DOB:  April 5, 1843 DOD:  January 4, 1891 Age at Enlistment: 18 Date of Enlistment:  May 9, 1861 Place of Enlistment:  Franklin, TN Rank at Enlistment:  Private Rank at Discharge:  Private Casualty:  Disabled by a horse at Murfreesboro December 31, 1862. Comments:  The exact place of John’s birth is not certain but his family appears in the 1840 Census living in Haywood County, TN and in the 1850 Census they are living in Shelby County.  Either way he was most likely born in West Tennessee.  His father passed away in the 1850’s and John’s family moved to Williamson County (where his parents were originally from).  The 1860 Census shows John living with his widowed mother near the Nichols family.  George and James “Blackhawk” Nichols were John’s Uncles through his mother and also served in the Company.  He had an older brother named Augustus who served as a Sergeant in the 32nd Tennessee Infantry Company D.  John enlisted in the Williamson Grays at the Company’s formation.  After enlisting John’s health appears to have been pretty good.  He appears as present on all Company Rosters on his service record.  The only recorded wound he received was he was disabled by a horse at the Battle of Murfreesboro on December 31, 1862.  It is assumed it kicked him or stepped on him since as an Infantryman he probably was not riding it.  While the army was camped in Chattanooga in the summer of 1863 John got into trouble with his messmates according to a story related by George Nichols. John was in a mess with Green Moody, Hogan Moody, George Nichols, Henry Walker, and James McEwen.  One day Green Moody was able to forage up some bacon and flour but the next day everyone in John’s mess was detailed to work on the fortifications with the exception of John.  They told John to watch their food while they were out.  John’s uncle Blackhawk Nichols decided to play a trick on him and invited John to eat with his mess and afterwards John fell asleep.  While he was passed out Blackhawk took all the food and hid it from John.  When the other guys from his mess returned they found the food missing and John fast asleep.  They woke him up and started shouting at him before holding him down against a log while they beat him up.  During the beating a member of Polk’s Staff rode by and thought a mutiny was starting in camp and immediately reported the situation to Colonel Feild.  Feild looked over and saw what was happening and simply remarked, “I reckon the boys are just whipping Watson.”  To add insult to the situation Blackhawk never told them he had the bacon and kept it for himself.  William Moss relates in a letter to George Nichols at the Battle of Chickamauga on September 19, 1863, when the 1st Tennessee was retreating from the Brotherton Road, William and John were the last two to realize the regiment was leaving.  William states that he and John took off but John was able to outrun him.  When the war ended in 1865, John was 1 of 7 Williamson Grays left. After the war John worked the rest of his days as a carpenter.  He moved to his father’s family’s land on modern day Clovercroft Road near the intersection with Highway 96.  Watson Branch that runs near Hwy 96 is named after his family.  Between 1870 and 1875 he married his cousin Elizabeth Ann Searight.  They had their first child in 1875 and had at least one more.  John was a member of the McEwen Bivouac of the United Confederate Veterans in Franklin.  He passed away in 1891 and his buried next to his Uncle George Nichols in Section A of Mount Hope Cemetery. 

Three pictures of John’s grave at Mount Hope Cemetery