Person:Robert Watson (67)

The Puslinch Historical Society posted the following information in about 2003:
One Man's Family^S6

Liberals and Presbyterians, the Watsons were among the founding members of Duff's Church. Archibald's son, Robert, was only eleven when he first set foot in Canada but he grew to be a fine man in his father's mold. He married Elizabeth Bullock and had children who spread all over the continent: William to Los Angeles; George, Charles and Robert to Manitoba; Albert to Detroit; Mrs. John Nicklin to Aberfoyle; Mrs. John Cummings to Detroit; and Mrs. Adam Howe and Mrs. John Tansley to Chicago. Of all his children, only Frank stayed on the homestead. Both he and his father were to have unfortunate ends.

On a sunny day at the end of July 1904, Robert became the victim of a gruesome accident. With his neighbors he was harvesting his grain in a field by the CPR tracks that ran right through his land. Moving to take more twine to Frank, he crossed the tracks without noticing the on-coming train. It ripped into his 81-year-old body. The scene was seared into the memory of the young neighbor boy, Fred Mast, sitting nearby on a binder. He remembered that the men put sheaves over the body and bore the dreadful burden home.

Five months later on Christmas Day, Frank suddenly died of Bright's disease. and his wife Eliza Lewis was left alone as they had no children. But Eliza did have a son by a handfast marriage (see Handfasting) in Scotland. This son George Lewis, married with two children, moved on to the Watson farm until 1914 when he returned to keep store in Aberfoyle which became an Aberfoyle landmark. Lila Lewis Hayden, the last of his children born on the Watson farm, died at 90 in March of this year.

The Watson/Lewis farm shortly became the Joe Smith farm and today it is the site of a handsome horse training establishment. The house still stands.

1. ↑ Linda (Sanford) Schofield, June 1998 -- GED File.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Robert Watson household, in 1881 Canadian Census, LDS CD, Transcriptions. (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Salt Lake City, UT84150-3400, 2001)
   Page 32 Family 153, 4 Apr 1881.

   Census Place:Puslinch, Wellington South, Ontario, Canada Source:FHL Film 1375894 NAC C-13258 Dist 151 SubDist A Div 2

   SexMarrAgeOriginBirthplace
   Robert WATSONMM59ScottishScotland
   Occ:FarmerReligion:Presbyterian
   Elizabeth WATSONFM51EnglishEngland
   Religion:Presbyterian
   Elizabeth WATSONF23ScottishO <Ontario>
   Religion:Presbyterian
   Charles WATSONM21ScottishO <Ontario>
   Religion:Presbyterian
   Frank WATSONM19ScottishO <Ontario>
   Religion:Presbyterian
   Jessie WATSONF16ScottishO <Ontario>
   Religion:Presbyterian
   George WATSONM10ScottishO <Ontario>
   Religion:Presbyterian
   Albert WATSONM7ScottishO <Ontario>
   Religion:Presbyterian

3. ↑ Marriage of son, in Manitoba Vital Statistics Online Database
   1895.

   Received marriage registration from Manitoba

   Name: George Ralph Watson
   Age: 25
   Residence when married: Wawanesa
   Birth Place: Wellington, Ont
   Status: Bachelor
   Ocupation: Farmer
   Religious Denomination: Presbyterian
   Father's Name: Robert N Watson
   Mother's Name: Elizabeth A Watson
   Spouse: Jane Mayhew
   Age: 24
   Residence when married: Wawanesa
   Birth Place: Renfrew, Ont.
   Status: Spinster
   Religious Denomination: Methodist
   Father: Ira Mayhew
   Mother: Margaret Mayhew
   Witnesses: Ira Mayhew and Minnie Hamilton
   Date and Place of Marriage: 3rd December 1895 at the residensce Ira Mayhew sec 10-8-17
   By Whom Married: A Gordon
   By: Licnese
   A Gordon Minister
   Methwen
   
   
   Registration Number: 1896-06-001144

4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Robert Watson household, in Wellington, Ontario, Canada. 1901 Census of Canada. (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada)
   Page 8, 31 Mar 1901.

   ON WELLINGTON (South/Sud) (#126) Subdistrict: Puslinch F-3

   15 72 Watson Robert M Head M 1822 79 Scotland 1834 Scotch Canadian Presby Farmer
   16 72 Watson Elizebeth F Wife M Aug 14 1830 71 England 1840 English Canadian Presby
   17 72 Watson Frank M Son S Apr 4 1862 38 O(ntario) r Scotch Canadian Presby
   18 72 Bullock Ralph M Brother law S Apr 22 1840 61 England 1840 English Canadian Presby
   19 72 Allen Fredrick M Servant S 1860 40 England 1875 English Canadian Presby Farm Labour
   20 72 Butcher Ernest G M adopted S Aug 17 1900 O(ntario) r Scotch Canadian Presby

5. ↑ Robert Watson, in Ontario, Canada. Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-ongoing. (Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Archives of Ontario)
   1904.

   of a fractured skull according to death registration 029951.

   Name: Robert Watson
   Death Date: 29 Jul 1904
   Death Location: Wellington
   Gender: Male
   Estimated Birth Year: abt 1821
   Birth Location: Scotland

6. ↑ Lot Histories - One Man's Family, in Puslinch Historical Society Archives
   2003.
7. ↑ Crown Cemetery, Puslinch, in Find A Grave.

   Robert Watson