Why Richards became Watson

Sometimes a family mystery gets solved when you aren't really expecting it.

In my family, my great grandfather Charles Watson was always a Watson, until he wasn’t.  That he wasn’t really a Watson was only known to us because some Scottish relatives connected with the family and informed them that his given surname was Richards.  It appears he changed his name to his mother’s maiden name of Watson sometime after he arrived in America.

Well, no one had ever known this, and we wondered why.  We also wondered who knew.  Did my great grandmother Ida Ann Bell Watson, his second wife, even know?  If she did, she didn’t tell anyone still living.

So, the question really was two-fold:  When and why did he change his name?

Most of the family seem to think he changed his name when he entered the country or became naturalized.  It was speculated that he chose his mother’s maiden name since his father died when he was 7 and he probably didn’t remember him that much, or to honor his mother.

In my search for his information, I was looking for the answer to the when part of the question, never thinking we would ever know why. I started researching this in February 2020.

Amelia Paul Cook

Charles Richards had married Amelia Paul Cook in Scotland, United Kingdom (UK) on August 31, 1877.  He was 20 and she was 19.  Her wedding photo is shown to the left. They had their first child, Charles Edward Richards, on February 13, 1879. Sometime after his birth, Charles made the decision to leave Scotland to establish himself in America.  He would travel alone and send for his family later. He worked as a currier in the tanning industry so he had a trade where he could find work.

The 1910 U.S. Federal Census indicated his arrival was around 1878, but his obituary listed his arrival in New York in 1880.  So, I searched for his journey to America in that date range and found the ship manifest for his first trip to his new country.  He left Glasgow, Scotland on the ship Bolivia of the shipping line Anchor for a 7 to 10 day trip, arriving on April 27, 1880. He was listed as Charles Richards, 23, currier, and from Scotland.  This was our guy!

His second son was born in Scotland on October 4, 1880.  This was after he had left and was living in America.  Family speculated that perhaps Amelia had an affair, but the math points to James Ross Cook Richards being the son of Charles.  Charles may not have known Amelia was pregnant, but he certainly was still in Scotland when James was conceived. We also have DNA connections to a descendant of this son, further confirming his paternity.

Having established the date and name on his arrival document, the next step was to find where he was living and what name he used.

I found him on an 1880 U.S. Federal Census for the Town of Cortlandt, Westchester County, New York.  His page has “Vil of Peekskill.” He is listed as a boarder from Scotland with the occupation currier with Scottish parents. He is also listed as single, which is interesting since he was married. It could have been an error by the enumerator or that someone else supplied the information and didn't know. Some of the other boarders in his household are also curriers.  So, he was living in the Village of Peekskill in New York and using his birth surname Richards. No name change yet.

Unfortunately, the 1890 U.S. Federal Census records were mostly lost to fire with very few left.  There is no census for Charles for that year.  However, we can trace some of his movement in other records.

Per his obituary, he started working at Scholze's Tannery in 1881 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. So, we know he didn’t stay in New York very long.  I have not found his immigration records, but the U.S. Federal Census for 1900 has 1882 as the immigration year.  It would be interesting to know which name he used for that purpose. 

The next chronological record I have found was for the arrival of his family from Scotland.  Amelia and the two boys arrived on the ship Furnessia on June 5, 1884 in New York. She was listed as Emily Watson with sons Charles and James. The ship departed from Glasgow, Scotland and Valencia, Spain. Note that she was using Watson instead of Richards so she knew of the name change before leaving Scotland.  Charles was also probably aware he had a second son born after his departure from Scotland.

First page of manifest for Ship Furnessia

Listing of Mrs Emily Watson and sons Charles and James on Furnessia manifest

An interesting note about the family’s trip is that Charles’ obituary had said that the ship which Mrs. Watson and her two small sons had sailed on from Scotland was wrecked in mid-ocean.  I did not find anything about that.  I will continue to look for more information.

The first question of our mystery about when he changed his name is partially answered. It happened sometime between the 1880 census and 1884 when Amelia uses Watson for her voyage.  It could possibly be 1881 when he started working at the Scholze’s Tannery. (See story for Scholze Tannery.)

We still don’t have any clue about why he changed his name. Or do we?

As my family knows, I am fascinated by DNA and how we receive it from various ancestors.  Especially, when I find a larger match, I want to determine which family line is responsible for passing down that shared segment or segments!  So, when I don’t see a connection that should be easy and isn’t, it becomes a challenge.

For Charles Richards (now Watson), there are some interesting connections.  For now, though, let’s solve his reason for his name change.

Thanks to relatives willing to take DNA tests for me (cousins, uncles, aunts, and my mom), I have found many distant cousins with their DNA matches.  Most of the time, it is fairly easy to identify the family line for a DNA match.

