Gaston and Fannie Watson Collection

1854-1956
Manuscript Collection #1357
Portions of this collection are digitized (1 item)
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Creator(s)
Watson, Gaston, 1868-1933; Watson, Fannie Morris, 1884-1965
Physical description
2 Cubic Feet, 4 Document Cases, consisting of correspondence, summons, deeds, contracts, life insurance policies, photographs, negatives, tintype, pay records, and a publication
Preferred Citation
Gaston and Fannie Watson Collection (#1357), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
Repository
ECU Manuscript Collection
Access
No restrictions

Material (1898-1948) including legal correspondence and summons, tax receipts, accounts ledger, deeds, contracts and life insurance policies related to the real estate business of Gaston Watson (1865-1933) and his wife Fannie Morris Watson (1884-1965) of Wilson, North Carolina. Also included are photographs related to the family; WWII pay records and photographs related to son William Kirby Watson (1919-1993); and an 1854 copy of "Zion's Hymns" compiled for use in Original Free-Will Baptist Churches of North Carolina.

Biographical/historical information

Gaston Watson (1868-1933) and Fannie M. Watson (1884-1965) were involved in the real estate business in Wilson during and after the Great Depression, most often selling to advertising companies for billboard space. A portion of their finances for the business were through Branch Bank and Trust during the Great Depression. Gaston and Fannie, along with their children, were members of the First Baptist Church of Wilson. They had four children: Margaret Virginia Watson (1916-2005), William Kirby Watson (1919-1993), Thomas Gaston Watson (1921-2000), and Mary Elizabeth Watson (1923-1924).

William Kirby Watson served in WWII as a member of the Army in Italy in 1943 and in Germany in 1945. William, often referred to by his middle name, attended the Atlantic Christian College in Wilson, now Barton College. He later married Margaret Louise Hines (1923-1988) in December of 1956.

Scope and arrangement

The collection includes records pertaining to the real estate affairs of the Watson family, their personal finance records and the documents relating to the domestic life of the family. Real estate records include bank records from Branch Bank and Trust, real estate contracts, deeds, financial correspondence, contractor receipts, and a ledger. Personal finance records include account records, checks, legal summons, legal correspondence, commercial receipts, tax receipts, and utilities receipts. Personal domestic records include address books, advertisements, recipe advertisements, newspaper clippings, newsletters, a Federal Civil Defense Administration pamphlet, a report card, bank books, calendar books, personal correspondence, a will, holiday cards, a hymnal, photographs, negatives, a tintype, and WWII records.

Administrative information
Custodial History

2019-10-01, 1.65 cubic feet; Material (1898-1948) including legal correspondence and summons, bankbooks, tax receipts, accounts ledger, deeds, contracts and life insurance policies related to the real estate business of Gaston Watson (1865-1933) and his wife Fannie Morris Watson (1884-1965) of Wilson, North Carolina. Also included are photographs, a tintype, and negatives related to the family; WWII pay records and photographs related to son William Kirby Watson (1919-1993); church-related documents (1945-1956); and an 1854 copy of "Zion's Hymns" compiled for use in Original Free-Will Baptist Churches of North Carolina. Transferred from Wilson County Public Library.

