DR. J. H. WATSON, Woodlawn Among the able practitioners of Materia Medica in Shiloh Township is Dr. J. H. Watson, whose name heads this brief biography. He is a native of the county, born July 31, 1846, and is a son of John H. and Elizabeth M. (Rankin) Watson.

The father was a carpenter by occupation, and in his latter years gave his attention to the office of Justice of the Peace at Mount Vernon. He was a native of Virginia, and son of Dr. Watson, a native of England, who first settled in Virginia and afterward in Jefferson County, Ill. She is a native of Tennessee and the mother of nine children, of whom seven are now living, our subject being the youngest child. He was reared and educated in the city of Mount Vernon, and where he studied medicine with Dr. Green. He afterward attended medical lectures in Cincinnati and St. Louis, and graduated from the medical college of the latter place in l867.

He first began the practice of medicine in in Dunklin County, Mo. In 1868, he returned to his native county and located in Woodlawn, where he has since remained, with the exception of two years spent in Colorado.

He was married in Woodlawn in 1870, to Miss Melissa, daughter of William Wood, for whom the town of Woodlawn was named. This union has been blessed with the followmg children: E1izabeth Neva and Thomas Bertrand.

The Dortor is an enterprisining, public-spirited citizen, and is an honor to the profession to which he is devoted. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M.and a Democrat in politics.

SOURCE: "History of Jefferson County, Illinois"
Wm. Henry Perrin - 1883

SUBMITTED BY: Misty Flannigan Dec 1997