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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder |name= John Thomas Watkins |office= U. S. Representative for Louisiana's<br> 4th congressional district |..."
{{Infobox officeholder
|name= John Thomas Watkins
|office= [[United States House of Representatives|U. S. Representative]] for [[Louisiana]]'s<br> 4th congressional district
|term_start=March 4, 1905
|term_end=March 3, 1921
|preceded=Phanor Breazeale
|succeeded=John N. Sandlin
|office2=Judge of Louisiana's 2nd Judicial District Court (since 26th District)
|term_start2=June 2, 1900
|term_end2=December 8, 1904
|preceded2=[[Richard Cleveland Drew]]
|succeeded2=Richard Cleveland Drew
|birth_date=January 15, 1854
|birth_place=[[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], Louisiana, [[United States|USA]]
|death_date=April 25, 1925 (aged 71)
|spouse= Elizabeth Murrell Watkins (died 1921)
|children= Flora Lizzie Watkins (1881-1889)<br>
Willie Murrell Watkins (1861-1890)<br>
Elizabeth Murrell Watkins (born 1894)<br>
Drury Murrell Watkins (1818-1884)<br>
Dana Watkins (1886-1916)
|parents=John Dyer Watkins<br>
Mahala Flora Morrow Watkins
|relations=[[Lynn Kyle Watkins]] (brother)
|party=[[Democratic Party|Democratic]]
|religion=[[Methodist]]
|occupation=[[Attorney]]
|alma_mater=[[Minden (Louisiana) High School|Minden Male Academy]]<br/>
Cumberland University
|resting_place=Minden Cemetery}}
'''John Thomas Watkins''' (January 15, 1854 – April 25, 1925) was a [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[U.S. Representative]] for [[Louisiana]]'s 4th congressional district with service from 1905 to 1921. An [[attorney]] in his hometown of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]] in Webster Parish, Watkins was a state district court [[judge]] prior to his election to Congress.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/watkins-watrous.html
|title=Watkins, John T.|publisher=The Political Graveyard|accessdate=August 31, 2020}}</ref>
Watkins attended the public schools in Minden and graduated from the Minden Male Academy, a forerunner of [[Minden (Louisiana) High School|Minden High School]]. He then studied for three years at Cumberland University in Lebanon, [[Tennessee]]. As was then customary, Watkins studied law privately, was admitted to the bar in 1878, and opened his practice in Minden. He was elected judge in 1900 and served in that capacity until 1904. His father, [[Kentucky]] native John Dyer Watkins (1828-1895), was also a judge.<ref>List of District Judges for Webster Parish, ''Webster Parish Centennial Booklet, 1971,'' Webster Parish Police Jury publication.</ref>
He briefly resumed his law practice prior to his election to Congress. He defeated incumbent fellow Democrat Phanor Breazeale of [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]] for re-nomination in 1904 and was seated with the incoming 59th Congress on March 4, 1905, during the administration of [[U.S. President]] [[Theodore Roosevelt]]. In his fourth term, he became the chairman of the House Committee on Revision of the Laws.<ref name=biodirectory>{{cite web|url=https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=W000193|title=Watkins, John Thomas|publisher=''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774- Present''|accessdate=August 31, 2020}}</ref>
Watkins rarely faced serious opposition in his reelection bids until he was defeated for a ninth term in 1920 by John Nicholas Sandlin (1872-1957), another state district court judge from Minden. In 1908, Watkins defeated two opponents in the [[general election]] by a lopsided margin. He polled 88.2 percent of the ballots compared to 5.5 percent for [[Republican Party|Republican]] John F. Slattery. W . S. Emmons, the candidate of the [[Socialist Party]] of America, outpolled Slattery, having finished with 6.3 percent of the vote.<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections,'' U.S. House of Representatives, 1904–1920.</ref>
After Watkins surrendered his congressional seat to Sandlin, he practiced law in [[Washington, D.C.]], until his death.<ref name=biodirectory/> Like Watkins, Sandlin would also hold the Fourth District House seat for eight terms.
