Regarding John Francis Old Chief Watts The First to Kill Onitostah etc etc …. ., his alleged wife Anne Wind Clan McPherson and her family, please note the following:
Anne (Martin) Hubbard Watts McPherson, the remarried widow of Edward Watts, left a 1742 will in Stafford County Virginia listing among other children “my son Francis Watts.” (source: Stafford County Virginia Will Book M, pp. 314-315)
Even with the loss of many Stafford area records, a number of references to this Francis Watts have survived. He is listed in quit rent rolls and tobacco grower lists, he inherited land, held lifetime leases, gave lifetime leases, witnessed deeds and legal documents, voted, and then, towards the end of his life, bought land in both Augusta County, Virginia, and then Craven County, South Carolina. He was born around 1690 and passed away by May of 1754, when an inventory of his estate was filed in Craven (source: Original inventory in the State of South Carolina Archives, copy recorded in Fauquier County Virginia Will Book One, p. 160)
Francis Watts’ will was written in Craven in 1753 and proven in Fauquier in 1770. ( source: Ibid).
It names his wife Anne Watts, a son Thomas Watts, and a grandson Francis Watts. The will makes a further provision for his slaves to be equally divided amongst all of his grandchildren.
A separate division of property listing these grandchildren was also filed in Fauquier in 1772. Francis Watts’s grandchildren, apparently in order of birth, were John Watts, Thomas Watts, Sarah Watts who married William Hansbrough, Francis Watts, Margaret Watts, Bennett Watts, Mason Watts, and Mary.Watts. (source: Fauquier County Virginia Will Book One, p. 194)
In none of these and other references, over multiple decades and throughout two states, was Francis Watts ever referred to as John Francis Watts. There is also never any reference that I have seen where he is reported to be an Indian Chief, or involved in any type of murder, etc. Under Virginia law at the time, had he been a mixed race Native American or identified as an Indian, let alone an “Old Chief,” he would not have been allowed to own slaves in Stafford County. Or serve as a witness to legal documents. Or make a lease.
I appreciate the potentially delicate issues that often arise regarding Native American ancestry. However, very respectfully, this John Francis Old Chief Watts, the first who killed etc. etc. etc. did not exist.
Francis Watts, the son of Edward Watts and Anne (Martin) Hubbard Watts McPherson, did exist and was a well-documented individual. He was born ca. 1690 almost certainly in Stafford County and not in Caroline County. He was not named John Francis Watts.
This Francis Watts was not an Indian Chief, and despite unsourced claims to the contrary, there’s really no proof or solid indication he had any native American ancestry at all.
In addition, a 1691 Virginia statute declared that “any white man or woman being free who shall intermarry with (a) …. Mulatto, or Indian man or woman… shall within three months after such marriage be banished and removed from this dominion forever…” (source: Hening’s Statutes at Large, v 3, p. 87)
Therefore, Francis’s wife Anne was also neither Native American nor mixed race. In fact, as noted Anne McPherson was the name of Francis Watt’s mother, not the name of his wife. His wife’s maiden name is currently unknown but would almost certainly not be “Wind Clan McPherson.”
It seems likely that this surplus NA plumage for Francis and Anne was added in an attempt to connect the Trader John Watts family with the northern neck Watts clan. But these are two different families.
Finally, as proven by his will, his estate settlement, and other documents, Francis Watts did have a son, Thomas Watts, and eight grandchildren as named above. This is not the Thomas Watts of Lynches Creek, South Carolina who married Tabitha. That family has been excellently researched by the preeminent genealogist Elizabeth Shown Mills. Thomas s/o Francis did not marry Tabitha, and the children of the different Thomas Watts of Lynches Creek by Tabitha are currently incorrectly attached to Thomas s/o Francis.