Source of acquisition

Transferred from Wilson County Public Library

Processing information

Processed by Casey Harwick April 2022

Copyright notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Metadata Rights Declaration
Key terms
Personal Names
Watson, Fannie Morris, 1884-1965
Watson, Gaston, 1868-1933
Watson, William Kirby, 1919-1993--Photographs
Family Names
Watson family
Corporate Names
United States. Army--Pay, allowances, etc.
Topical
Hymns, English--United States
Real estate business--North Carolina--Wilson
World War, 1939-1945
Container list
Box 1 Folder a Branch Banking and Trust Company, 1919, 1925, 1927-1930, 1933
Box 1 Folder b Bridgers Electric Service and J.T. Dew & Bro., 1923, 1952
Box 1 Folder c Correspondence, 1923, 1931, 1934, 1954-1956, undated
Box 1 Folder d Deans & Baker Heating Co. and Daniel Roofing Supplies, 1902, 1945,1952
Box 1 Folder e Deeds and Contract, 1898, 1927, 1929
Box 1 Folder f Ledger, 1926, 1932-1942, 1944, 1948, undated
Box 1 Folder g Accounts, 1926-1927, 1930-1935, 1950-1955
Box 1 Folder h Belk-Tyler's Shop Receipts, 1944,1948,1951-1952,1956, undated
Box 1 Folder i Carolina Builders Supply Co., 1944-1945, 1949, 1951-1952, 1956
Box 1 Folder j Carolina Builders Supply Co., 1949, 1952, undated
Box 1 Folder k Carolina Telephone & Telegraph Co. Receipts, 1952,1955-1956, undated
Box 1 Folder l Carolina Telephone & Telegraph Co., 1949-1952, undated
Box 1 Folder m Checks, 1921-1928, 1932, 1945, 1952
Box 2 Folder a Cobb Moss & Son/Moss & Company, 1943-1944, 1946, 1948, 1950-1952, 1955-1956
Box 2 Folder b Cobb Moss & Son/Moss & Company, 1950-1956, undated
Box 2 Folder c Colonial Store Receipts, undated
Box 2 Folder d Dildy Hardware Co., 1944-1945, 1950, 1952, undated
Box 2 Folder e Dixie Supply Co., 1949, 1952, undated
Box 2 Folder f Efrid's Department Store Receipt, 1944, 1952, 1956, undated
Box 2 Folder g First Baptist Church Correspondence and Receipts, 1945, 1949, 1954
Box 2 Folder h First National Bank Logo Samples, 1928-1929, 1931, 1955-1956
Box 2 Folder i Home Builders Supply Co., 1949-1952, 1956
Box 2 Folder j Hospital Receipts, 1929-1930, 1944-1945, 1952
Box 2 Folder k Hussey Oil Company Receipts, 1952, 1956, 1957
Box 2 Folder l J.B. Batts & Dew Lumber Co., 1931, 1944-1945, 1952
Box 2 Folder m Jimmie Dempsey Inc. Receipts, 1949-1952, 1957, undated
Box 2 Folder n Joe's Electric Services, 1952
Box 2 Folder o Leder Bros. Department Stores Receipts, 1944, 1949, 1956-1957, undated
Box 2 Folder p Legal Correspondence and other Documents From Town & County of Wilson, N.C., 1922-1923, 1938
Box 2 Folder q Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., 1926, 1928
Box 2 Folder r Receipts, 1945, 1949-1952, undated
Box 2 Folder s O. Etheridge Store, 1950-1952, 1956
Box 2 Folder t Oettinger's Receipts, 1944, 1956-1957
Box 2 Folder u People's Hardware Co., 1950-1953
Box 3 Folder a Stephenson Milwork Co. & R.F. Beland, 1952, 1955-1956
Box 3 Folder b Store Receipts, 1944, 1956
Box 3 Folder c Taxes and Balances with Wilson County, 1922-1935
Box 3 Folder d Town of Wilson Receipts, 1921-1945, undated
Box 3 Folder e Town of Wilson Summons and Legal Proceedings, 1919-1923, 1931-1935
Box 3 Folder f Town of Wilson Taxes, 1919-1931
Box 3 Folder g Town of Wilson Taxes, 1929-1935
Box 3 Folder h Town of Wilson Taxes, 1933-1938
Box 3 Folder i Town of Wilson Utilities Receipts, 1949
Box 3 Folder j Town of Wilson Utilities Receipts, 1950
Box 3 Folder k Town of Wilson Utilities Receipts, 1951
Box 3 Folder l Town of Wilson Utilities Receipts, 1952
Box 3 Folder m Town of Wilson Utilities Receipts, 1955
Box 3 Folder n Town of Wilson Utilities Receipts, 1956-1957
Box 3 Folder o Receipt Books, 1940, 1944, 1949, undated
Box 3 Folder p Receipts From Various Businesses, 1914-1915, 1928-1933, 1941, 1944-1945, 1948-1957
Box 4 Folder a Williams Lumber Co., 1924, 1944-1945, 1948-1949
Box 4 Folder b Wilson Hardware Co. & Linville's Inc., 1944, 1952
Box 4 Folder c Wilson Market Receipt, 1955-1956
Box 4 Folder d W.L. Walston, Dr., 1945
Box 4 Folder e Miscellaneous Items, 1917, 1920, 1923, 1931, 1934, 1938, 1944, 1956, undated
Box 4 Folder f Address Book, Bank Books, Colonial Stores Sav-a-Stamp Gift Books, 1929, undated
Box 4 Folder g Advertisements, 1956, undated
Box 4 Folder h Calendar Books, Zion's Hymns, 1854, 1926, 1928
Box 4 Folder i Correspondence from Margaret, 1955, undated
Box 4 Folder j Photographs, 1932, 1943-1945, 1948, undated
Box 4 Folder k Miscellaneous Items (Correspondence, Legal, Financial), 1900, 1904-1909, 1943, 1949, 1952, 1952, 1958-1963, undated
Box 4 Folder l Holiday Cards, 1950, 1952, 1955, 1956
Box 4 Folder m John H. Morris Will, 1921
Box 4 Folder n Newsletters and Clippings, 1936, 1955, 1956
Box 4 Folder o Order of THOR the Automatic Washer, undated
Box 4 Folder q Recipe Ads, 1954, undated