Not until I was examining the will of another Watson cousin did I ever imagine that members of this long-time Rhode Island family might have moved to Mississippi and taken up the local life style.
Asa (1812-1886) and Rufus W. (1814-1865) were two of the youngest children born to Capt John and MaryWatson of Rhode Island. Both parents died in 1829 when the boys were still young. Initially their Uncle Elisha Watson served as their guardian.
By 1842 Asa was married to Ede Tennessee Taylor, a Mississippi native. In 1850 they appeared to have a residence in the state of Tennessee and a plantation in Mississippi. They had 5 children, 3 girls and 2 boys including son Wheeler Rufus Watson who served as a Confederate soldier in the Mississippi 10th Cavalry.
Rufus was two years younger than Asa, whom he likely followed or accompanied southward. In 1850 Rufus was a planter and slave holder in Mississippi, marrying Fannie Burnitt there the following year. They had 6 children, 2 boys and 4 girls, the youngest of whom was born after her father's death.
I can't quite imagine how this choice of a completely different lifestyle might have seemed to the older siblings of Asa and Rufus who lived in the north, like sister Mary Perry Watson Peckham whose son George Williams Peckham fought with the Wisconsin Heavy Artillery.
Communication and travel were not so easy in the mid-1800s, so perhaps they had no further contact after they moved away.
