I am interested in contacting or finding anyone with information on this marriage???

CORNELIUS WATSON m. Elizabeth DAVIS, March 19th, 1807, in Prince Georges Co. Maryland.

Your Cornelius obviously fits into the extended WATSON family of Prince George's County because there was an earlier Cornelius, not a common name. See below.

Index to Probate Records of Pr. Geo. Co., MD, WATSON:

James, 17 Mar. 1777; 17 Sept. & 12 Nov. 1793; 8 Dec. 1789; accounts, 28 Apr. 1795 by Henry T. COMPTON.
Lucy, 14 July 1808.
Robert, 27 May & 4 Aug. 1830
Walter, 21 & 25 Apr. 1810, inventory 21 July 1810 by Geo. WATSON.
William, 30 Nov. 1726; 20 July 1743; (Jr.) 1 May 1802; (Sr.) 21 Jan. & 21 July 1802; accts by Jas. WATSON, 14 Je. 1803; accts. 11 Je. 1805 by Leonard WATSON.
WATTSON, Wm. inventory 22 Nov. 1743 by Eliza. WATTSON.
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MD Calendar of Wills (only goes to 1777):

William WATSON, Pr. Geo., 22 Jan. 1722, 30 N 1726. To wf. Jane & sons William & James. Overseers son-in-law John THOMAS & John GEORGE. Wit. John SPENCER, Eliz. [SHEARNEAD] SPENCER, & Peter BRIGHTWELL.

William WATSON, Pr. Geo., 20 Jan. 1743, 20 July 1743. To son Wm., land belonging to testator by bond given him by his bro. James. To wf. Eliz., exx., dw. pl. for life, then to son Benj. Wit. Geo. GIBBONS, Henry LEE, John DAVIS. {Note the DAVIS connection already. See below for WATSON - DAVIS marriage, preceding your Cornelius & Eliz.}

James WATSON, Pr. Geo., 15 July 1769, 17 Mar. 1777. To son Wm., pt/o "Wood Come." To son James, remainder of "Watson's Forest." To sons John & Isack, exs., pt/o "Colebrook{?}" & lands in the neck "Bood Come by Chance" & "Standles Chance." To daus. Eliz., Jane, & Sarah, parts of "Trenant," "Woodburn," & "Colebrook." To grandson Alexander OLIVER, land at the Horse Head. To dau. Jine (Jane), 30 a. where she now lives during widowhood. Wit. Benj. WAILS, Timothy MAHEW, Wm. WATSON, Jr.
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Pr. Geo. Co., MD, Indexes of Church Registers, Queen Anne Parish, WATSON, David & Sarah, had Mary, b. 24 F 1730, & George, b. 27 July 1739.

Pr. Geo. Parish: WATSON, Henry & Lucy, had Nancy, b. 8 Oct. 1732; John, b. 22 Mar. 1734; Henry, b. 24 Feb. 1735/6; & Mary, b. 28 Je. 1742[?]
Samuel & Sarah, had Sarah, b. 28 Je. 1763, & Peregreen, b. 16 S 1765.
King Geo. Parish, WATSON, Francis & Osley, had Robert, bpt. 31 July 1763.
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BRUMBAUGH's MD Records, Pr. Geo. Co. Marriage Licenses, 1777 - 1801:

WATSON: Ann, 6 N 1794, Thos. VAUGHAN
Ann, 20 Je. 1795, Samuel Taylor WILSON
Catherine, 29 Aug. 1781, Thos. FORSTER
Cornelius, 28 Dec. 1791, Susannah LAMAR
Eliza, 24 Oct. 1777, Josephus ADAMS
Elizabeth, 1 July 1795, Thos. POWER
Isaac, 21 Mar. 1786, Mary MAYHEW
James, 17 Jan. 1781, Sarah WATSON
James, 25 D 1799, Mary BEAVIN
Jane, 13 Jan. 1790, James LEACH
John, 28 F 1789, Susannah KING
Leonard, 7 Jan. 1792, Sarah COOKSEY
Levin, 11 Oct. 1785, Jane RALLINGS
Rebecca, 5 Jan. 1782, John S. LINCH
Richard, 19 F 1781, Ann Eustatia STEWART
Susanna, 27 D 1779, Elijah ELLIS
Susanna, 15 N 1780, Leonard KING
Thomas, 11 F 1784, Catherine NUTWELL
Verlinda, 12 Apr. 1792, John RAWLINGS
Walter, 8 Oct. 1779, Rachel STONE
Walter, 23 D 1783, Ann NAYLOR
Wm., 18 Oct. 1781, Eliza WELLS
Wm., 20 July 1784, Elizabeth RIGHT
Wm., 19 D 1793, Rebecca CHENEY.

