Photo of Tabitha House and Samuel Watson, privately held by Fern Miller Harris, descendant of Tabitha and Samuel Watson's daughter Cora Bell Watson, shared with me Oct 2008.
My 3rd great-grandmother, Tabitha House (pictured above), was married first to Robert King on July 28th, 1870. You can view their marriage record here. According to Tabitha's obituary, written some 60 years later, Robert King died about 1876. I have been unable to verify this information to date. Shortly after the death of her first husband, Robert, Tabitha remarried to her 2nd husband, Samuel Watson (pictured above with Tabitha), in Highland Township, Oregon County, Missouri, on November 19th, 1879.
Marriage Certificate of Samuel Watson and Tabitha King, 19 Nov 1879, Highland Twp., Oregon Co., MO. Downloaded from Ancestry.com.
A copy of their marriage certificate is pictured above. Here is the transcript:
Transcription:
State of Missouri
County of Oregon This Certifies
That Samuel H Watson of Oregon Co. in the State of
Missouri and Tabitha King of Oregon Co., in the State
of Missouri were at Highland Tp, in said County by me joined together in
on the 19th day of Nov in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundredHOLY MATRIMONY,
and Seventy nine [1879]
IN PRESENCE OF
B E H Warren LMThe foregoing Marriage Certificate was filed for record in this office on the 17th
day of Dec A. D. 1879. M G Norman RecorderJ F Norman Deputy
When Tabitha married Samuel Watson, she had 2 small children - William Fletcher King and Dora King, my 2nd great-grandmother - with her. It appears, from talking with folks who lived in the area and knew of this family, that Dora and Fletcher took their step-father's surname of Watson for a while. In fact, they were enumerated as such on the 1880 census.
1880 Highland Township, Oregon County, Missouri Census Report, Samuel Watson head of house, Bica, William and Dora listed as Watsons as well.
Tabitha and Samuel Watson were married 46 years before Samuel passed away in 1925. Tabitha lived another 12 years following the death of her husband Sam and died in 1937 at the age of 90. Here is a photo of Tabitha in her old age. Tabitha and Samuel had eight children that I know of:
- Cora Bell Watson, b. 10 Aug 1880, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO, d. 12 Jun 1964, Koshkonog, MO
- Henry E Watson, b. July 1882, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO, d. 13 Sep 1929, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO
- Mary Malinda Watson, b. 17 Apr 1885, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO, d. 25 Nov 1954, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO
- William Amos Watson. b. 21 Mar 1887, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO, d. 10 Sep 1960, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO
- Charles Elbridge "Bob" Watson, b. 31 Mar 1889, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO, d. 16 Sep 1959, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO
- Walter Lee Watson, b. 23 Mar 1891, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO, d. 7 Feb 1954, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO
- Samuel Hansford Watson, Jr., b. 28 Feb 1893, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO, d. 30 Nov 1961, Memphis, Shelby Co., TN
- Ora May Watson, b. 28 Mar 1896, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO, d. 24 Jun 1973, Mountain View, Howell Co., MO
Sources:
Ancestry.com, "Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002," digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : downloaded 7 March 2012), The Marriage Certificate of Samuel H Watson and Tabitha King, Oregon County, Missouri; From the microfilm of the Missouri Marriage Records; Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives; Notes: Tabitha was indexed as "Talitha King."
1880 US Federal Census, Oregon County, Missouri, population schedule, Highland Township, Page 326A, Samuel Watson; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 2005); NARA Film T9, Roll 707, FHL Film 1254707.
Names, birth and death dates and locations of the children of Tabitha and Samuel Watson were compiled from a multitude of sources. If you would like more information or have information to share, please feel free to Email me.
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