Biography - W. L. WATSON
W. L. Watson was born in Vermilion county, Illinois, on the 22d of
December, 1837. His father was William D. Watson, in his early life an
itinerant Methodist preacher who traveled extensively through Indiana,
having been born in the neighborhood of Vincennes, and in Fountain county,
of that state, married Mary Low. His health finally failed him, and coming
to Illinois, he located above Georgetown in Vermilion county. William
Watson, the grandfather, was burn in Kentucky, and when a young man settled
in the vicinity of Vincennes, Indiana.
W. L. was the oldest son and second child of the family. His father came to
Douglas county, then Coles, in 1839, and located first on Brushy Fork, a
short distance west of Newman. After a residence here of a year or two he
moved to Camargo, and afterward to section 35, in township 35, range 9,
where he resided till his death, which occurred in October, 1858. His wife
survived him till April, 1866. They had nine children. W. L. Watson was
between four and five years old when his father located southeast of
Camargo. At this latter place he mainly received his education, partly under
the instruction of his father, who taught school at Camargo and was one of
his first teachers.
The old log school house stood about one hundred yards north of Alonzo
Lion's store, on the road leading north from Camargo. In the winter of
1849-50, and also 1853-54, he attended the Georgetown Academy, in Vermilion
county, then having the best reputation of any school of learning in this
part of the state. At the death of his father in 1858, Mr. Watson, as the
oldest son, took charge of the farm and managed it in the interests of the
family till 1862.
The war of the Rebellion at this time had broken out, and in February, 1862,
Mr. Watson volunteered. He preferred the cavalry service and being unable to
enlist in an Illinois cavalry regiment, he went to St. Louis and enlisted in
the Fifth Missouri Cavalry for three years. He was with the Fifth Missouri
two years and a half, during which time he was mostly in the southern part
of Missouri. In August, 1864, he re-enlisted in the Thirteenth Missouri
Cavalry, and served to January, 1866. He was a non-commissioned officer. At
the close of the war his regiment was sent out on the plains to fight the
Indians. While in Missouri he was in the campaign against Price, and in the
battles of Independence and Fort Scott. After receiving his discharge in
January, 1866, he came home and commenced farming on the old homestead.
Extracted 11 Sep 2019 by Norma Hass from the Historical and Biographical Record of Douglas County, Illinois, published in 1900, page 250.