DAVIS: Ann, 1 Oct. 1777, John TALBOTT
Ann, 18 Jan. 1793, Samuel AUSTIN
Beno, 12 F 1800, Benj. ANDERSON
Eleanor, 9 D 1783, Zacha THOMPSON
Eleanor, 28 Oct. 1796, Levin WAILES
Elizabeth, 22 Oct. 1781, Moses ORME
Henry, 23 Oct. 1790, Mary Norman MORRIS
Jemima, 15 D 1785, Walter BUTTELOR
John, 20 Oct. 1779, Mary BRYANT
Jonathan, 26 D 1787, Sarah WATSON
Joshua, 24 D 1793, Elizabeth BONIFANT
Minty, 8 Jan. 1789, Henery SWANN
Sarah, 14 Jan. 1789, Walter WHITE
Sophia, 26 F 1778, Wm. GREEN
Thomas, 8 Mar. 1791,Sarah COLLINS.

Do you have the names of the children of your Cornelius WATSON to see whether they might have been named for any of the above? Good Luck!

Do you have the names of the children of your Cornelius WATSON to see whether they might have been named for any of the above? Good Luck!

Oops... I copied your post and didn't add my own material - I guess it's true about the mind going first ...

Cornelius Watson is my gggrandfather, b. 1828, Ky. I have strong reason to believe his mother was Elizabeth, b. 1790 in Pr. Geo Co., Md. He died in 1865 in a prisoner of war camp in Indianapolis, Ind., at the end of the Civil War. He is my "brick wall". Blair and I believe that his gggrandmother, Martha, and my Cornelius were brother and sister. We are looking for evidence to support our theory.

My Cornelius' children are as follows:

(by first wife, Maryann) George W. (1849) and James (1853),
(by 2nd wife, Elvira Johnston, b. 1832 Ky.) Andrew J. (1855), Henry F. (1860); daughters: Harriet Ray Watson, Eliza Catherine Watson (all b. in Mo.)

Andrew J. Watson m. a Hibdon
Eliza C. Watson married a McDowell
Henry F. Watson m. Rosa Bodine

There is a marriage in Pr. Geo. Co. that might be the connection we seek:

CORNELIUS WATSON m. Elizabeth DAVIS
March 19th, 1807, in Prince Georges Co. Maryland

If anyone knows anything about this couple, I would be interested in hearing from you. The dates all line up, but anything is possible....

Mary Watson

Thanks Marilyn, this should be of help to both myself and Mary Anne....John Blair

In which county in Kentucky was Cornelius WATSON born? USGenWeb might have something at the county level.

Have you checked all of the censuses for the lifetime of your Cornelius WATSON, b. 1828? The 1830 KY Census should indicate which WATSON had a male of the right age. Was your inference about the mother being Elizabeth from the Pulaski Co., MO, 1850 census record?

Elizabeth WATSON, 60, b. MD; with Martha, 22; Rachael, 17, both b. KY; also Harriet RAY, 32, MD; Malinda FOSTER, 16, IL; & Thos. FOSTER, 2/12, MO.

Nearby were WATSON, Cornelius, 22, KY; Maryann, 18, MO; & Geo. W., 1, MO.

