je - Your queries about WATSON always catch my eye. That is a name which appears in lineage of a son-in-law from CA. However, his WATSON ancestors were in SC. Several years ago I was doing some cursory searching for grandchildren's' school project. Imagine my surprise when I found their earlier ancestor, David WATSON b. 1770 in Lancaster County, PA near my PA OSWALT ancestors, pointing once again to the 6 degrees of separation theory. As I studied your post, the date of 1860 census entry jumped out. Since the Civil War occurred in time period that and the 1870 census. Have you checked military records? My Centre County ancestor David OSWALT died in battle in VA, 1863 and was buried on the battlefield before being moved to the Fredericksburg Nat'l Cemetery, and not with his wife in Centre County. Since your James WATSON was married, you might also check for a Widow's Pension in those records. Jan Leigh Strange, CCHT, RM Ask me about hypnotherapy for enhanced self esteem, pain management, self healing, spiritual emergence, past life regression, or Reiki for healing universal energy.