Karen, A little bit I picked up along the way on where the Watts name came from: Somewhere I read that a Wat in early England was a servant in the Royal household. Maybe that's why there are so many Watts in the west end of London. Watson is a patronymic form of the English and Scottish name Watt, which came from the extremely popular Middle English given name Wat or Watt, which was a pet form of the name Walter. Diminutive forms of Watt are Watkin, Watking, Watling, Whatling ; patronymic forms are Wattis, Watts, Watson ; patronymics from diminutives are Whatkins, Watkiss, Watkeys, Gwatkins (Wales) Swatkins (Gloucester), and Watkinson. This is from Collins Pocket Reference: Walter/Walters Not by origin Scottish, but the basis of several Scottish names. Walter is a Germanic forename consisting of the elements wald (`rule') and heri ('army'). The Normans brought the name to these islands, and usually elided the ' l ', giving the abbreviation Wat. Patrick Walter is recorded in Kirkcudbright in 1376, but thereafter the name is fairly thin on the ground. Walterson is found on Orkney and Shetland. Watson By far the commonest of the Walter derivatives, this surname is among Scotland's top twenty; in England it has to share the honors with Watts, Watkins and Watkinson, forms not native to this country. John Watson was a citizen of Edinburgd in the late 14th century; Robert Watsoun appears in Aberdeen in 1402, Thomas Watson in Dunipace in 1426, and Sir Donald Watsone in Moray in 1493. By the 16th century the name was becoming very common in the Lowlands and in the Northeast. George Watson, born in Edinburgh in 1654, made a fortune as a merchant banker; he endowed a hospital (orphanage) for children, which became George Watson's College in 1870. Watt Another of the Walter-derivatives this surname is common throughout Scotland but particularly in the Northeast where in some rural districts it used to flourish almost to the exclusion of all others. It was also common to Ulster, and may have been re-imported thence in recent years. Alexander Wat is recorded in Panmure in Angus in 1512, Walter Wat was in Brechin in 1586, and Pactrick Watt in Turriff in 1609. The double-diminutive version Wattie is still current in Aberdeen. James Watt, engineer, inventor and pioneer of steam power, was born in Greenock in 1736: the unit of power known as the watt was named after him. Sir Robert Watson-Watt, born in Brechin in 1892, played a major part in the development of radar.

Neal, Thank you so much for the information on WATT/WATTS. You have certainly done a lot of research. You must have been researching for quite a while! Family legend has it that when the two sons came to America from Scotland, their father, John(?) admonished them "Dinna came hame w'an "S" on your name." However, they added an "S" anyway. My uncle claims it was popular to add the "S" to make it sound English, possibly so they would be considered English instead of Scottish since the English were more highly thought of than the Scots. What do you think? Karen Neal Watts wrote: > Karen, > > A little bit I picked up along the way on where the Watts name came from: >

Here's my search list. Anyone have any information? Looking for John Watts of Washington County, GA b. abt. 1755, d 1803 at age 48. Son of Thomas Watts and Tabitha ? who moved from VA to Kershaw County, SC. I believe this John Watts was a Revolutionary War soldier. Does anyone have a verifiable proven list of his children? Looking for Josiah Watts of Wayne County, MS, b. abt. 1780. Probably the son of John Watts of Washington County, GA. Probable brother is John Evans Watts b. 1795 in GA who lived and died in Copiah County, MS Does anyone have a verifiable proven list of Josiah's children children? I have a list of Josiah Watts' oldest son, John Watts of Newton County, MS's children but not other offspring. I have a list of John Evans Watts line. I'm willing to share these two lists with anyone who is from these lines. Neal Watts

This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------FEFA46533C024B942A513BC1 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit --------------FEFA46533C024B942A513BC1 Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Message-ID: <[email protected]> Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 21:20:39 -0700 From: "Dennis, Linda Miller" <[email protected]> X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.06 [en] (Win95; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: [email protected] Subject: Watts Family Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi there, I have reached a real dead end with my Watts line and am grasping at straws. This is information I inherited: Children (parents unknown) 1.James Watts (married Mary Green) 2. Joseph Watts (born Nov 1842 Indiana by his statement on Oregon census 1900, never married to my knowledge.) 3. Anson Watts 4. Mary or EllenWatts ( married John? Green) [These are my gg grandparents; both died when my g -grandfather was quite young] Mary and John were in Missouri at least by 1856 (marriage), but info indicates birth of the Watts was Ind. I would appreciate knowing if any of these fit your Watts. Thank you, Linda Miller --------------FEFA46533C024B942A513BC1--

