Life History

Notes

• A genealogy reports that Walter was born in Farmington, Texas.
  
  Ruby Lee Christian
  Birth 24 Apr 1893 in Bryans Mill, Cass, Texas
  Death Apr 1980 in Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona
  Parents:
  George Bartley Christian (Birth 10 Jun 1858 in Mississippi,  Death 9 Jun 1904)
  Mary Francis Bell (Birth abt 1863 in South Carolina, Death 1934 in Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona)
  Spouse Walter Earl Watson Sr
  (Birth 13 Jan 1892 in Farmington, Texas, Death 1958 in Prescott, Yavapai, Arizona [records show death in Bakersfield CA in 1968])
  --  Bates, http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/2048179/person/495509703
  
  The town of Farmington does not even appear on the list of locations in Family Tree Maker, by ancestry.com.  But I found out about this community in the Texas Handbook online.
  
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  Farmington, Tx (Grayson County). Farmington is on Farm Road 1417 ten miles south of Sherman in south central Grayson County. The first settlers arrived in the area in the mid-1840s. Community development occurred through the efforts of William W. Wheat, Henry Campbell, and Samuel C. Watson. A post office opened in 1861. By the end of the Civil War Farmington had established itself as a school and church community for area farmers.
  
  By 1885 it had three churches, a school, a general store, a cotton gin, and a gristmill. The population slowly increased over the next two decades, to peak of 171 in 1904. That year postal service ended, and over the next few decades the number of residents steadily declined. By the end of World War II Farmington had fifty residents, a church, a school, and a general store. The population was estimated at twenty from 1940 to 1990. In 2000 the population was thirty-eight.
  
  Bibliography:   Grayson County Frontier Village, History of Grayson County, Texas (2 vols., Winston-Salem, North Carolina: Hunter, 1979, 1981).
  --  David Minor, "Farmington, Tx (Grayson County)," Handbook of Texas Online, accessed August 30, 2014. Uploaded on June 12, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hnf10
  --------------------------
  
  The Bates genealogy above reports that Walter Earl died in Prescott, Yavapai County, Arizona.  (This is about 90 miles north of Phoenix the mountains.)  But funeral and burial information indicates he died in Bakersfield, California, and his funeral and burial were in Phoenix, not Prescott.  He was buried in the Greenwood Memorial Park in Phoenix.  The year of death is also wrong.  The Bates genealogy reports he died in 1958, but all official records indicate it was 1968.
  
  In what appears to be the correct record for Walter, a WWI draft registration reports his birth in Sherman, which follows the common practice of reporting the largest town around, was probably a good reference for those outside the area who would not recognize Farmington.  This record has the same birth date as the Bates genealogy above.  His wife's family were also in Abilene, and then moved to Phoenix, as Walter and Ruby did.
  
  U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
  Walter Earl Watson
  Residence 766 Cherry St, Abilene, Taylor County, Texas
  Birth 13 Jan 1892 Sherman, Texas
  Wife and 2 children, sole support
  Tall, Slender, Blue Eyes, Dark Hair
  Registered 26 May 1917 Abilene
  
  1920 Federal Census, Maricopa County, Arizona, 8 January, Phoenix, District 6, Page 6A, 704 E Van Buren St, Hse #104, Fam #122
  Watson, Walter E Head Rents M W 280 TX US US Horse Dealer
  Watson, Ruby Wife F W 26 Single TX US US
  Watson, Clifton Son M W 7 Single TX TX TX
  Watson, Mary L Dau F W 4yrs0mos [b Dec 1915] Single TX TX TX
  
  1930 Federal Census, Maricopa County, Arizona, 4 April, Phoenix, District 8, page 4B, 136 N 6th St, Hse #99, Fam #110
  Watson, Walter E Head Rents $30 Has no Radio M W 40 Married at 20 TX US US Repairer [?], Dell Hospital
  Watson, Ruby Wife F W 36 Married at 16 [mar abt 1910] TX MS SC [b abt 1894]
  Watson, Clifton Son M W 18 TX TX TX [b abt 1912]
  Watson, Mary L Dau F W 14 TX TX TX
  Watson, Effie Dau F W 10 AZ TX TX
  Christian, Mary F Mother[-in-law] F W 67 SC GA GA [b abt 1863]
  
  From the birth information for Mary and Effie we can tell they moved to Phoenix between 1916 and 1920.  Walter registered for the draft in Abilene in 1917 and Ruby's brothers Clyde and William registered for the draft in Phoenix in September 1918.   We can narrow the time of the move to 1918.
  
