James P. Watkins was born in Woodson County, Kansas in September 1866 to James E. Watkins and Elizabeth Lantz (Watkins). He was born soon after the Civil War, during which his father served in the Kansas State Militia on the Union side, in a state that was heavily divided between northern and southern sympathizers; many moved to Kansas or Missouri hoping that their vote and influence would help their side as it was thought that those states would be influential as either slave states or free states. In 1870, at age 4, he was still living there with his family.
Based on the 1880 U.S. Federal Census, one of his siblings was born in 1874 in Missouri, and it is assumed that they lived there for at least a while. By 1880--when James P. was 14 years old--the family had moved to Polo, Carroll County, Arkansas. Although other Watkins families lived in the county, it is not known whether or not they were related.
There is an interesting photo of James P. Watkins--likely taken in the late 1880's or in the 1890's at the edge of a city park with a gazebo in the center. He is standing with what appears to be a posse who might have caught two Mexican bandidos, who are in the photo. Nothing is known of the photo, so all supposed info is estimated from the photo itself. Perhaps the photo was taken in Arkansas, or in Indian Territory.
He was in the Oklahoma Run of 1889 and that same year he married Anna L. Van Loon in Sapulpa, Oklahoma in what was then the Creek Nation in Indian Territory. In 1893 he made the Cherokee Strip run, but failed to get a homestead. According to a 1937 interview of his wife, he used to go two or three miles northwest of Sapulpa, Oklahoma to kill turkey, deer and prairie chickens. James and Anna Lee had their first child--a daughter named Goldie--in 1890, but she died as a baby. They had four children who grew up to adulthood: John Henry (1891), Bertha A. (1894), Lula M. (1898) and Charles Martin (1903).
James P. Watkins was still living in Oklahoma in 1920. He died in Port Isabel, Texas in 1932 at age 66, and was buried in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, near his parents and his sister.
==========
SOURCES:
Oral Family History
1937 Indian Pioneer History Project Interview of Anna L. Van Loon (Watkins)
Visit to Park Grove Cemetery
Ancestry.com databases:
1870 US Federal Census. Belmont, Woodson, Kansas, USA
1880 US Federal Census. Polo, Carroll, Arkansas, USA
1900 US Federal Census. Sapulpa, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, USA
1910 US Federal Census. Mounds, Creek, Oklahoma, USA
1920 US Federal Census. Waleetka, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, USA
Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946
US City Directories, 1821-1989 (1953)
Texas, Death Index, 1903-2000
Texas, Death Certificates, 1903-1982
==========
Based on the 1880 U.S. Federal Census, one of his siblings was born in 1874 in Missouri, and it is assumed that they lived there for at least a while. By 1880--when James P. was 14 years old--the family had moved to Polo, Carroll County, Arkansas. Although other Watkins families lived in the county, it is not known whether or not they were related.
There is an interesting photo of James P. Watkins--likely taken in the late 1880's or in the 1890's at the edge of a city park with a gazebo in the center. He is standing with what appears to be a posse who might have caught two Mexican bandidos, who are in the photo. Nothing is known of the photo, so all supposed info is estimated from the photo itself. Perhaps the photo was taken in Arkansas, or in Indian Territory.
He was in the Oklahoma Run of 1889 and that same year he married Anna L. Van Loon in Sapulpa, Oklahoma in what was then the Creek Nation in Indian Territory. In 1893 he made the Cherokee Strip run, but failed to get a homestead. According to a 1937 interview of his wife, he used to go two or three miles northwest of Sapulpa, Oklahoma to kill turkey, deer and prairie chickens. James and Anna Lee had their first child--a daughter named Goldie--in 1890, but she died as a baby. They had four children who grew up to adulthood: John Henry (1891), Bertha A. (1894), Lula M. (1898) and Charles Martin (1903).
James P. Watkins was still living in Oklahoma in 1920. He died in Port Isabel, Texas in 1932 at age 66, and was buried in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, near his parents and his sister.
==========
SOURCES:
Oral Family History
1937 Indian Pioneer History Project Interview of Anna L. Van Loon (Watkins)
Visit to Park Grove Cemetery
Ancestry.com databases:
1870 US Federal Census. Belmont, Woodson, Kansas, USA
1880 US Federal Census. Polo, Carroll, Arkansas, USA
1900 US Federal Census. Sapulpa, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, USA
1910 US Federal Census. Mounds, Creek, Oklahoma, USA
1920 US Federal Census. Waleetka, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, USA
Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946
US City Directories, 1821-1989 (1953)
Texas, Death Index, 1903-2000
Texas, Death Certificates, 1903-1982
==========
James P. Watkins was born in Woodson County, Kansas in September 1866 to James E. Watkins and Elizabeth Lantz (Watkins). He was born soon after the Civil War, during which his father served in the Kansas State Militia on the Union side, in a state that was heavily divided between northern and southern sympathizers; many moved to Kansas or Missouri hoping that their vote and influence would help their side as it was thought that those states would be influential as either slave states or free states. In 1870, at age 4, he was still living there with his family.
