The Watkins Family of Surry, Wilkes, Rowan and Rutherford Counties, North Carolina

Suit of John Bedingfield v. David and Isaiah Watkins, 1771.

This was a tough nut, but I think I've finally cracked it. As it turns out, the name Watkins was very common in the early 19th century South. Many of these Watkins families crossed paths, lived in the same counties, had children with the same names and even appeared together in court and yet remain entirely unrelated. To make matters more challenging, the Watkins family that I've been researching had hardly a will or deed of gift among them to clarify family links so I've done my best with this family.

There are numerous Watkins men that appear in some of the northern Piedmont counties in North Carolina in the 1750s-1770s. There was a James Watkins who began appearing in records in Rowan County in 1754; Henry, George, Joseph and Ambrose Watkins who begin appearing in Surry County deeds in the 1770s. Later there's also Israel Watkins who appears to have come from Richmond County, North Carolina and a David Watkins who could be related to the above list of men... or a brother of Israel from Richmond with the same name (per their father's will).

To make matters even more complicated, these family members appear in records across several neighboring counties (mostly Surry, Rowan and Wilkes), making it even harder track them or distinguish who is related to who.

The genealogies presented below are a best-fit lineage with the imperfect evidence I have. I cannot claim they are all-encompassing and there may be several children (mostly women) missing. 

I believe most of these Watkins men are related and descend from the Quaker Watkins family of Henrico County, Virginia. John Watkins of Henrico County signed his will on July 28, 1743 naming children David Watkins, Isaiah Watkins, John Watkins, Nathaniel Watkins, Lucy Perkins, Constant Woodson, Elizabeth Watkins and Joyce Watkins.

It seems clear that David, Isaiah and Joyce Watkins (who married William Thomas) migrated out of Henrico County within a few years, with David and Isaiah appearing in the court records of Albemarle County, Virginia in 1746. By the 1760s, Isaiah had settled in Halifax County, Virginia, where he begins appearing in deeds in early 1764. Part of Halifax County was sectioned off to form Pittsylvania County in 1767 and Isaiah appears in the first tax list; Isaiah and David Watkins were jointly sued by John Bedingfield in Pittsylvania County court in 1771 and this seems to be the only record in which they appear together; David never again appears in the county. That same year, Isaiah Watkins sold William and Joyce Thomas property in the county, making it crystal clear that this is the family from Henrico.

In 1778, a court ordered the sheriff of Wilkes County, North Carolina to arrest Isaiah Watkins with the sheriff responding that Watkins lived in Pittsylvania County, Virginia and could not be retrieved. Whether Isaiah ever actually lived in North Carolina is unknown, but around this time several Watkins men started buying land in the adjoining counties of Surry and Rowan: Ambrose in 1778; George in 1778; Joseph in 1779; Henry in 1783. A David Watkins later described as "of Salisbury" (in Rowan County) bought land in Camden District, South Carolina in 1783. He also appears in Rowan County in the 1790 US census with another David Watkins, John Watkins and Ambrose Watkins. The same year, Joseph and George Watkins were enumerated in Surry County.

Wilkes, Surry and Rowan Counties as they were in 1780.

George, Henry, Joseph and James Watkins appear in records together and are clearly related; David Watkins, Isaiah Watkins and Thomas Watkins, who appear in later deeds are likely from the next generation of this family group. Ambrose and David Watkins are a second family group who lived in Rowan and whose children had some of the same names. It isn't clear that group one is related to group two just by looking at deeds and census records, but the name carryover among the different families suggests they probably are.

That said, here's how I've put this family together.

ISAIAH WATKINS (bef.1726-1797) and wife Alice of Pittsylvania County, Virginia had the following likely sons:

1. John Watkins (bef.1747-1799) of Pittsylvania County, Virginia; first deed in Halifax County dated 1767; took the oath of allegiance in 1777; appears in 1782 tax list; appeared in court as a witness for Stephen Watkins in 1784. Deed of 1799 names Mary Watkins "widow and administratrix of John Watkins."

2. Stephen Watkins (bef.1757-aft.1799) of Pittsylvania County, Virginia; took the oath of allegiance in 1777; appears in 1782 tax list and 1791 marriage bond of Nancy Watkins. Appears in court through at least 1799.

3. Benjamin Watkins (bef.1762-aft.1794) of Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Appears in 1782 tax list and was a witness with John Watkins for Daniel and Betsy Bates in a 1783 deed. Named son-in-law in the 1794 will of Henry Blanks, which also names Benjamin's wife as Sarah.

