
sustus Harris. one OF twin brothers.
died OF wounds received in battle in
1868; John Barritcr Harris, born April
IS' 1903. hurried Julia Graves, who
built the present Norwood House. on
James River. In Powhatan County.
va Caroline Matilda Harris. married
Or. David McCann. of Lynchburg. Va.
, g. Was your grandfather. William
watts. married more than once?
a. My grandfather was married three
times As his wives died he shod the
morse all around, he said. and would
have married the fourth time.
q. What was his first wifc's name?
y. don't know her first name.
q. Was it Miss Howard?
+ y. Yes
@. Were there any children of that
marriage?
~. Yes. the Watts in Virginia. their
grandfather was one Of them
u. your grandfather, William Watts,
was married three times and his first
VIE WAS Miss Howard?
~ Yes. and she had two children
y. Of this marriage there were two
children?
a. Yes.
q. Do you know their names?
~ James Watts and Fannie Watts
My Srandfathcrs second wife was Lucy.
WIDOW. There were five children OF
this second marriage, three girls and
Two sons My father was the youngest
OF these two sons OF the second mar
riagc. The other children OF this sec
ond marriage were: Martha Watts, who
married Colonel John White: Lucy who
married Colonel Dan Allen. of Cum
berland County: Elizabeth who mar
ried Mr.. Winston Dcrritt. The other
children Of this marriage were: the
youngest child was my father. Will
liam Watts.
My grandfather's third wife was a
widow, Mrs. Ellis: there were no chill
dren Of this marriage.
The above mentioned James Watts,
son OF my srandfather's first marriage,
married Elizabeth Derritt. sister of
winston Derritt, who married Eliza
neth Watts, above mentioned OF this
marriage l remember three children
Richard. Pauline and another son,
whose name l cannot recall Richard
was the father of Colonel James watts
and Tom Watts, of Lynchburg, Va.
do not know who Pauline married.
The above mentioned Fannie, dauEh-
ter OF the marriage Of my grandfather
with Miss Howard. married. l think, a
man by the name of White.
q. Where was your grandfather VIII
liam Watts. born. II you know?
a. L think he was born right there
near where he lived in Madison Coun
W Va, near Orange. I knew President
Madison and attended his funeral. i
was a particular friend of a niece of
MIS-. Madison. and we visited there I
have raced around through the old
Madison mansion many time
@ How far was that from where Won
lived?
a. Just three miles. The BARRIERS
lived right there. too, Judge Barber and
al lhf
Virginia at one time and minister to
France remember when he was sent
TO France, saw his daughter when she
came back with a French maid-she
couldn't talk anything but French
when she came back
q. How old were you when YOU left
Virginia.
A. I was just twenty. I was twentv
in May and we left in September.
q. That was in 1897?
a. Yes
Q. Do you know what has become
OF the old home place?
A. Well. we sold IT TO a minister.
Baptist minister. by the name of Schipp,
and they went there to live. / don't
Know who is there now. Your father
went there once and wrote me a letter
from there and just stopped, said he
couldn't write any more, and lust
signed his name and sent 1t to me-he
couldn't stand II, got nervous over It,
g. How near was the Watts place
TO the Walker place?
a. We were about four miles apart
Q. The places did not join then, there
was something i'm between?
\. Yes, there was farms between.
-: what was your grandfather's
business, was he farmer?
y. Yes. he gave that farm to my
father. All of his children were born
there, and all of my mothers were born
in the same house. He died there and
left the farm to my father, and as soon
as he died my step grandmother went
away and gave the farm up to my faith.
er.
Q. That was the widow?
y. Yes, she went away and died
when Brother William was about ff-
teen years old. She had him at Sidney
College when she died. She took him
and raised him from the time he was
seventeen or eighteen months old.
Q. What was the principal crop on
the place, tobacco?
n. Tobacco and corn and wheat The
fall we left there we left the most
beautiful orchard I ever laid nv ewes
on and the finest fruit and elegant
wheat. On the lowlands on the river
have seen the most elegant tobacco
have ever seen In my life. and the
water would come up and lay IL all
down-the river would rise and lay II
all down. 1t was Il beautiful farm Of
46o acres. or 455. My father had the
first icehouse within 100 miles Of him.
and people would come fifty miles to
get ice for sick people. We had the
first icehouse within 100 miles?
Q. How did you come from Virginia
TO Missouri?
a. We came in our private carriage
TO Guyandotte on the Ohio River, not
far from Wheeling. When we got to
Guyandotte we had four horses and
the carriage. the driver, your father.
YOUR grandfather and me, four of us.
Father brought the horses along,
thought. of course. If anything hap
pened to one of them they could hitch
up one of the others but one of them
got sick and couldn't work at all and
he got one from some one we came
on then, sent the wagons and driver
through to st. Louis. and we came on
the boat; put the carriage on the boat.
and came down the Ohio and UP the
mississippi
Q. The negroes drove through with
the wagons2
A. Yes. When we got here Brother
William met us, and spent the winter