Watson Family

Watson Family James Stirling Watson
This is taken from the Historical Sketch of Weymouth, NJ done in 1934:

Looking back to the dawn of our memory, we recall that Mr. Chalmers and Mr. James Watson were superintendents of the two paper mills. These two gentlemen were natives of Scotland and their expert knowledge in the art of paper making, which was unsurpassed, originated in that country. We are sorry to relate that Mr. Watson met an accidental and violent death in the mill of which he was the superintendent, in or about the year 1880.

A more detailed account of the incident can be found here. Concerning the family of Mr. James Stirling Watson, whose sad end was described above, the following bit of info was copied from a Watson family Bible:

James Stirling Watson married Rachel Thompson on the 22nd day of November, 1855. By Rev. A.D. White, Pator, 2nd Presbyterian Church, Trenton, N.J.
James Stirling Watson born 6 May 1833, Stirling, Scotland; died 31 December 1880 in an accidental and violent death at the paper mill of which he was superintendent, at the age of 47 years (Stephen Caldwell Paper Mill). This death date is confirmed by the obituary above and his headstone in the Weymouth Burying Ground. The 1870 Census lists his birthplace as Glasgo, Scotland in obvious contradiction to family records. At that time he claimed to have personal estate valued at $4,600 and real estate valued at $100.
Rachel Thompson was born in December 1836 in Greenock, Scotland, died in 1914 at the age of 78

Rachel is buried at May's Landing.
The children of Rachel and James were, according to the same source:

George Barrington Watson, 4th son; born Dec 3, 1873 at Weymouth.
John Thompson Watson. The 1880 Census lists his age as 3, making him born about 1877.
Samuel Stillie Watson, twin brother of John, above; both were born August 9, 1876 at Weymouth. Samuel's name appears on the 1880 census as "Gillie", probably just a mistake on the part of the enumerator. He was named for the doctor who delivered him, Dr. John Stillie, and was called by the name "Stillie" all his life.
Grace Watson, 5th daughter of James and Rachel; born February 20, 1880.(According to the 1880 census)
Jane Watson, 3rd daughter of James and Rachel; died November 9, 1862 at Pleasant Mills, aged 1 yr 8 mos. 24 days.
James S. Watson, eldest son; died February 12th, 1876 at Weymouth, NJ aged 12 years, 10 months, and 20 days.
Charles Watson, 3rd son of James and Rachel, died September 11th, 1879 at Weymouth, NJ aged 8 years, 5 months, and 11 days.

The census for 1870 also lists two young children in the household not listed in the family bible; perhaps they were not James and Rachels's children but some other relation? They were:

Annie, age 5
William, age 1

The family Bible also lists a Catherine Thompson Watson, born May 13 1859 at Whippany, NJ to Peter and Margaret Thompson; Peter was Rachel's brother.

Please send an email to [email protected] if you have any information regarding the Thompson or Watson families.

This page was last updated on Sep 29th, 2003.