Thomas Feilding Watts - Stories by family

This memory of Thomas Fielding Watts was written by Margaret Elizabeth Holland Watts, wife of George Allison Watts, son of Thomas Fielding Watts

Thomas and Celia (Watts) lived on the James Sharpe Allison home place--a farm containing 200 acres on N. Fork of Fourth Creek. The land is owned now (1934) by George and Will Watts, first owned by Amos Weaver.

Thomas Watts made shoes for the army during the first of the (Civil) War. He belonged to the Cavalry during the last year of war.

He was a man everybody liked. He died of pneumonia, so did his daughter Julia, and left his wife a widow for many years. He enjoyed making shoes for children. He made shoes for many people. I have many of his wooden models of feet he used to make shoes. I also have two cobbler benches that he used to make shoes on. I also have a leather wallet of his that has tickets from livestock shows and from (this from his great granddaughter Elizabeth Watts Baker)
This memory was written by my father, William Allen Watts, Jr.
Thomas Fielding Watts
My Grandfather was born 5 Sept 1834 on a farm just off the Wilkesboro road (North Carolina)-the farm is now near the Statesville, NC city limits, and was a Lord Grenville land grant. My Grandfather served through the Civil Ward as a calvary man--and was apparently a subper horseman--tradition tells us that once while he was being chased by Yankee cavalrymen he ran his horse at full speed across a footlog across a ravine--the Northern Calvarymen feared to follow hom across and he escaped. Grnadfather ran the learther shop after his marriage--was on furlough several times during the war so that