Hi Carol, My William Watson was born in Preston, Lancs, England in 1828. I believe his father's name was George, his mother's Mary. William married in Cockerham, Lancs, England in 1852. He brought his family to America in 1866, settling in the Missouri Valley for about 20 years before coming west to Washington State. I know nothing further back than George, born about 1802. None of this line went to VA. Thanks for writing, and Good luck on your research. ----- Original Message ----- From: Carol Meier To: Jean C Gobel Cc: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, 03 November, 1999 2:39 AM Subject: Re: WATSONs of Texas 1800's Hi Jean, I'm looking for a Benjamin, William or Thomas Watson from England or Scotland, but around the time period of 1770-1800. Here's the info: What we're not sure of the first two in our line, Ben and William: 1. Benjamin(GGGGGGGrandpaw), came ta James River, Va. Got land there 11-15-1774. 2. William(GGGGGGrandpaw), 3. Thomas(GGGGGrandpaw), 10-99 I gotta call from Henry Watson the third, he says they think our Thomas was orphaned 9-1782, dunno if William just left or died. Ben, his grandpaw raised him. Thomas was bonded out to Smithy Williams in 8-1780 and then to George Finley in 8-1782. Mrrd. Susan O'Sullivan in Va., she came from Ireland. They had