Based on the 1880 U.S. Federal Census, one of his siblings was born in 1874 in Missouri, and it is assumed that they lived there for at least a while. By 1880--when James P. was 14 years old--the family had moved to Polo, Carroll County, Arkansas. Although other Watkins families lived in the county, it is not known whether or not they were related.
There is an interesting photo of James P. Watkins--likely taken in the late 1880's or in the 1890's at the edge of a city park with a gazebo in the center. He is standing with what appears to be a posse who might have caught two Mexican bandidos, who are in the photo. Nothing is known of the photo, so all supposed info is estimated from the photo itself. Perhaps the photo was taken in Arkansas, or in Indian Territory.
He was in the Oklahoma Run of 1889 and that same year he married Anna L. Van Loon in Sapulpa, Oklahoma in what was then the Creek Nation in Indian Territory. In 1893 he made the Cherokee Strip run, but failed to get a homestead. According to a 1937 interview of his wife, he used to go two or three miles northwest of Sapulpa, Oklahoma to kill turkey, deer and prairie chickens. James and Anna Lee had their first child--a daughter named Goldie--in 1890, but she died as a baby. They had four children who grew up to adulthood: John Henry (1891), Bertha A. (1894), Lula M. (1898) and Charles Martin (1903).
James P. Watkins was still living in Oklahoma in 1920. He died in Port Isabel, Texas in 1932 at age 66, and was buried in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, near his parents and his sister.
==========
SOURCES:
Oral Family History
1937 Indian Pioneer History Project Interview of Anna L. Van Loon (Watkins)
Visit to Park Grove Cemetery
Ancestry.com databases:
1870 US Federal Census. Belmont, Woodson, Kansas, USA
1880 US Federal Census. Polo, Carroll, Arkansas, USA
1900 US Federal Census. Sapulpa, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, USA
1910 US Federal Census. Mounds, Creek, Oklahoma, USA
1920 US Federal Census. Waleetka, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, USA
Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946
US City Directories, 1821-1989 (1953)
Texas, Death Index, 1903-2000
Texas, Death Certificates, 1903-1982
==========
Based on the 1880 U.S. Federal Census, one of his siblings was born in 1874 in Missouri, and it is assumed that they lived there for at least a while. By 1880--when James P. was 14 years old--the family had moved to Polo, Carroll County, Arkansas. Although other Watkins families lived in the county, it is not known whether or not they were related.
There is an interesting photo of James P. Watkins--likely taken in the late 1880's or in the 1890's at the edge of a city park with a gazebo in the center. He is standing with what appears to be a posse who might have caught two Mexican bandidos, who are in the photo. Nothing is known of the photo, so all supposed info is estimated from the photo itself. Perhaps the photo was taken in Arkansas, or in Indian Territory.
He was in the Oklahoma Run of 1889 and that same year he married Anna L. Van Loon in Sapulpa, Oklahoma in what was then the Creek Nation in Indian Territory. In 1893 he made the Cherokee Strip run, but failed to get a homestead. According to a 1937 interview of his wife, he used to go two or three miles northwest of Sapulpa, Oklahoma to kill turkey, deer and prairie chickens. James and Anna Lee had their first child--a daughter named Goldie--in 1890, but she died as a baby. They had four children who grew up to adulthood: John Henry (1891), Bertha A. (1894), Lula M. (1898) and Charles Martin (1903).
James P. Watkins was still living in Oklahoma in 1920. He died in Port Isabel, Texas in 1932 at age 66, and was buried in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, near his parents and his sister.
==========
SOURCES:
Oral Family History
1937 Indian Pioneer History Project Interview of Anna L. Van Loon (Watkins)
Visit to Park Grove Cemetery
Ancestry.com databases:
1870 US Federal Census. Belmont, Woodson, Kansas, USA
1880 US Federal Census. Polo, Carroll, Arkansas, USA
1900 US Federal Census. Sapulpa, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, USA
1910 US Federal Census. Mounds, Creek, Oklahoma, USA
1920 US Federal Census. Waleetka, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, USA
Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946
US City Directories, 1821-1989 (1953)
Texas, Death Index, 1903-2000
Texas, Death Certificates, 1903-1982
==========
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