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Watkins, Joseph W. (b.1863)
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History of Butler County Kansas by Vol. P. Mooney
Standard Publishing Company, Lawrence, Kansas 1916.
CHAPTER XXXIII, BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

Page 438, Joseph W. Watkins

J. W. Watkins, a well known carpenter and contractor of Potwin, is a
native of Virginia. He was born in Taylor county that State, March 4,
1863, and is a son of Samuel and Susan (Osborn) Watkins, natives of
Pennsylvania, the former of Welsh and Scotch descent, and the latter
of French and English ancestry. This branch of the Watkins family was
founded in New England in Colonial times and later they settled in
Pennsylvania. Samuel and Susan (Osborn) Watkins were the parents of
thirteen children, of whom J. W. was the tenth in order of birth. A
brother of J. W., William, enlisted at President Lincoln's first call
for troops during the Civil war, and served in a West Virginia
regiment. He served under Generals Hooker and McDowell, and was with
Sherman on his march to the sea and also served in the Army of the
Potomac for a time under Grant.

J. W. Watkins was reared on the home farm in Virginia, and in early
life learned the carpenter trade with his older brother, Richard, who
was an expert workman. The father died in 1874, when J. W. was about
nine years of age, and in 1882 the mother with her five children came
to Butler county, Kansas, and settled on a farm one and one-half
miles east of Potwin. One son, William, had preceded the family to
Butler county, coming here in 1870, and homesteaded a quarter section
in the vicinity of Potwin after coming to Butler county with his
mother, J. W. Watkins, worked with his brother Richard, who at that
time was the leading contractor and builder in and around Potwin, and
eventually J. W. became a contractor and builder on his own account
and since that time has successfully followed that line of work. He
has built some of the best residences in Butler county, as well as
many high class residences in Wichita and other places.

Mr. Watkins was married in 1898 to Miss Zooa Ella Poe, a daughter of
Cornelius and Sarah (Rogers) Poe, natives of West Virginia and very
early settlers in Butler county. To Mr. and Mrs. Watkins have been
born the following children: Arthur Preston, Frederick Samuel, Roger
Williams, Elizabeth and Joseph Wade. Mr. Watkins is a member of the
Knights of Pythias, and his political affiliations are with the
Democratic party. During his career as a builder, he has won a
reputation for honest and reliable work throughout this section of
the State, which coupled with his high class workmanship places him
in a class where much ordinary competition is eliminated.

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Additional Information:
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1870 Census, Taylor County WV
Haymond Township, Page No. 8, Lines 22-34
WATKINS, Samuel 51, Farmer, $3000/$800, Pa
", Susannah 46, Keeping House, Pa
with children: Daniel 23, Nicholas 20, Sarah 18, 
Elizabeth 17, Margaret 14, Rebecca 9, Joseph W. 7, 
George B.M. 5, Edgar 3, John C. 1
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