WATTS, CHARLES H.

WATTS, KNOTTS, LEWIS, MCKAIG, DRENNEN

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 7/7/2003 at 20:21:33

Biography reproduced from page 215 of Volume Ii of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

Charles H. Watts is an enterprising resident of Springfield township, where he owns and operates a farm of three hundred and twenty acres. He is also president of the Cooperative Mercantile Company and is identified with various other local enterprises, being numbered among the foremost citizens of his community.

His birth occurred in Sangamon county, Illinois, on the 6th of March, 1869, his parents being William S. and Sarah E. (Knotts) Watts. The father was a native of Bourbon county, Kentucky, and the mother of Sangamon county, Illinois, where they were married and passed the early period of their domestic life. In 1870, they removed to Douglas county, Illinois, and there the father, who was an agriculturist, improved three farms. They are both now deceased, the mother having passed away in 1897 and the father in 1900. They were active members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which the father was a class leader at the time of his death. He was of English extraction, his family originally having come from Yorkshire. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Watts: Elizabeth Ellen, the wife of E. H. Lewis, of Redlands, California; Charles H., our subject; Julia A., who married T. R. McKaig, of Corwith, Iowa; and Emma, the wife of Elmer Lewis, who is living on the old homestead in Douglas county, Illinois.

Charles H. Watts was still in his infancy when his parents removed to Douglas county, Illinois, and there he was educated in the common schools. At the age of twenty-three years he came to Iowa, locating on a farm in Wright county, in the vicinity of Renwick. After cultivating that place for two years, he continued his journey westward to Montana, but only spent a short time there and returning to Iowa settled near Goldfield, where he resided for a year. In 1902, he came to Kossuth county and purchased his present place, known as “Riverside Farm.” During the ten years of his residence here he has made many improvements on the place, including the erection of two sets of buildings, and the introduction of various modern conveniences consistent with the spirit of progress he at all times manifests in his undertakings. Mr. Watts also owns one hundred and sixty acres of land in Kingsbury, South Dakota, a half mile north of the county seat, in addition to some property in Elmore, Minnesota. He is enterprising and progressive, taking an active and helpful interest in every movement that he feels will forward the development of the community. He was one of the organizers of the Cooperative Mercantile Company, and was chosen the first president of the association, which office he is still filling. He is also a director of the Farmers Cooperative Creamery Company, of Elmore, Minnesota.

On the 18th day of February, 1897, Mr. Watts was married to Miss Georgia E. Drennen, and to them have been born four children: Carl D., Sarah E., Ethel May and Harold William. The parents hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church of Elmore, Minnesota, of which the father is one of the trustees, while he has been a chorister of the various churches with which he has been identified since he was a youth of seventeen years. Fraternally Mr. and Mrs. Watts are identified with the Brotherhood of American Yeomen. In politics he is a democrat, and has for eight years been president of the school board, while for two years he has served as assessor. Enterprise and activity have always characterized Mr. Watts. He exercises good judgment and foresight in the development of his interests, and is meeting with a corresponding degree of prosperity