Joseph Watts

• Seen as son of John Watson, Jr. & his wife Mahala Watson
• No evidence to support as son of Chief John "Young Tassel" Watts
• He was not called "Ches-too-lee". Removed as a profile name.

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Biography

Joseph John(?) Watts was born about 1770 in North Carolina. (per census records born between 1765-1775). All records associated with this man list his name as "Joseph."

Joseph married Lydia Cargile of Wilkes County, North Carolina on 12 May 1795. [citation needed] They were the parents of Pleasant, Charles, John, William, James, Catherine, Patsy, Polly (Mary), and Elizabeth (will transcribed below). Some accounts say there were eleven children, but only nine are named in the will.

According to a Watts family newsletter, Joseph and his family operated a Ferry in Turkey Cove in Haywood County/Burke County, North Carolina before they moved to Rabun County, Georgia. There are several land grants to a Joseph Watts along the Catawba River between 1811 and 1815. [1]

This 1820 census record may be the family in North Carolina.[2] They moved to Clayton, Rabun, Georgia about 1826 with their children.[3] [4]

According to the modern tombstone at his grave, Joseph died in 1847 and is buried at the Joseph Watts Cemetery in Tiger, Rabun County, Georgia.[5]

Will

"The will of Joseph Watts, Rabun County, GA, 1847 (and it looks like there is an N. attached to the last name of Watts) says that he bequeathes to his son Pleasant and son-in-law Allen R. Gains each the sum of one dollar this being all my property, money and goods and effects which I wish them or their heirs to have-this because he had already given them property. It mentions Allen R. Gaines as being the husband of Catherine Gaines, formerly Watts. He lists his daughters as Patsy Derrick, Polly Hollifield and Elizabeth Crone. He lists them as deceased and gives to their children their mother's part of the property. (Please keep in mind that these women were deceased in 1847). Joseph then gives son Charles Watts the deed to some land. He wants his wife Lydia (Cargile) and son Charles to be the gardians of the children of the deceased daughters (at least that is what it looked like with special attention to granddaughter and ward Elizabeth Derrick). Son John was to be the executor of the will. He lists other sons as John Watts, William Watts, James Watts, and sons-in-law as James Crone, Robert White, John Derrick, Daniel Holifield and Jacob Crone. He signed the will JOSEPH WATTS, not John Watts or John Joseph Watts."

Joseph Watts Will - I, Joseph Watts of the county and state aforesaid being mindful of death and in a low state but perfectly sane mind and sound disposing memory and being desirous to dispose of the goods and things of this world with which God hath blessed me do make publish and declare this to be my last Will and testament hereby revoking all Former. Item First I give and bequeth to my son Pleasant Watts and my son-in-law Allen R. Gaines each the sum of one dollar this being all of my property money, goods and effects which I desire them or their heirs to have and the reason of which devise I now declare to be that I have heretofore given them and each of theirs as much of my property as I wish them to have and as much thereof as in my opinion they were and are equitably entitled to the said one dollar given to the said Allen R. Gaines hereby given on the right of his wife Catherine Gaines formally Catherine Watts.

Item Second All my other property and money consisting of cattle, horses, hogs, household and kitchen furniture, farming tools and implements, notes, accounts and other evidence of debt together with my interest in the land and appointenance whereas I now live except the aforesaid two dollars and one bed and furniture and one cow and calf I give bequeath to my wife Lydia Watts and my son Charles Watts to be held possessed and used by them in said manner as they think proper during the natural life of her the said Lydia Watts.

Item Third I desire and hereby direct that at the death of the said Lydia Watts all the property, money, goods and effects given to said Lydia and Charles in the proceeding item which shall then remain unconsumed and undisposed of except my interest in the land and apportioned between my sons Charles Watts, John Watts, William Watts and James Watts, my sons-in-law John Derrick, Daniel Hollifield and Jacob Crone born of the bodies of my daughters Patsy Derrick, Polly Hollifield and Elizabeth Crone, share and share alike. That is today the children of my deceased daughters alone named to wit Patsy Derrick, Polly Hollifield and Elizabeth Crone shall stand in the place of their said mothers and take at the said property in the same manner as the said mother or their husbands in right these would have done if their said mother were in life.

