WATTERSON
WATTS
Democratic representative in the 26th and 27th
congresses, 1839-43, declining re-election, as he
also did in 1848 and 1856 ; was a special diplo-
matic agent to Buenos Ayres. 18-43-44, and state
senator, 1845, serving as president of the senate
and lieutenant-governor. He was proprietor and
editor of the Nashville Union, 1847-51 ; editor of
the Washington (D.C.) Union, 1851-55; a dele-
gate to the Democratic national conventions of
1848, 1852 and 1860 ; an elector-at-large on the
Douglas and Johnson ticket, 1860, and a Union
delegate to the state convention which met to
consider the secession of Tennessee, 1861. He re-
fused the governorship of Oregon in 1855, and
during the war resided at his home in Beech
Grove. He served as the adviser of President
Johnson at Washington, D.C, 1865-69 ; practised
law in Washington, 1869-79, and during the re-
mainder of his life divided his time between
Washington and Louisville, Ky., where his son,
Henry Watterson (q.v.), was editor of the Cour-
ier-Journal, to which Mr. Watterson contributed
extensively under the pen name " An Old Fogy."
He died in Louisville, Ky., Oct. 1, 1891.
WATTERSON, Henry, journalist, was born in AVashington, D.C, Feb. 16, 1840; son of Harvey Magee Watterson (q.v.) and Tabitha (Black) Watterson. He was educated by private tutors ; was a reporter and editorial writer for the Wash- ington States, 1858- 61 ; editor of the Dem- ocratic Revieiv, 1860- 61 ; of the Repuhli- can Banner, Nash- ville, Tenn., 1865-68; served as a casual volunteer staff-officer in the Confederate army, 1861-68, and as chief of scouts in General Johnston's army, 1864 ; returned to the editorship of "f^e^ WViMJT^irt^ the Banner at the close of the war, having meanwhile edited the Chattanooga Rebel, 1862-63, and in 1868 removed to Louis%'ille, Ky., to assume the management of the Journal, which, with W. N. Halden, he consolidated with the Courier and the Democrat in 1868 under the new name of the CouHer- Journal, of which he was still editor in 1903. He was temporarj" chairman of the Demo- cratic national convention of 1876 ; a represent- ative from Kentucky in the 44th congress, com- pleting the term of Edward Young Parsons, de- ceased, and serving, Aug. 12, 1876-March 3, 1877 ; subsequently declined all offers of official nomi- nation or appointment, and was a delegate to the X. — 22
Democratic national conventions of 1880, 1884,
1888 and 1892, serving as chairman of the plat-
form committee of those of 1880 and 1888. He
was married, Dec. 20, 1865, to Rebecca, daughter
of Hon. Andrew Ewing of Nashville, Tenn. Tlie
honorary degree of D.C.L. was conferred upon
him by the University of the South in 1891. He
became well known as an orator ; edited Oddi-
ties of Southern Life and Character (1882); is the
author of : Histoid of the Spanish-American War
(1899), and Lectures and Addresses (1903).
WATTERSON, John Ambrose, R.C bishop, was born in Bairdstown, Pa., May 27, 1844 ; son of John Sylvester and Sarah (McAfee) Watter- son ; grandson of John and (Eck) Watter- son ; great-grandson of John and Catherine (Spes) Watterson of Abbotstown, Pa., and a de- scendant of the Wattersons who came from the Isle of Man in 1762, members of the Established church. His grandfather, orphaned in 1774, be- came the ward of a Roman Catholic family, and accepted their faith. John A. Watterson at- tended St. Vincent's college ; was graduated from Mount St. Mary's, Emmitsburg, Md., A.B., 1865, A.M., 1868; was ordained, Aug. 9, 1868; served as professor at Mount St. Mary's ; as pastor of the parish church ; as vice-president of the college, and as president, 1878-80. He was consecrated bishop of Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 8, 1880, in St. Joseph's cathedral, by Archbishop Elder, as- sisted by Bishops McCloskey and Tuigg, and in 1884 established a college in Columbus. He re- ceived the honorary degree of D.D. from George- town (Ky.) college, in 1879, and celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of his ordination in 1893, on which occasion Governor McKinley delivered an address. Bishop Watterson died in Columbus, Ohio, April 17, 1899.
WATTERSTON, George, librarian, was born in New York city, Oct. 23, 1783. He attended Charlotte Hall college, St. Mary's county. Md. ; and subsequently practised law in Maryland and in the District of Columbia. He took part in the defence of Washington, when attacked by the British army in 1814 ; was the first librarian of congress, 1815-29 ; secretary of the National Washington Monument association, and the au- thor of : Letters from Washington (1818) ; Conrse of Study preparatory to the Bar or the Senate (1823); The Wanderer in Washington (1827); and The Lawyer, or Man as He Ought Not to Be. He died in Washington, D.C, Feb. 4, 1854.
WATTS, John, jurist, was born in New York cit}-, Aug. 27, 1749 ; son of John and Ann (De Lancey) Watts ; grandson of Robert and Mary (Nicoll) Watts (married circa 1706). who emigra- ted from Scotland at the close of the 17th century ; and of Stephen and Anne (Van Cortlandt) De Lancey, and a descendant of the famous John
