1856-1934
Adoniram Judson Watkins
Farmer/Rancher Missouri MO
Sometimes the story of the Judson namesake pales in relationship to the story of their parents or off-spring. Let’s begin with the story of the parents of Adoniram Judson Watkins of Missouri before we review his place in the plot.
Altus Watkins and Mary Ann Holloway were married on March 4, 1834, in Kentucky but soon moved to Clay County, Missouri, where they spent the rest of their lives creating “the factory on the farm”.[1] Today their nineteenth century farm and woolen factory are maintained as the Watkins Woolen Mill State Historic Site and Park between Lawson, Kearney and Excelsior Springs, Missouri. Thousands visit the site annually but might miss the religious and personal details of a farm family running a woolen mill–flour mill–saw mill in the midst of a rural community fraught with the Mexican War, the California gold rush, border war bushwhackers, the Civil War, reconstruction and related desperados.
Mary Ann Watkins would give birth to eleven children, with two of them passing away during childhood…. She appears to have been very loving. She was a notable needle woman and made fine lace, some of which is still in the collection at Watkins Woolen Mill State Park and State Historic Site. She was renowned for her cooking and also wrote poetry. Her duties as the wife of Waltus Watkins included raising her 11 children and two foster children, caring for boarders and taking care of the garden and poultry, as well of all aspects of running the household.
(Photo of Adoniram Judson Watkins from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19188218/adoniram-judson-watkins)
Mary Ann Watkins seemed to have remained in decent health until just shortly before her death. She passed away on September 24, 1896, at the age of 79 years old. As a charter member of the Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Mary Ann was well loved and referred to in her obituary as “one of God’s noble people.” She was laid to rest beside her husband in the Watkins Family Cemetery, just behind the current day visitor center, at Watkins Woolen Mill State Park and State Historic Site.[2]
Altus Watkins would fit the modern definition of an entrepreneur and was on the cutting edge of the industrial revolution but out in the country rather than in the city. He would develop “a reputation not surpassed by any in the west”[3] during the last half of the nineteenth century but much of his success would be driven by his Christian conversion in August of 1849.
Due to the prayers and constant encouragement of his three sisters who had moved from Kentucky to live at Bethany, the plantation farm in northern Clay County, Waltus attended the revival services in August at New Hope Baptist Church about five miles from his home. Pastor Robert James[4] led the evangelistic services and Waltus Watkins’ sister, Elizabeth Carter related that she witnessed on August 7, 1849,
Waltus’ deep conviction…his clear and bright conversion while at the mourner’s bench, and then in the course of a half hour, when the invitation was given, to see him come out so humbly—though boldly—and relate his experience…. He is regenerated and born again. His whole theme is to talk about religion, go to meetings and read the Bible.[5]
But that conversion also impacted the way he named his children. In March of 1852, as son was born to Althus and Mary Ann receiving the name of Althus Jewell as a legacy to his father and to Dr. William Jewell, Missouri Baptist physician, who gave the original $10,000 to start the college in Clay County that now bears his name. Altus Watkins would serve on the board of the Baptist-related college for 20 years beginning in 1850. Then on Christmas Eve, 1856, a son was born who inherited the name of Adoniram Judson Watkins.
The lad would be known as Judson Watkins or A. J. Watkins and worked with his father and brothers on the Bethany farm and woolen factory until his sixteenth year. A. J. spent some time in college in Alabama and maybe in St. Louis studying business before returning to Bethany and the family businesses. He eventually married and started a dairy with a Lawson, MO, address. His FAMOUS WATKINS BRAND OF BEST CREAMERY BUTTER won first place at the St. Louis fair 3 years in a row. Though not as famous, influential nor as religious as his father, the obituary of Adoniram Judson Watkins tells his story well.
A.J. Watkins of Lawson, for many years one of the well known citizens of that section, died, Friday, July 20, at his home in that city. His death followed an illness of a year or more. He was born and reared near Lawson and his entire life was lived in Clay and Ray counties. He was a son of the late Waltus L. Watkins, an early day pioneer who came to Missouri in the early 1840’s and bought a large tract of land near where Lawson and Excelsior Springs are located. He established the Watkins wool mills and was one of the foremost citizens of the state for many years. A.J. Watkins assisted his father in managing the woolen mills and after his death engaged in farming and stockraising. Some years ago he moved to Lawson where he resided until his death. He was married to Miss Margaret Jane Smith, a daughter of the late W.W. Smith of Lawson. His widow and four children, daughters, survive him. He is also survived by one sister, Miss Carried Watkins, who resides on the old Watkins home place. Funeral services were held at his late home Sunday morning, conducted by Rev. McClintic of Liberty. Burial was in Lawson cemetery. Mr. Watkins, or “A.J.” as he was familiarly called by his friends, was a man possessing great will power and no one anywhere thought more of his friends than he. His loyalty at no time knew any bounds and he really appreciated them. He was a great neighbor and when once his sympathies were aroused his kind heart knew no bounds in his desire to comfort and be of assistance. Those who knew him as he really was will verify this statement by citing many instances. He will be missed in this community where he had lived so long. Many friends send genuine sympathy to the bereaved family in their great hour of sorrow and loss.[6]
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[1] Louis W. Potts and Ann M. Sligar, Watkins Mill: The Factory on the Farm (Kirksville, Missouri: Truman State University, 2004), a great read on the life work of Altus Watkins.
[2] https://www.facebook.com/mostateparks/photos/a.117731414243/10158465270829244/?type=3
[3] Potts and Sligar, pp. 87-112.
[4] The Rev. Robert James was the father of outlaws Frank and Jesse James. He founded and pastored the New Hope Baptist Church and was one of the organizing trustees of William Jewell College before he went to California in 1851 for the gold rush where he died of a fever.
[5] Potts and Sligar, p. 34-35.
[6] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19188218/adoniram-judson-watkins