Item Fourth To my son Charles Watts I give in addition to what I have bequeathed to him in the former testament the fee simple of and my interest in the land and appointenance whereon I now live, giving to my wife Lydia the privilege in common with my said son Charles of residing there on and using the same during her natural life. [6]

Notes

• "I have read that Joseph (known as either John Joseph or Joseph N.) and his family operated a Ferry in Turkey Cove, Burk County, N.C. before moving to Rabun County, GA around 1826 or so."
• "The younger John Watts, aka Young Tassel, *may* have had a son called (John) Joseph Watts (unproved connection and whether the first name was actually John), but this individual was married to a Cargile." http://genforum.genealogy.com/watts/messages/3417.html; see affadavit (below) to attest to this link
• Rabun County, Georgia As early as 1760, explorers came to the area now known as Rabun County. In the 18th century, the population of Cherokee in the area was so heavy that this portion of the Appalachian Mountains was sometimes called the "Cherokee Mountains." The early explorers and settlers divided the Cherokee people into three divisions depending on location and dialect, the Lower, Middle, and Over-the-Hill. ...

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JOHN JOSEPH WATTS Compiled on March 28, 2002 by: Ginny Mangum Contact at vscissorlady@aol.com http://www.angelfire.com/home/spiritofthedove/ginnyswattsinfo.html

Joseph (note: I have also seen his name as Joseph N.) was born on June 25, 1765 in Burke County, N.C. He married Elizabeth Lydia Ann Cargile of Wilkes County, N.C. on May 12, 1795. Lydia was born in 1775. Per Paula Gibbs Cherokee Watts Newsletter, dated April 11, 2000, Joseph and his family operated a Ferry in Turkey Cove in Haywood County/Burke County, N.C. before they moved to Raybun County, GA. They moved to Clayton, Rabun County, GA in 1826 with their 11 children.

Joseph died on 4/14/1874 and Lydia died on 12/12/1853. They are both buried in the Joseph Watts Cemetery in Tiger, Rabun County, GA. Note: this small cemetery is next to the home of Tommy Lovel. Tommy was a friend of my dad’s. They had coffee together every morning at Virginia’s Cafe in Clayton along with several other “buddies” and also were fellow vendors at the Raybun County Flea Market. Several of Joseph’s children and grandchildren are buried there and some of his descendants got together and erected a monument dedicated to Joseph and Lydia.

NOTE: I am doing research with Dorothy Welsh (great great grandaughter of Flora Ann Saphronia Watts) on Watts, Cargile, Gillespie, etc. She sent out this email talking about Joseph's will:

"The will of Joseph Watts, Rabun County, GA, 1847 (and it looks like there is an N. attached to the last name of Watts) says that he bequeathes to his son Pleasant and son-in-law Allen R. Gains each the sum of one dollar this being all my property, money and goods and effects which I wish them or their heirs to have-this because he had already given them property. It mentions Allen R. Gaines as being the husband of Catherine Gaines, formerly Watts. He lists his daughters as Patsy Derrick, Polly Hollifield and Elizabeth Crone. He lists them as deceased and gives to their children their mother's part of the property. (Please keep in mind that these women were deceased in 1847). Joseph then gives son Charles Watts the deed to some land. He wants his wife Lydia (Cargile) and son Charles to be the gardians of the children of the deceased daughters (at least that is what it looked like with special attention to granddaughter and ward Elizabeth Derrick). Son John was to be the executor of the will. He lists other sons as John Watts, William Watts, James Watts, and sons-in-law as James Crone, Robert White, John Derrick, Daniel Holifield and Jacob Crone. He signed the will JOSEPH WATTS, not John Watts or John Joseph Watts."

The following affidavit of Joseph’s daughter, Catherine Elizabeth Watts Gains, proves that Joseph was the son of Chief John Watts:

