Francis Watts, of Anne Arundel

Parents unknown; not the son of Edward Cornelius Watts of Stafford, Virginia. His wife was called Sarah, not Mary Purdy; she’s been detached. There’s no evidence his wife Sarah was a daughter of Colonel Ninian Beall, or that she was the same person as Sarah Magruder.

Biography

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Watts-5512

Francis Watts was most likely born in England around 1635. He was transported to the Maryland colony in 1651 by Thomas Besson.

Marriage & Family

Francis mentions his wife, Sarah In his will. No evidence of her maiden name has been found. Some researchers speculate her last name at birth was either Beall or Gassaway. Proof is needed. The will names three girls and two boys: Francis, John, Sarah, Susan & Elizabeth.

1. John b. abt. 1664 (he was 21 in 1685 to sign a deed)
2. Francis b. abt. 1667
3. Sarah b. abt. 1670 m. Stephen Warman
4. Susan b. abt. 1672
5. Elizabeth b. abt. 1675

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Notes

• Watts, Francis, A. A. Co., 2nd Dec., 1684; undated probate
• To wife Sarah, extx., plantation during life.
• To dau. Sarah and hrs., sd. plantation at death of wife.
• To daus. Eliza: and Susan, personalty.
• To sons Francis and John equally, 100 A., "Batchelor's Delight," on Wye R.
• Test: Thos. Sutton, Jas. Lewis, Jno. Purdy, Jno. Rostrick.

Death

• I Francis Watts of ye county of Anne Arundel, planter, being now well stricken in years. . .
• to my two sons FRANCIS WATTS & JOHN WATTS equally between them a tract lying in Wye River called Batchelor’s Delight 100 acres.
• to my WIFE the plantation which I know live on during her life & at her decease to my eldest daughter, SARAH WATTS, also two cows with calves to be deliver to her at ye age of 16.
• to my daughter ELIZABETH WATTS three cows with calves to be delivered to her at age 16.
• to my daughter SUSAN WATTS three cows with calves to be delivered to her at age 16.
• the remaining part of my stock, household goods to be equally divided between my wife & children.
• I constitute my loving wife SARAH WATTS executrix of this my last will.
• Signed with his mark 2 DEC 1684, and witnessed by: Thomas Sutton, James Lewis, John Purdy & John Rostrick. The probate date is not given.[4]
• Appraisers Richard Aiding, Robert Ward
• Legatees daughter Sarah, daughter Elisabeth, daughter Susanna
• List of debts: James Murrin, John Rastricke, John Sanders, John Purdy
• Frances Watts, Mar 2 1685
• Court Sessions 1685, 13:270
• Exhibited will of Francis Watts (Anne Arundel) constituting his widow Sarah executrix. Maj. Nicholas Gassaway to prove said will. Said Sarah was granted administration.
• Appraisers: Richard Tydings, Robert Ward.
• Said Gassaway to administer oath.

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• Frances Watts 8.450 I AA £53.4.2 Mar 2 1685
• The inventory also included #2946.
• Appraisers: Richard Aiding, Robert Ward,
• Legatees: daughter Sarah, daughter Elisabeth, daughter Susanna.
• List of debts: James Murrin, John Rastricke, John Sanders, John Purdy.

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His daughter Sarah married Stephen Warman. They had three known children: Mary, Stephen and Francis Warman. Evidence seems to suggest that Mary was the eldest. She married John Watkins, of whom we know very little. We know next to nothing about this couple after their marriage. That leaves us with Sarah's 2nd child Stephen whose birth date is known -- 16 Nov. 1695. Going back 18 years takes us to 1677, which one can assume to be Sarah's approximate age at the time of her marriage. But because she had an earlier child (Mary) she may well have been a couple of years older. Let's say she was born about 1675. Go back another 21 years and we have her father Francis possibly being born about 1654. But this can't be right because of the 1651 transportation records. Francis must have been older than that to have been transported into the colony without parents. He may have been underage. There are instances of children, often orphans, as young as 7-10 years old being transported. Starting with a transport date of 1651 we could get a birth year as late as 1644 or even as early as 1620. He could have been older than 30 or as young as 7 when he arrived in Maryland. His death year was 1684, so he could have been anywhere between 40 and 65 when he died. Unless a baptismal or some other legal record is found there is really no way to know for certain.

Disambiguation

There is an erroneous Find A Grave memorial that states that this Francis Watts was born in Stafford county, Virginia. However, that Francis was the wrong age, born about 1690. He died prior to 1769 in Craven county, South Carolina as proven by this will:

Fauquier Co., Virginia
23 Oct. 1753, 28 Oct. 1769, Francis Watts of Cravens Co., South Carolina
Wife, Ann Watts, to have use of slaves and land during her life, after her decease to grandson, Francis Watts. Other grandchildren unnamed.
Exr. wife, but should she die then Benjamin Stone is to act as executor.
Wit. John Dugan, Benjamin Stone, Ann Dargan or Dugan.
(John Watts ordered the above will recorded in Fauquier County.)

Another piece of evidence against this Francis Watts being the same person as the one in Maryland is the biography of Alabama Gov. Thomas Hill Watts, a descendant of the Francis Watts in Virginia, where he stated that his forebears came from Wales. Thomas Hill Watts was a ggg-grandson of Edward Watts and Anne Martin of northern Virginia.

The Francis Watts who died in Anne Arundel county was, by multiple statements made by his descendants to biographers throughout the 19th century, of English origin.

Lastly, Francis Watts was transported directly to Maryland from Britain by Thomas Besson in 1651 and does not seem to have had any connections to Virginia before arriving in Maryland.

References

1. https://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/getperson.php?personID=I6496...
2. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Watts-5512 cites
   1. Gust Skordas. (Skordas mistranscribed the 1 as a 7 from the original records.) Early Settlers of Maryland Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1968. page 490.
   2. Anne Arundel Land Records Liber IH 3 folio 110
   3. Talbot County Land Liber KK 5 folio 59
   4. Prerogative Court Wills Liber 4 folio 195 [msa.maryland.gov https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/stagser/s500/s538/000000/0000...]
3. WikiTree contributors, "Sarah (Beall) Watts (abt.1642-aft.1684)," WikiTree: The Free Family Tree, (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Beall-849 : accessed 06 February 2024). Nothing is known of Sarah's birth and parents. Her last name, Beall, is conjecture that she might be the daughter of Ninian Beall. However, in 1929 Fielder M. M. Beall stated emphatically: "Fiction writers made the following...statements", one of which was, "That Ninian Beall had two daughters in Maryland named Sarah and Margery. These two inventions are of their imagination, as they offer no proof of accuracy." [1]
   1. Fielder M. Beall, Fielder M. M..Beall. Colonial Families of the United States descended from the immigrants who arrived before 1700, mostly from England and Scotland, and who are now represented by citizens of the following names, Bell, Beal, Bale, Beale, Beall Ninian Beall] By the author: Washington, DC, 1929, page 50. Accessed 25 July 2020 ][[Day-1904|jhd. https://archive.org/details/colonialfamilies00beal/page/46/mode/2up
   2. Skordas, page 499