In 1840 in Miller Co., MO, there were heads of households: WATSON, Andrew, James, & John T. In 1850, Miller Co., WATSON, John, 32, MD; Sarah, 30, KY; ch. b. MO: Alexander, 11; Sarah, 9; James, 7; David, 5; & Wm., 1. {I don't see Andrew & James.}

Miller Co., MO, Marriages:
WATSON, Joab, 25 Jan. 1857, Sarah H. JOHNSON
WATSON, Cornelius, 19 N 1854, Elvina JOHNSTON
[ Elvina / Elvira JOHNSON / JOHNSTON?]
WATSON, Richard F., 27 Oct. 1854, Susanna WOOD
WATSON, Richard L., 3 Apr. 1856, Lucinda CONNER
WATSON, Wm. N., 16 Jan. 1857, Rebecca ULMAN.

RootsWeb: Cornelius WATSON m. 19 Nov. 1854, Miller Co., MO, Elvira JOHNSTON. Son Henry Franklin WATSON (Oct. 1860, MO - 17 May 1929, Mustang, OK, bu. Memorial Pk., OK City, OK) m. 25 Dec. 1883, Wise Co., TX, Rosa Jane BODINE (15 July 1866 - 29 Je. 1949). (Miller Co., MO, M. [A:175], by Reuben BURNETT, JP).

The will of Wm. BLACKWELL, made 25 July 1856, Dent Co., MO., pr. Waynesville, Pulaski Co., MO; named dau. Mary Ann WATSON. Could that mean that she and Cornelius divorced, or was that just another Mary Ann WATSON?

Have you checked whether there was a widow's pension for the Civil War service? Have you checked Camp Morton, IN, National Cemetery to see what information they might have?

I have no idea what county in Kentucky was his birthplace. I tried narrowing down the heads of household with sons in his age range in the 1830 and 1840 census, but there are more than one household that fit that slot. He also could have been in either Kentucky or Missouri during that time.

My inference about the mother being Elizabeth came from the census you quoted, yes -- Pulaski Co., Mo. 1850. The Rays and Watsons intermarried and there are, as far as I can determine, two Harriet Rays and one Harriet Ray Watson, that I know of.

I don't think Cornelius and MaryAnn were divorced - her name is difficult to make out on the census materials (it could be Margorie), but anything is possible. I have certified copies of the marriage records from Miller County of him and Elvira Johnston.

Henry Franklin Watson and Rosa Jane Bodine are my ggrandparents (both b. Mo.); they were in the Okla. land run in 1889. They had migrated into north Texas prior to 1899, which is where my grandfather, Louis Richard Watson, was born (Sunset Tx - 1885).

It is possible that the MaryAnn Watson listed in the Blackwell will could be Cornelius' wife -- I have no idea if she died or if they were divorced (isn't that rare for that time period?). I am inclined to say it is a different Mary Ann Watson, though.

I have all the records that Camp Morton could supply, including a death record; plus I got copies of all the documents the cemetery had - short of going there and physically going through whatever papers they have in the storage archives. None of them list any personal information, however.

I am not sure Elvira got a widow's pension (I hadn't looked into that) - she had remarried by 1870, and had more children with Joel Wilson, and then disappears from the census records. I haven't researched any Wilsons.

How could I get any information on the widow's pension records, if Elvira got a pension? I would bet that she did, because of the young ages of her children.

Cornelius was in the Confederate Army, served in Wood's Cavalry, late in the Civil War. I have not been able to find out much about Wood's Cavalry. I have documents showing where he was captured, but that's about it.

A young woman named "Avarilla Baker" is listed on the census with the Cornelius household, and I have no idea what the relationship was with her. I wondered if she and MaryAnn were sisters; the ages would fit well. That would then imply that MaryAnn was a Baker.

Marilyn,

Martha gave Kentucky as her birthplace as well, and listed it as Springfield, which is in Washington Co. I have also like Mary Ann researched most of Washington Co. and surrounding counties trying to determine which is the most likely Watson figure for Elizabeth's husband. John

Sorry, the National Archives can provide Union widow's pension records, but I've never tried to get those for Confederate widows. Maybe somebody else can provide an address.

Divorces were less common than now, but there were always some.

I am descended from Henry Davis b. 1760 Prince Geo. Co. m. Unknown (by me). He and his family moved to North Carolina first, then to Christian Co. Kentucky about 1810. You might check there for your Watsons. Families then seemed to move in groups. If you run across my Henry's wife, give a holler!
Lynn.