I am also a member of the WATTS List. I am a descendant of Katherine Watts, who married Moses Hornsby, through their son, Marmaduke D. Hornsby. I believe that Katherine was the daughter of John A. Watts and his wife, Judith Rawls. I would greatly appreciate any information concerning the Watts/Rawls families. Thank you for your time. Liz Freeman Lexington, TX

Sorry Pam, got excited, please excuse typo. Jacob Andrew Watts first wife's name was Elizabeth McDougal. Elaine

Hi all! This is just a question about history -- does anyone know after whom the WATTS district of Los Angeles was named, and the history of it? I like to put "Bits of History" in my family stories. Thanks, Moyra [email protected]

Hi all! My maiden name was Moyra WATTS, I was born 1927 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; my dad was Alexander Francis WATTS born 1896 also in Winnipeg; his father was Thomas Albert WATTS born 1864 in St. Albans, London, England; Thomas A's father was also Thomas WATTS, born in London about 1838; and his father was George WATTS, born abt. 1815 perhaps in Devonshire. Are these names familiar to anyone?? By the way, have you visited the awesome website listed below? It gives many sites with seasrchable data. Moyra Burnett [email protected] http://www.geocities.com/kubee21/genlink.html =================== ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2000 7:52 PM Subject: [WATTS-L] How many people are there on this list? > This list doesn't generate much email. How many of us are there? I know > there is Jeremy, then there is me. > I am: > Janice Watts Lester > Nashville, Tn. > Looking for Watts' in Hickman or Graves Co., Ky. or Halifax, Va. > > Lets all post where we are from and who we are looking for. It won't take > you but a minute.:) > Janice Watts Lester > Nashville, Tn. > >

Thanks Neal, I left out the best part! It took me a long time to find my g-grandfather, Jacob Andrew WATTS, son of Moses Watts and his second wife Abigale Carpenter. Moses Watts was the son of Rueben Jacob Watts and Millie Holllingsworth. Talladega and Clay Co, AL area. I have filled in quite a few blanks, but am always researching for more. Anyone in this line? Elaine

There was one Watts who sued to obtain Cherokee citizenship in the late 1800's, claiming she was of Cherokee descent! There is a huge, complete full name index of all these people at http://members.aol.com/rarebk/ She was Malinda. I also found a surname index to another Cherokee book at the site, an old book, supposedly rare, called Old Cherokee Families and their genealogy, with a lot of English names. There is some Creek Indian genealogy info as well. If you go there to the sites main page, click on the Booklists page, and then slowly scroll down past some old genealogy book titles until you get to the Cherokee section. There are some Cherokee genealogy books there, and at least two of them has this complete index posted. Quite fascinating! Jeremy ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.

Hi!! I'm Ann Heath Tucker from Bigfork, MT and Tupelo, MS I'm looking for family of John Watts who married Judith Rawls

Hi, Researching WATTS in SC, AL, GA, and TX. Elaine

Karen, I havn't been in school in so long, I have forgotten what one looks like, but that was funny. I've been called a riot, but not a Watts Riot. Janice Watts Lester << By the way, in school was anyone called a "Watts Riot" after the riot >>