  U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989
  Pittsburg, California, City Directory, 1931, p 213
  Watson Walter E (Ruby ) (Mack & Watson) r Las Vegas Nev
  
  "I'm Roberta Watson Richardson. My father was Cliff Watson, grandfather Walter Earl Watson."
  --  Roberta Watson Richardson, Ancestry messaging to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 14 September 2019
  
  Some time before the 1940 census, Ruby and Walter divorced.  His wife in 1940 is named Ada.
  
  1940 Federal Census, Maricopa County, Arizona, 18 April, District 7-128, page 10A, 3504 Grand Ave, Hse #257, Rented $6, Farm
  Watson, Walter Head M W 48 Married Grade 5 b Texas same place in 1935 Buy-Sell Horses & Mules [b abt 1892]
  Watson, Ada Wife F W 35 Married Grade H4 b Michigan same place in 1935 Helps Husband [b abt 1905]
  
  The same birth date is found on a death record in Kern County (Bakersfield area), California.  The maiden name of his mother matches that reported by genealogies.
  
  California, Death Index, 1940-1997
  Walter E Watson
  Birth 13 Jan 1892
  Death 30 Aug 1968 Kern County
  Mother's Maiden Name Beaty
  
  The matching Social Security record reports that the SS Number was issued in Arizona, which would match Walter and Ruby's presence there.
  
  U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
  Walter Watson
  Born 13 Jan 1892
  Died Aug 1968
  Last Residence Bakersfield, Kern, California 93301
  SSN 527-12-7531 issued Arizona (Before 1951)
  
  Obituary of Walter Earl Watson
  Died Friday [30 August 1968] in a Bakersfield, Calif, convalescent home. Services Wednesday [4 September 1968].  Burial in Greenwood Memorial Park.  Visitation"tomorrow" [3 September 1968]
  --  Obituary courtesy of Storyteller, Watson Family Tree, Ancestry.com;  No newspaper identification included;  appears to be Phoenix, Arizona, 2 September 1968.
  
  A L Moore & Sons Mortuary and Greenwood Memorial Park are in Phoenix, Arizona.  Visitation"tomorrow" appears to mean Tuesday, since the funeral is in the morning Wednesday.  So the obit must have been published Monday 2 September 1968.
  
  Obituary of Walter Earl Watson
  Passed away in Bakersfield, California [date is known from other sources, [30 August 1968]  Services Wednesday [4 September 1968]
  --  Obituary courtesy of Storyteller, Watson Family Tree, Ancestry.com;  No identification of the newspaper, Phoenix, probably 2 September 1968.
  
  Chapel of Memories, A L Moore and Greenwood Memorial Park named in the Funeral Program and obituaries are in Phoenix, Arizona. One of the two obits Storyteller posted on Ancestry.com reports he died in a convalescent center in Bakersfield.
  
  -------------------
  Died Friday, August 30, 1968
  
  In memory of Walter Earl Watson, Born January 13th, 1892, Sherman, Texas
  Services at Chapel of Memories, A L Moore & Sons, September 4th, 1968
  
  Rev Wayne McCutcheon, Officiating
  Organist, Frances Castro
  Soloist Paul Morrow
  
  Concluding Services Greenwood Memorial Park
  --  Funeral Program for Walter Earl Watson Sr, Courtesy of Storyteller, Watson Family Tree, , Ancestry.com, http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/33134704/person/18397047357/mediax/2?pgnum=1&pg=0&pgpl=pid%7CpgNum&ftm=1
  -------------------

Sources

• 1. 1930 Federal Census, Maricopa County, Arizona
  • 4 April, Phoenix, District 8, page 4B, 136 N 6th St, Hse #99, Fam #110
• 2. 1920 Federal Census, Maricopa County, Arizona
  • 8 January, Phoenix, District 6, Page 6A, 704 E Van Buren St, Hse #104, Fam #122
• 3. Ancestry Trees
• 4. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942
• 5. California, Death Index, 1940-1997
• 6. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
• 7. Funeral Cards/Programs
• 8. 1940 Federal Census, Maricopa County, Arizona
  • 18 April, District 7-128, page 10A, 3504 Grand Ave, Hse #257, Rented $6, Farm
• 9. Ancestry Messaging
• 10. United States Social Security Death Index