Nathaniel W. Watkins

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Nathaniel W. Watkins
Born(1796-01-28)January 28, 1796
Kentucky
DiedMarch 20, 1876(1876-03-20) (aged 80)
AllegianceConfederate
Service/branchMilitia
RankBrigadier general
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War
AwardsTransylvania College
Spouse(s)Eliza Margaret Watson
RelationsHenry Clay
Other workSoldier, lawyer, and Missouri politician

Nathaniel W. Watkins (January 28, 1796 – March 20, 1876) was a Kentucky-born soldier, lawyer, and Missouri politician who was also a half-brother to prominent nineteenth-century Kentucky politician Henry Clay. He served as a Confederate militia brigadier general during the American Civil War and before that in the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War. He was a member of the Missouri State Senate and a Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives. Watkins was also a founder of the city of Morley, Missouri.[1]

Nathaniel Watkins was the son of Captain Henry Watkins (1758-1829)[2] and Elizabeth Clay Watkins (1750-1829) who was previously married to the Reverend John Clay and was the mother of 16 children including statesman Henry Clay.[3] Watkins studied law at Transylvania College. After college he moved to Jackson, Missouri, in 1819. During the Civil War he briefly served as a brigadier general in the Missouri State Guard, the first Confederate unit in Missouri. Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson appointed him along with Meriwether Lewis Clark, Sr.; John Bullock Clark, Sr.; William Y. Slack; Alexander William Doniphan; Mosby Parsons; James H. McBride; James S. Rains; and Thomas Beverly Randolph as district/division commanders for the state.[4] Watkins was appointed brigadier general and commander of the first military district which consisted of the Southeast Missouri.[5] He resigned his commission in July 1861. In 1875, Watkins served as vice president of the Missouri Constitutional Convention.

Watkins was married to Eliza Margaret Watson (1810-1878), a daughter of a man named Goah Watson from New Madrid, Missouri.[6] Their children included Nathaniel W. Watkins, Jr. (1848-1879),[7] John C., Henry Clay, Washington E., Richard Jones (1843-1913),[8] William B., Amanda J. (1854-1916),[9] and Elizabeth.[10]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "General Nathaniel W. Watkins". Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  2. ^ "Capt Henry "Hal" Watkins". Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  3. ^ "Elizabeth Hudson Clay Watkins". Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  4. ^ William Garrett Piston and Richard W. Hatcher (2000). Wilson's Creek: The Second Battle of the Civil War and the Men Who Fought It. The University of North Carolina Press. pp. 37.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  5. ^ "Scott County Cemeteries - Watkins". Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  6. ^ "Eliza Margaret Watson Watkins". Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  7. ^ "Nathaniel W. Watkins, Jr". Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  8. ^ "Richard Jones Watkins". Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  9. ^ "Amanda J. Watkins Wilson". Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  10. ^ Edison Shrum (1984). The History of Scott County, Missouri. Sikeston, Missouri: Scott County Historical Society. pp. 156–163.


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