For some reason I have Watts' on my mind tonight. I have sat here for 4 hrs. now, had a pizza, some popcorn and 2 Cokes. Now I can't sleep. Doing lots of searches, reading old email and all of this activity on Watts-l is really a lot of fun. And just a reminder, these messages are archived somewhere or other on rootsweb. But I wanted to share my Watts Whiskey tale. I was out at the big Nashville Flea Market about 10 years ago and saw an old whiskey bottle with the brand name of "Old Watts" on it. I just had to have it and gave it to my dad. When he passed away mama gave it back to me. I will describe the label. It is torn in several places and really is not in great shape. But for $3 I love it. Daddy did too. The bottle itself is just a plain old quart whiskey bottle, (clear) that had a stopper at one time. Part of the seal is still on each side says "one quart"on back and "proof 100" on the front. Here is what the label says. Bottled in Bond OLD WATTS (brand) A picture of a man Bourbon WHISKEY Jas. R. Ro?s & Co. Inc. cont????lers Indian????is, U.S.A. (back of the bottle, label is almost gone, here is what I can make out) under the provis- 3,1897,entitled spirits in bond." purpose of con- and destroying the shall reuse the stamp such offense Just thought I'd share this little bit of info for any Indiana people. Sincerely, Janice Watts Lester

Subj: Re: [WATTS-L] How many people are there on this list? Date: 01/22/2000 11:24:38 PM Central Standard Time From: <A HREF="mailto:LLWS">LLWS</A> To: <A HREF="mailto:Janicewatts">Janicewatts</A> I am Linda Watts Silvernail looking for Watts family in SC. I've gone back to my gggg David Watts of Kershaw County, SC. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ------------------------------------------ ubj: Watts.......Coventry.. England Date: 01/22/2000 11:40:31 PM Central Standard Time From: [email protected] (Joe) To: [email protected] Janice, it has been a year since I have posted to this list........ here goes............Joseph Watts (1804)..Married....Sarah Kelly and the following children arrived......... Hannah (1829) , David Watts .((1831) , Harriett Watts ( 1833)....Joseph (1839) John (1842) and George (1846) Sandy Ewing [email protected]

Hi, I'm Mava Robinson from Weatherford, TX. I'm looking for the ancestors of Mary E Watts b. 27 Jan 1687, dau of Samuel and Elizabeth Ayers Watts of Haverhill, MA. Mary married Samuel Ingalls of Andover MA. Any connections? Would love to talk. Warmest regards, Mava

In a message dated 01/22/2000 9:56:36 PM Pacific Standard Time, [email protected] writes: > I'm also researching the WATTS Family. > > My WATTS line starts with Martha Ann Watts m. William C. BROWNING 17 Nov > 1842 > in Pike Co., IL.(Nine children). Dau of Garrett Watts and Sarah DALTON. > Martha descends from a Thomas WATTS of Northern VA ( early 1700). Does this > fit in with anyone? She's my GGGrandmother. > > Robert > Lake City, FL > Hi Robert, Looks like you found some family here! I too am researching the Watts family of VA. I too am searching the family of Garrett Watts and Sarah Dalton. I decsend from Elizabeth Watts, my ggg-grandmother, Martha's oldest sister. I have information on Elizabeth and her descendants, some information on her and Martha's brother Johnson Watts and also information on their ancestors. I must warn you however, that much of the ancestor information has been received from other researchers who are members of the Watts On-line Newsletter. I have not verified much of it yet. I would very much enjoy hearing from you about Martha and her family as I have no information on her except her husbands name!. Thanks cousin! Melody Byrd Ravensdale, WA

I'm also researching the WATTS Family. My WATTS line starts with Martha Ann Watts m. William C. BROWNING 17 Nov 1842 in Pike Co., IL.(Nine children). Dau of Garrett Watts and Sarah DALTON. Martha descends from a Thomas WATTS of Northern VA ( early 1700). Does this fit in with anyone? She's my GGGrandmother. Robert Lake City, FL

Searching for a MARTHA WATTS b. abt 1820 in Ala and married a JIM ASHBURN, also of Alabama.

Here is another one.. this is really fun. I will try to keep them all and do this again in a mo. or so. Janice Re: [WATTS-L] How many people are there on this list? Date: 01/22/2000 11:01:12 PM Central Standard Time From: <A HREF="mailto:EASY SKIER">EASY SKIER</A> To: <A HREF="mailto:Janicewatts">Janicewatts</A> I am Carole Watts, Los Angeles, CA looking for 4 brothers in South Carolina: George Washington Watts, William John Watts, James Duncan Watts and Gus Watts (1/2 brother to the previous three) George and William are believed to have been born as slaves in the late 1850s and James and Gus were probably born after the Civil War. Unfortunately, not many people want to discuss this side and any possible connection.