BARTLETT Y. WATKINS is successfully engaged in farming on section 18, Olney
Township, Richland County. His farm is pleasantly located about four and
one-half miles southwest of the city of Olney and comprises one hundred and four
acres of rich land, under a high state of cultivation and well improved. The
good buildings, the well-tilled fields and neat appearance of the place prove
the owner to be a man of practical and progressive ideas. We feel assured that
this record of his life will prove of interest to many of our readers.
A
native of North Carolina, Mr. Watkins was born on the 20th of July, 1842, and is
the third in order of birth in a family of ten children, whose parents were
James G. and Mary (Patterson) Watkins. Of the six sons and four daughters, three
are now deceased. Those still living are Bartlett, who is the eldest surviving
child; Elizabeth, wife of Elias Ridgely, a farmer of Indiana; La Fayette, who
makes his home in Olney; James M., who is engaged in farming in this State;
Margaret, who married G. E. Jones, a resident of Christian County, Ill.; William
A., an agriculturist of this State; and Eben, who also makes his home in
Christian County.
The father of this family was of Scotch and English
extraction. He, too, was a native of North Carolina, born March 30, 1817. Upon a
farm he was reared to manhood and after his marriage emigrated in 1838 to
Tennessee, where he remained until the fall of 1852. At that time he came to
Richland County, Ill., and purchased a farm, on which he spent the remainder of
his life. His death occurred November 7, 1872, and he was laid to rest in Mt.
Pleasant Cemetery. His wife, who was born December 27, 1816, in North Carolina
and was of German and Irish extraction, died in Decatur, Macon County, on the
28th of May, 1884.
Mr. Watkins whose name heads this record was a lad of
only ten summers when he came with his parents to this county. Upon the home
farm he remained and in the summer months aided in the labors of the field,
while in the winter season he attended the public schools of the neighborhood,
acquiring a good English education. When about nineteen years of age, however,
he left the parental roof to enter the service of his country. Prompted by
patriotic impulses, he enlisted November 27, 1861, and was assigned to Company
E, Thirteenth Illinois Cavalry, in which he served for about one year. On the
expiration of that period he received his discharge on account of physical
disability.
Returning to the North, Mr. Watkins remained at home until
he had arrived at mature years, when he rented land and began farming in his own
interest. On the 22d of November, 1863, he was united in marriage with Miss
Elizabeth Lawless, a native of the Buckeye State, born February 27, 1843. He
brought his bride to his new home and now for thirty years they have traveled
life's journey together. Twelve children came to bless their union, six sons and
six daughters, but four have been called to the home beyond. Commodore, the
eldest, is engaged in farming in Richland County; William F. follows the same
pursuit in Clay County. The younger members of the family who are still under
the parental roof are Edward, Jennie, Oliver, Otis A., and Laura and Lora
(twins).
In his political belief Mr. Watkins is a Democrat, having
supported that party for a number of years. He is straightforward and honorable
in all his business dealings, and the sentiment of the Golden Rule has ever been
a controlling influence in his life. He and his family are widely and favorably
known in this community. The Watkins' household is the abode of hospitality and
its members rank high in the circles of society in which they move.
Extracted 11 Apr 2020 by Norma Hass from 1893 Portrait and Biographical Record of Effingham, Jasper and Richland Counties, Illinois, pages 206-209.
| Jasper | Crawford | |
| Clay |
 |
Lawrence |
| Wayne | Edwards | Wabash |