Like Sandlin, Watkins is interred in the original section of Minden Cemetery]alongside his wife, the former Elizabeth Murrell (1858-1921). Also interred at Minden Cemetery are his parents, John D. Watkins, a lawyer, judge, and Democratic politician, and the former Mahala Flora Mora (1834-1899), a native of Walton County, [[Georgia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57058216|title=Mahala Flora Morrow Watkins|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=August 31, 2020}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, John T.}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Attorneys]]
[[Category:Judges]]
[[Category:Former United States Representatives]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Methodists]]
|name= John Thomas Watkins
|office= [[United States House of Representatives|U. S. Representative]] for [[Louisiana]]'s<br> 4th congressional district
|term_start=March 4, 1905
|term_end=March 3, 1921
|preceded=Phanor Breazeale
|succeeded=John N. Sandlin
|office2=Judge of Louisiana's 2nd Judicial District Court (since 26th District)
|term_start2=June 2, 1900
|term_end2=December 8, 1904
|preceded2=[[Richard Cleveland Drew]]
|succeeded2=Richard Cleveland Drew
|birth_date=January 15, 1854
|birth_place=[[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], Louisiana, [[United States|USA]]
|death_date=April 25, 1925 (aged 71)
|spouse= Elizabeth Murrell Watkins (died 1921)
|children= Flora Lizzie Watkins (1881-1889)<br>
Willie Murrell Watkins (1861-1890)<br>
Elizabeth Murrell Watkins (born 1894)<br>
Drury Murrell Watkins (1818-1884)<br>
Dana Watkins (1886-1916)
|parents=John Dyer Watkins<br>
Mahala Flora Morrow Watkins
|relations=[[Lynn Kyle Watkins]] (brother)
|party=[[Democratic Party|Democratic]]
|religion=[[Methodist]]
|occupation=[[Attorney]]
|alma_mater=[[Minden (Louisiana) High School|Minden Male Academy]]<br/>
Cumberland University
|resting_place=Minden Cemetery}}
'''John Thomas Watkins''' (January 15, 1854 – April 25, 1925) was a [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[U.S. Representative]] for [[Louisiana]]'s 4th congressional district with service from 1905 to 1921. An [[attorney]] in his hometown of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]] in Webster Parish, Watkins was a state district court [[judge]] prior to his election to Congress.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/watkins-watrous.html
|title=Watkins, John T.|publisher=The Political Graveyard|accessdate=August 31, 2020}}</ref>
Watkins attended the public schools in Minden and graduated from the Minden Male Academy, a forerunner of [[Minden (Louisiana) High School|Minden High School]]. He then studied for three years at Cumberland University in Lebanon, [[Tennessee]]. As was then customary, Watkins studied law privately, was admitted to the bar in 1878, and opened his practice in Minden. He was elected judge in 1900 and served in that capacity until 1904. His father, [[Kentucky]] native John Dyer Watkins (1828-1895), was also a judge.<ref>List of District Judges for Webster Parish, ''Webster Parish Centennial Booklet, 1971,'' Webster Parish Police Jury publication.</ref>
He briefly resumed his law practice prior to his election to Congress. He defeated incumbent fellow Democrat Phanor Breazeale of [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]] for re-nomination in 1904 and was seated with the incoming 59th Congress on March 4, 1905, during the administration of [[U.S. President]] [[Theodore Roosevelt]]. In his fourth term, he became the chairman of the House Committee on Revision of the Laws.<ref name=biodirectory>{{cite web|url=https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=W000193|title=Watkins, John Thomas|publisher=''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774- Present''|accessdate=August 31, 2020}}</ref>
Watkins rarely faced serious opposition in his reelection bids until he was defeated for a ninth term in 1920 by John Nicholas Sandlin (1872-1957), another state district court judge from Minden. In 1908, Watkins defeated two opponents in the [[general election]] by a lopsided margin. He polled 88.2 percent of the ballots compared to 5.5 percent for [[Republican Party|Republican]] John F. Slattery. W . S. Emmons, the candidate of the [[Socialist Party]] of America, outpolled Slattery, having finished with 6.3 percent of the vote.<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections,'' U.S. House of Representatives, 1904–1920.</ref>
After Watkins surrendered his congressional seat to Sandlin, he practiced law in [[Washington, D.C.]], until his death.<ref name=biodirectory/> Like Watkins, Sandlin would also hold the Fourth District House seat for eight terms.
Like Sandlin, Watkins is interred in the original section of Minden Cemetery]alongside his wife, the former Elizabeth Murrell (1858-1921). Also interred at Minden Cemetery are his parents, John D. Watkins, a lawyer, judge, and Democratic politician, and the former Mahala Flora Mora (1834-1899), a native of Walton County, [[Georgia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57058216|title=Mahala Flora Morrow Watkins|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=August 31, 2020}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, John T.}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Attorneys]]
[[Category:Judges]]
[[Category:Former United States Representatives]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Methodists]]