David Watts was just 21 years old when he was killed during
the Battle of Hartsville, Tennessee on 7 December 1862. Born 11
February 1841, he was laid to rest in the Watts family plot high on the hill in
Smithland Cemetery, Smithland, Kentucky.
David would never know the joys of marriage or the love of
children and grandchildren. As a member
of a large family, however, he was likely surrounded by brothers and sisters
who were his friends and confidants. The 1850 census shows Joseph and Lucinda
Watts with eight children, ranging in age from 22 to three with David being
fifth oldest child at 10 years of age.[1]
David’s
father, Joseph, was born in Orange County, North Carolina in 1794 and, about
1804, left that state with the family of Joseph Moore, to whom he had been
apprenticed. They first went to Nashville, Tennessee, where they obtained a
flat boat, later landing at the mouth of Red River.[2]
The Moore family and Joseph Watts eventually settled on the present site of
Springfield, Robertson County, Tennessee.
Joseph Watts
later settled in Smithland, where he died in 1869. Joseph married Lucinda D. Haynes 11 July 1827
Livingston County.[3]
Lucinda outlived her husband by a number of years, dying in Memphis,
Tennessee 30 July 1892 at the age of 80. Both Joseph and Lucinda are buried in
Smithland Cemetery.
When the war
began, David Watts enlisted in Capt. Cobb’s Company, Kentucky Light Artillery
(CSA) as a private. Following the Battle
of Hartsville, Tennessee, his death was briefly noted. “David Watts, a private
of this battery [Cobb’s Battery], who was killed, was an intelligent and
promising young man, the son of a well known merchant of Paducah.”[4]
David Watts
was another of those young men who was denied a life that might have helped
shape the future of his family and his community.
David Watts
Son of
J. & L. Watts
Born
Feb. 11, 1841
Died
Dec. 7, 1862
Smithland Cemetery
[1]
1850 Livingston County, Kentucky Census, Roll M432_210, p. 382A, Image 455,
Ancestry.com.
[2]
“William Courtney Watts” by A.V. Goodpasture, The Leaf-Chronicle (Clarksville, Tennessee), Thurs., 17 Sep
1936, p. 2, Newspapers.com.
[3]
Kentucky County Marriage Records 1783-1965, Livingston County 1827,
Ancestry.com.
[4] “The
Battle of Hartsville,” Memphis Appeal (Memphis, Tennessee), 24 Dec 1862,
p. 2, Newspapers.com.
Published 30 April 2020, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/
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