Simulated Painting of  Frank & Crissie Watson
   
     Who are your ancestors and descendants?  What are some of their 
distinguishing physical features?  What are some of their misfortunes and 
accomplishments? What was their marital status? Did they produce off springs 
and if so how many? What words of wisdom and encouragement did they desire to 
pass to you? How did they impact the lives of living descendants? What was the 
cause of their death and where are they interred? Within the confines of these 
electronic walls I have done my very best to answer these most intriguing 
questions. 

    If you are a family member and cannot locate yourself in this tree or have 
corrections, information, or photos on missing ancestors and descendants, then 
I encourage you to contact me at the above address. I could not uncover the 
names of my Great-Great-Great Grandparents because they were born and died as 
slaves. However, the slave enumeration schedule of the 1860 census shows that 
they (i.e., my Great-Great-Great Grandparents) and their parents resided as 
slaves in the Alfordville township of Robeson County North Carolina.
 
   Because of the paucity of information on my Great-Great-Great 
Grandparents, I decided to begin the tree with my Great-Great Grandparents 
(Frank and Crissie Watson). To the best of my knowledge there are no photos 
available of Frank and Crissie. Therefore, the above painting is only a 
simulation of what they may have looked like late in their lives. We are all 
descendants of this lovely slave couple. Born in 1835 and 1840 as a male and 
female slave, respectively, My Great-Great Grandfather (Frank) and Great-Great 
Grandmother (Crissie) were freed from this bondage by the signing of the 
Emancipation Proclamation. To this end, I respectfully dedicate this web site 
to Frank and Crissie and to each family members of our "past," our "present," 
and our "posterity." 

    Through the efforts put forth in this web site I hope to preserve in 
electronic format historical data of this family for all future generations. 
It is my hope that our posterity will take upon the challenge of adding to 
this tree and that the final branch will terminate only with the creation of 
the new "Heaven" and the new "Earth." I hope you read each life story and do 
not depart until you have perused through the images in the two photo albums. 
Please sign our guest book so that I will know that you have visited the site 
and that you agree with the authenticity of the information written either 
about you or others in the tree for which you have knowledge.
 
    I will always be eternally thankful to those of you who have confided in 
and shared with me some of your most intimate thoughts and feelings by 
submitting to me your life story. It has truly been a humbling and rewarding 
experience and I am closer to each of you as a result. I have exercised some 
discretion and edited out some portions of your story that I feel you will 
want to keep confidential. Hopefully, the portion of it that I have shared 
here has not breached your trust in me. I have compiled a list of phone 
numbers, mailing and e-mail addresses for most living members in this family 
tree. These have not been included for security reasons. Therefore if you are 
searching for a living member in this family tree I may be able to help you.

    There have been contributions to this web site by more family members 
than I could possibly name here. However, some deserve special recognition. I 
am grateful to my uncle (Charles Printis Watson) who conceived the idea of a 
permanent set of family records for our posterity and provided a treasure 
trove of photos. I am eternally grateful to my aunt (Cleo Patricia Watson 
Southern) who assisted in the compilation of the life stories of her parents 
and grandparents and gathered together many of the images that made the 
formation of this web site a reality. I am also thankful to my three sisters 
(Cleo Cumberbatch, Vanessa Davis, and Barney Hampton), my cousin (Wilhelmina 
Colclough) and my nephew (Darrell Hampton) for their many contributions. 
Finally, I am thankful to my wife Gretchen for the many hours she has invested 
and to the employees of the North Carolina State Office of Archives and 
History for their services in the search through the slave enumeration 
records. 

    Although I have spent countless hours composing this web site, I have 
enjoyed every minute of it and hope you will also. So sit back and enjoy what 
honest research has revealed about the descendants of a slave couple but yet 
the parents of us all (Frank and Crissie Watson).  Finally, if you have 
speakers connected to your computer then fire them up and enjoy the beautiful 
music that I have composed for this special occasion!  

                                          Willie Ross Watson/Site Administrator

Music on/off