Checklist of
documents in the Watts Collection at the Historical Society of Western
Virginia, Roanoke, Virginia. To consult these documents, go to http://www.vahistorymuseum.org/ and click on “Visit HMWV's Virtual Collection!” The documents can be
found by a keyword search, or by catalog number using “Click and Search”.
Except for the first two items, which relate to a legal
matter in 1873 that had been raised in the previous set, the 15 documents in
this group are closely related. Two of them concern a bond given by William
Watts in 1873 to his brother-in-law William Joseph Robertson, which was paid by
William’s son John Allen Watts in 1890. The source of the money was the sale of
Oaklands, which will be documented in forthcoming series. The remaining
documents in this set are stock certificates for shares, owned by John Allen
Watts or others in his family, in companies that were established in Roanoke in
the 1880s and 1890s. These were boom years, following the decision to locate in
Roanoke the junction of the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad with the
Shenandoah Valley Railroad. The company was renamed the Norfolk and Western
Railroad, and it led the way in developing new industries and new residential
areas in the city.
doc #
date
abstract
1998.26.241
March 22, 1873
Deed from James Humphries and Eliza Jane Lore, his wife, to
William Watts, trustee for John Dabney's widow Lavinia Langhorne and their
children, regarding the sale to Watts of a piece of property in Big Lick
(Roanoke), Virginia, which he had previously sold to Humphries and Humphries
sold to Charles Elisha Pobst, who has apparently not paid his bonds; the land
adjoins tracts of land belonging to Watts, Robert B. Moorman and Clack R.
Campbell, and was originally bought from John A. Sowers; includes
acknowledgment of signature by Humphries and admission to record of the deed in
Roanoke County
1998.26.242
March 22, 1873
Agreement between William Watts, John Dabney and Lavinia
Dabney, his wife, George Plater Tayloe, and James Humphries, regarding the
water grist mill and land in Montgomery County, Virginia, held in trust by
Watts to insure payment of John Dabney's debt, which is to be sold to Humphries
without a public auction; Humphries is paying with bonds from Charles Elisha
Pobst, issued in payment for a house and lot in Old Lick, Roanoke County,
Virginia, and from John A. Sowers, issued in payment for the Company Mills in
Roanoke County, with a modification regarding the signing of bonds and deeds of
conveyance; document incomplete, begins in 1998.26.235
1998.26.243
November 22, 1873 to July 19, 1890
Bond from William Watts to his brother-in-law William Joseph
Robertson for a loan of $6500, with receipts for partial payments by his son
John Allen Watts, administrator, in 1881, 1886, 1887 and 1889, and final
payment in full in 1890
$6500 On demand, for money this day borrowed, I
promise to pay to William J. Robertson, the sum of six thousand five hundred
dollars, with interest thereon, from this date, payable annually at the rate of
eight per centum, per annum, until paid. As witness my hand and seal this 22d
day of November in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy three. Wm
Watts {seal}
[vertically in the left margin] Received this 19th July 1890, from J. Allen Watts, administrator
c.t.a. of William Watts deceased, six thousand nine hundred and thirty nine
dollars, being balance in full due on this bond. Wm J. Robertson
c.t.a.: an administrator c.t.a. (cum
testamento annexo, Latin for "with the will annexed") is
appointed by the court where the testator had made an incomplete will without
naming any executors or had named incapable persons, or where the executors
named refuse to act.
William Watts (1817-1877) had
borrowed from his brother-in-law William Joseph Robertson (1817-1898) in 1873.
Robertson was a distinguished lawyer living in Charlottesville, Virginia, where
he taught law at the University of Virginia. In 1863 he married as his second
wife Alice Matilda Watts. Through her, he became owner of a part of the
original Oaklands.
John Allen Watts (1855-1904), the
only child of William Watts, attended school in Charlottesville, and later the
University of Virginia Law School; he then practiced law in Roanoke, Virginia,
in partnership with sons of William Joseph Robertson. At about the time of the
settlement of this debt, J. Allen Watts sold the plantation to the Oaklands
Improvement Company, and moved into the city.
1998.26.244
July 19, 1890
Account statement of a bond from William Watts to his
brother-in-law William Joseph Robertson for a loan of $6500, showing partial
payments by his son John Allen Watts, administrator, in 1881, 1886, 1887 and
1889, and final payment in full in 1890
1998.26.245
August 30, 1887
Stock certificate (#77) issued by Pocahontas Coal Company
for 1 share, issued to John Allen Watts on August 30, 1887. The certificate is
notarized, and signed by the company president, whose signature is illegible
(probably S. W. Jamison), and A. J. Demphill, Secretary.
The
Pocahontas Coal Company was formed in 1881 by E. W. Clark & Company, owner of
the newly created Norfolk & Western Railroad, to develop coal mines in the
northern tip of Tazewell County, Virginia. A company town was built and named
Pocahontas.
1998.26.246
September 30, 1890
Stock certificate (#56) issued by Roanoke Iron Company for 5
shares, issued to John Allen Watts on September 30, 1890. The certificate is
notarized, and signed by the company president, Joseph H. Sands, and Olin
Beall, Secretary. "Par Value of One Hundred Dollars Each"
The Roanoke
Iron Company was one of many industries that opened in Roanoke, Virginia, in
the 1880s, attracted by the railroad.