Sometimes, it is not so easy.  There were a couple of matches I found that I could not understand the connection.  So, let’s look at them.

Great Grandfather Charles Watson and our mystery DNA matches:

An interesting mystery is related to his time spent in Peekskill. I am (as well as many of the Richards descendants) a DNA match for two people who descend from a couple that lived in Peekskill when he was living there in 1880. The DNA matches both descend from George Haywood and his wife Bridget Lockwood. When I looked at the 1880 U.S. Federal Census, George is listed as a currier, perhaps a colleague of our Charles. He is from England and Bridget is from Ireland. They are both about 40 and have seven children ranging in age from 19 to 5. However, on the 1900 U.S. Federal Census, they have another child, Charlotte, born in 1882, about 8 years later than their previous child.

Charlotte married Charles Magner, and they are the couple that the mystery DNA matches have in common. I tried to link either Charlotte’s English father George Haywood or her Irish mother Bridget Lockwood to our family. I could not find a connection. It is possible that George who was born about 1838 in England may be related, and I just haven’t found that evidence. Additionally, Charles Magner does not seem to be connected to our family either. Both of his parents have Irish roots. So, that narrows it down to the Haywood/Lockwood family.

Charlotte would have been conceived when our Charles lived there. So, I am thinking it is entirely possible (but not proven) that Charles knew the older, Irish Bridget through his work connection with her husband George. They may have had an affair, leading him to leave the area without knowing that she was pregnant with Charlotte born in February 1882. Charles, according to his obituary, started working in 1881 at Sholtz Tannery in St. Elmo (Chattanooga). It is completely possible for him to have started after June 1881 when Charlotte was probably conceived. Too bad I don't have the actual date he started working in Tennessee.

So, I think the young and lonely Charles may have strayed.

By April 7, 2020, there were more answers.

Well, I was wrong. And right! Charles probably did father Charlotte, but the mother was probably not Bridget but one of her eldest daughters. I had been working with my DNA match’s wife Stacie, who is the one working on his family tree. When I told her my theory, she asked if it might have been a daughter instead of Bridget. This is why it helps to work with someone else! I was so fixed on the surname and the mother that I didn’t think to look at the daughters’ ages and that the parents might raise her as theirs.

Next, Stacie found a birth record for a Charlotta Richards born February 4, 1882. Charlotte Haywood was born in February 1882 per the 1900 US Census, but she does not appear on the birth records, not as Haywood. In April, 2020, Stacie sent a request for the birth certificate to see who was listed as the parents of Charlotta Richards. Unfortunately, New York said it could take up to 8 months to get the certificate!

Charlotta Richards Birth Listing for New York

However, I believe Charles was the father. Being married, he could not marry the mother so he high-tailed it out of there to Tennessee where he changed his name to Watson to prevent anyone finding him. Mystery solved about the name change. At this point, we just need to wait for the birth certificate to confirm this.

I periodically checked in with Stacie, who lives in New York, to see if she received the certificate. Nothing. Every time she checked, which was fairly often, the New York office told her it would still be longer.

On January 6, 2023, I decided to find more information about Peekskill while we waited and typed in "Peekskill genealogy" in Google. This took me to some listings for New York with baptisms included. From there, I went to LDS Genealogy and a few clicks later I was at "Find My Past" with one record for Charlotte Richards born 1884. I only had a free account with "Find My Past" so I was lucky it let me view the Catholic Baptism record without subscribing.

Charlotte Elizabeth Richards Baptism Record

So, on January 6, 2023, we had the proof that Charles Richards and Sarah Ann Haywood were Charlotte's parents. Stacie and I still wanted the birth certificate for additional proof and any other information it might include.

When Stacie checked again with the New York record office on July 30, 2024, she was told that all requests had been forwarded to Vitalcheck. She contacted that organization, and they had no record of her request. So she ordered the certificate through them. On August 9, 2024, more than 4 years after the first request, Stacie received the certificate!

Charlotta Elizabeth Richards Birth Certificate

The certificate showed that her father was Charles Richards born in Scotland, age 24, and occupation currier. The mother was Sarah Ann Heywood (sp), who is the daughter of George and Bridget Lockwood Haywood. So two documents show our Charles Richards, now Watson, as the father. The birth certificate even had additional details beyond the baptism record that proved it was our Charles Richards. Mystery solved and confirmed!

Apparently, Charles completely abandoned his daughter Charlotte and her mother Sarah. I wonder if Charlotte ever knew who was her father. Did her mother say anything? We don't know.

Questions remain that probably won't be answered by any research. What did Charles tell his first wife, Amelia, about his name change? What did his second wife, Ida, know about the change? Some of Charles' Scottish relatives visited in Tennessee. What had Charles told them? If anyone knew, they certainly didn't mention it.

I love DNA. It is so useful to solve so many questions!

Solved by Research/DNA 2024