AFFIDAVIT OF CATHERINE R. WATTS GAINS

RABUN COUNTY

Personally appeared before me, L. C. Hollifield, Clerk of the Superior Court in and for the aforesaid County and State, Catherine Gains, formerly Watts, A Cherokee Indian by blood and descent, who resides in the County and State aforesaid, aged about 82 years, states on oath that she was well acquainted in his lifetime with Joseph Watts, the acknowledged son of old John Watts, who was one of the assigners of the Third Treaty made with the government of the United States and the Cherokee people, October 25th, day 1805, at Telico old Cherokee Nation and heard him talk both languages Cherokee and English, and knew him to be a Cherokee Indian by blood, and further states that old Thomas Watts, the brother of the afordsaid John Watts, and know that he was the uncle of the aforesaid Joseph Watts, which were all Cherokee Indian by blood and descent; also states that Thomas Watts, the uncle of Joseph Watts did live in the Cherokee Nation west, and died on the Illinois River about ten miles south of Tahlequah, the capital of the Cherokee Nation Indian Territory, who was a recognized citizen of that Nation and also that Polly Terrial, formerly Watts, is the daughter of the aforesaid Thomas Watts, and the aforesaid Polly Terrial now lives in the Town of Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory. The wife of Arch Campbell was a Watts, a sister of the aforesaid John Watts, and also of the aforesaid Thomas Watts, and the wife of Arch Campbell is the Aunt of the aforesaid John Watts; that they were all of the same family relations to each other, and all the Cherokee Indians by blood and descent; that the aforesaid Sul Le tesky Watts was one of the assigners of the Cherokee Constitution, and also the Cherokee name of Joseph Watts was Ches-too-lee and further states that Malachi Watts is a full brother to the aforesaid John Watts, and all of them and their descendants are Cherokees by blood and descent, that J. E. Chastain, formerly Watts, is the lawful wife of R. Chastain; that they were married May the 14th, day, 1850, in the state of Georgia, Gordon County and also states that Mary Elvira "Polly" Watts, wife of Pleasant, son of John Joseph, Polly or Mary Watts is the mother of J.E. Chastain, formerly Watts, the claimant for Cherokee citizenship; that her and her descendants are all Cherokee Indians by blood and descent.

Catherine Gains her x mark

Subscribed and sworn to on this 18th day of Nov. 1885., L. C. Hollifield, Clerk Superior Court for said County and State: I hereby certify that the above is true as it stands stated given under my hand and seal of office this Nov. 18th, 1885. L.C. Hollifield, C. S. C.

Young Tassel Watts, Cherokee Blood line

Wife: Elizabeth Lydia Ann Cargill
Married: Seeking Date/Location of marriage

Children:

1. Patricia Elizabeth "Patsy",
2. Catherine Elizabeth,
3. Mary Polly,
4. William Andrew,
5. Sarah Nancy,
6. John Jackson "Jackie",
7. Mary Elizabeth,
8. Nancy Lydia,
9. James Robert C.,
10. Charles Jacob,
11. Sapphronia

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Research Notes

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Watts-3169

Joseph Watts is said to have been a grandson of John Watts through Kunokeski (John Watts).[7] Joseph Watts and his family never lived in the Cherokee Nation and appear on no Cherokee records.

G.J. Gaines, the son of Catherine Watts and Allen Gaines, said in his rejected Eastern Cherokee application that his grandparents were "John and Betsy Gaines" and "Bill and Mary Ann Watts," which conflicts with the information above. HIs application can be seen at Fold3.

Per Y-DNA evidence from Family Tree DNA by one of Joseph's descendants along male-only lines of descent indicate that his relatives include:

• Theophilus Watson (b. 1703),
• Jacob Watts (b. aft. 1756), said to be a son of John Watts, the Trader to the Cherokee,[8]
• Thomas Watson (b. abt. 1794),
• Evan Watts (b. 1817), brother of James A Watts, both sons of William D Watts.

Big-Y700 tests between some, but not all, of the testers for these ancestors show that there is a common ancestor born about 1610, who was a member of the haplogroup "R-BY84591".[9] None of Joseph's descendants have yet upgraded to Big-Y700, which if they did it would be easier to place his relation against some of these other ancestors. Also, no other known, documented, descendants of the Cherokee John Watts have yet been DNA tested.

A multitude of persons with the last name of Watts attempted to claim relationship to the Cherokee man Kunokeski (John Watts) – chief among these were the likes of Malachi Watts[10][7] and his brother Garrett Watts, and their families. Persons descended from these families are shown with Y-DNA testing to descend from a completely different haplogroup, this being E-BY7205, which rules out that they were the same family as Joseph's own descendants.

There are several autosomal matches between descendants of Jacob and Joseph (see below for an example), but none can be confirmed to WikiTree standards (see Help:Triangulation),

Paternal relationship to John Watts is indicated by a MyHeritageDNA test match between Steven Akins and his 6th cousin twice removed Compton. Their most-recent common ancestor is, according to the narrative, John Watts, the Trader, a 5th great grandgrandfather of Akins and a 7th great grandfather of Compton. Predicted relationship from MyHeritage: 6th cousin, based on sharing 8.8 cM across 1 segment. Probability: 10.1% – a relationship as fourth cousins had a higher 40% estimate.

References

1. http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=cwdill&id... (dead link)
2. Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jul 19 2022, 22:23:44 UTC
3. WikiTree contributors, "Joseph Watts (abt.1770-1847)," WikiTree: The Free Family Tree, (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Watts-3169 : accessed 04 October 2024).

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GEDCOM Source

@R1453020661@ Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=150931469&pi...