4. Willis Watkins (bef.1764-aft.1802) of Pittsylvania County, Virginia; named assignee of Isaiah Watkins in a grant dated 1784 and defendant in a suit against the Watkins family in 1797; Willis is found briefly in the deed books of Spartanburg County, South Carolina in 1788 but seems to have sold off his land quickly and disappeared; he was charged with forgery in Surry County, North Carolina in 1802 and seems to have disappeared thereafter. 

5. Lidwell Watkins (bef.1765-aft.1830) named in a 1797 suit in Pittsylvania County, Virginia with Willis and several other members of the Watkins family; moved to Burke County, North Carolina before 1800; appears in Rutherford County, North Carolina in the 1810 census and appears there through the 1830 census. Probable father of Stephen, Isaiah and Jane Watkins (who married Ephraim Cook in 1812), all of Rutherford County, North Carolina.

DAVID WATKINS (bef.1726-aft.1790) of Rowan County, North Carolina had the following likely sons:

1. Henry Watkins (c.1748-aft.1820) of Surry County, North Carolina, where he first appears in the 1771 tax list. Received a land grant adjacent Stephen Clayton in 1783. May be father of Henry Watkins who begins appearing in Stokes County, North Carolina in 1790 and James Watkins to whom he sold land in Surry County in 1804. Removed to Stokes County, North Carolina in 1803-1804 and a deed there from Henry Watkins to James Davis in 1809 mentions land adjacent Stephen Clayton. Last appears in 1820 US census of Stokes County.

2. Joseph Watkins (c.1750-1827) of Surry County, North Carolina, where he was first granted land in 1783. In an 1801 survey his chain carriers were David and Thomas Watkins. Joseph deeded land to Henry and James Watkins in 1804 before removing to Pendleton District, South Carolina. His will in 1827 names wife Frances and children Jane, Henry, Frances, Thomas, Cassie, Alcey and Esther Watkins.

3. George Watkins (c.1752-aft.1807) of Surry County, North Carolina where he first appears in the 1775 tax list; wife Mary named daughter of Thomas Wooten in his 1793 will. A chain carrier on his first survey in 1778 was Joseph Watkins. In 1798, David Watkins and Isaiah Watkins were chain carriers for another of George's surveys in Surry County; these are likely to be his sons. George and Isaiah jointly sold property to Richard Mendenhall in 1807. Isaiah later moved to Rowan County where he appears in deeds through 1832; David (b.1781) married Dorcas Silvey in 1808 and later moved to Putnam County, Indiana, where he appears in census records. Another probable son, Thomas (b.1788), appears in Putnam County with David.

4. Ambrose Watkins (c.1754-aft.1824) of Rowan County, North Carolina. Ambrose is found in the deed books of Rowan County (1778-1795), Surry County (1779-1786), briefly in Wilkes County (1792-1795), and Rutherford County, North Carolina (1800-1810). He moved to Warren County, Kentucky in 1810 and appears in court records through 1815 when he finally settled in Allen County, Kentucky where he seems to have spent his final years. Two Kentucky records indicate his wife was Martha. He died with no known will or recorded probate but North Carolina and Kentucky records show his likely children were Joel, Nancy, Ambrose, Connie, John, Andrew and James Watkins. Three other daughters remain unidentified. 

5. David Watkins (c.1762-1844) of Rowan County, (until at least 1790), later Wilkes County, North Carolina, where he spent the rest of his life. Described as "of Salisbury" in Rowan when he bought land in Camden District, South Carolina in 1783. A 1789 marriage bond shows he married Ruth Hendricks. His 1844 probate documents and census records show his likely children were Andrew, David, Willis, Joel, Ferebey and Jesse Watkins, all of Wilkes County. Joel was administrator of his estate, Willis and Andrew are also named. The fact that Ambrose and David Watkins, both of whom lived in Rowan in 1790, both had sons named Joel and Andrew suggests they are brothers.

There are other men in Surry, Rowan and Wilkes named Watkins who show no evidence of relation to this family: James Watkins, Beverly Watkins, Spencer Watkins, Leonard Watkins and beyond. In Rutherford, there's also Peter and David Watkins, who belong to a different family from Frederick County, Virginia. There's also Thomas Watkins and George Watkins and probably more in Pittsylvania County, Virginia who either aren't related or come from some other branch of the family. So I'll just leave it here.

A few great resources here:

https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~grizzard/genealogy/watkins188.htm

http://sites.rootsmagic.com/KaysAncestry/individual.php?p=17560

https://reynoldspatova.org/histories/Descendants%20of%20HENRY%20WATKINS,%20JR..pdf 

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Watkins-994

 

Research by Jason M. Farrell with contributions on Willis Watkins by Marianne Greer