George William Sherad Watson
(son of Sherad W. Watson)

G. W. S. WATSON was born after his father died.  His mother remarried 24 March 1864 to Robert Newton VINSON.  Sarah was twenty-six, and her new husband was nineteen.  By August of 1870, Robert had moved his family two counties west, where they were living in Wyatt Township of Fulton County.  He and Sarah had been married six years, but had produced no children. Celie Anne was eleven years old, George was seven.  Apparently, Sarah died shortly after this, as Robert remarried to Elizabeth Ann TYLER on 18 May 1876.  He was thirty-one, Elizabeth was eighteen, Celie would have been seventeen, George, thirteen.  Elizabeth was born 15 July 1857, in Arkansas, the daughter of Arkansas natives.

At this time, it is not known what happened to Celie Anne.  More than likely, she married, as she would have been twenty-one at the beginning of 1880.  It is possible that she is the Nancy S. A. WATSON who married William A. GREW in Oregon County, Missouri on 15 August 1875.  The last evidence of her is from January 1881 when she sold land near Reyno, Arkansas to her uncle, Thomas Jefferson WATSON.  This land contained Nelson Cemetery.

   
George Washington Sherad Watson                            Almeda Elizabeth Ursley Sharpe Stokes 

On 4 August 1895, George married Almeda Sharpe STOKES, age thirty-five. On 30 July 1876, At age sixteen she had married William STOKES, son of John S. STOKES and Susan Jane BARHAM, and with him produced four children, Robert, Lula, John Thomas, and Docia Azalee.  Almeda (sometimes spelled Elmeda) was born in Perry County, Tennessee to parents George F. SHARPE and Elizabeth HENSLEY.  She also was known by Elizabeth and Ursley/Ersley (probably short for Ursula), and the name given on her marriage certificate to George is E. E. STOKES.   

On December 21, 1889, George sold 40 acres of land east of Reyno.  Curiously, the land transaction in the Clay County Courthouse in Corning states "G.W.S. Watson & wife".  No one in the family ever heard him mention a first wife, and as of 2018 no prior marriage record has surfaced.

George and Almeda produced four children, two of whom lived to adulthood, and all born on Heelstring, Clay County.  Mary Ellen WATSON was born in 1896.  May Oma WATSON (sometimes known as Oma May) was born in 1900. Between the sisters was born a set of twins.  However, the date of these births is unknown, as are the children’s sexes and place of burial.

At some point after the turn of the century, George and their children moved to Texas.  Oral history says that on the return move to Arkansas Almeda died near the Texas-Arkansas border and George had no choice but to bury her by the side of the road.  He and the children then continued the journey back to Clay County.

George William Sherad WATSON died on 14 October 1942 at age 79.  He had never seen his father.  His mother died by the time he was thirteen. When he was eighteen his first stepbrother died, and thirty-three when the second one died, followed by his twin children when he was between thirty-four and thirty-eight. He lost his wife when he was forty-two, and his step-father two months later.  His youngest daughter died when he was sixty-four.  As a child, he had lost sight in one eye when hot grease from the stove popped into it.  In his later years he lost his sight in his other eye due to cataracts.  He died of Bright’s Disease at age seventy-nine, and is buried in Richwoods Cemetery, Clay County, beside his daughter, May Oma.

G. W. S. Watson
Taken about 1915.

Last photo taken of G. W. S. Watson, 1942.

Updated 3 Jul 18.