1998.26.247
September 30, 1890
Stock certificate (#53) issued by Roanoke Iron Company for 5
shares, issued to John Allen Watts on September 30, 1890. The certificate is
notarized, and signed by the company president, Joseph H. Sands, and Olin
Beall, Secretary. "Par Value of One Hundred Dollars Each"
1998.26.248
August 25, 1890
Stock certificate (#39) issued by The Virginia Land Company
for 50 shares, issued to John Allen Watts on September 30, 1890, on payment of
five hundred dollars, the first installment of ten percent upon his
subscription to fifty shares. The certificate is notarized, and signed by the
company president, John Allen Watts, and E. A. Moomaw, Secretary. "Par
Value of One Hundred Dollars Each"
The Virginia
Land Company was one of many real estate companies created in Roanoke,
Virginia, in the 1880s, to take advantage of the economic boom created by the
railroad.
1998.26.249
October 25, 1890
Stock certificate (#184) issued by Roanoke Development
Company for 10 shares, issued to John Allen Watts on October 25, 1890, on
payment of one hundred dollars, being ten percent of his subscription to ten
shares, with a second payment of $100 recorded on the back December 15, 1890.
The certificate is notarized, and signed by the company vice president, S. W.
Jamison, and W. S. McClanahan, Secretary. "Par Value of One Hundred
Dollars Each"
The Roanoke
Development Company was one of many real estate companies created in Roanoke,
Virginia, in the 1880s, to take advantage of the economic boom created by the
railroad.
1998.26.250
February 25, 1891
Stock certificate (#36) issued by The Mountain View Land
Company for 10 shares, issued to Mrs. Mary (Lee) Chandler on February 25, 1891.
The certificate is notarized, and signed by the company president, Charles G.
Eddy, and William F. Winch, Secretary. "Authorized Capital, $35,000.
Shares $100 Each"
The Mountain
View Land Company was one of many real estate companies created in Roanoke,
Virginia, in the 1880s, to take advantage of the economic boom created by the
railroad. It was originally headed by Robert H. Woodrum. This certificate is in
the name of Mrs. Mary Lee Chandler, née Mary Marsh Criss, mother-in-law of John
Allen Watts; after her first husband's death, she remarried to Rev. Charles N.
Chandler.
1998.26.251
February 25, 1891
Stock certificate (#37) issued by The Mountain View Land
Company for 10 shares, issued to Mrs. John Allen Watts on February 25, 1891.
The certificate is notarized, and signed by the company president, Charles G.
Eddy, and William F. Winch, Secretary. "Authorized Capital, $35,000.
Shares $100 Each"
1998.26.252
May 2, 1887
Stock certificate (#138) issued by Roanoke Rolling Mill
Company for 4 shares, issued to John Allen Watts on May 2, 1887. The
certificate is notarized, and signed by the company president, Samuel Bryson
Haupt, and N. D. Maher, Secretary. "Capital Stock $90,000"
The Roanoke
Rolling Mill Company was one of many industries that opened in Roanoke,
Virginia, in the 1880s, attracted by the railroad.
1998.26.253
January 26, 1891
Stock certificate (#3) issued by Shenandoah Investment
Company for 10 shares, issued to John Allen Watts on January 26, 1891, for ten
dollars, the first installment of 10 percent upon subscription to ten shares.
The certificate is notarized, and signed by the company president, C. J.
Stevens, and F. M. Truslow, Secretary
1998.26.254
January 26, 1891
Stock certificate (#4) issued by Shenandoah Investment
Company for 10 shares, issued to Mrs. Gertrude (Lee) Watts on January 26, 1891,
for ten dollars, the first installment of 10 percent upon subscription to ten
shares. The certificate is notarized, and signed by the company president, C.
J. Stevens, and F. M. Truslow, Secretary
The
Shenandoah Investment Company was one of many real estate companies created in
Roanoke, Virginia, in the 1880s, to take advantage of the economic boom created
by the railroad. Gertrude (Lee) Watts was the wife of John Allen Watts.
1998.26.255
June 20, 1872
Stock certificate (#602) issued by Atlantic Mississippi and
Ohio Rail Road Company for four shares, issued to George Watson Carr trustee
for Emma Gilmer Carr on June 20, 1872. The certificate is notarized, and signed
by the company president, William Mahone, and James E. Cuthbert, Treasurer
The Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio
Rail Road Company was created 1870 by the consolidation of Virginia’s three
major railways: the Norfolk & Petersburg, the Southside, and the Virginia
& Tennessee; the new line, run by William Mahoney, defaulted on loans in
the 1873 depression and was placed in receivership in 1875. It was bought in
1881 by Enoch W. Clark & Co., the Philadelphia investment company that
owned the still incomplete Shenandoah Valley Railroad. Clark renamed it the
Norfolk & Western Railroad and selected the location for the junction of
the two lines at Big Lick. This decision quickly led to Big Lick’s
incorporation as Roanoke, and to several decades of very rapid growth.
George Watson Carr (1822-1899)
married in 1860 Emma Gilmer Watts (1835-1872), a daughter of Edward Watts; they
had five children, ages 2 to 11 in 1872. Emma was deceased at the time this
certificate was issued, and Carr made the investment as trustee for her estate.
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