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Created page with "{{Infobox Officeholder |name= John D. Watkins |image= |size= |caption= |office= Louisiana State Senator for Bienville, Bossier, Claiborne, and Webster parishes |term_sta..."
{{Infobox Officeholder
|name= John D. Watkins
|image=
|size=
|caption=
|office= [[Louisiana]] State Senator for Bienville, Bossier, Claiborne, and Webster parishes
|term_start=1880
|term_end=1884
|preceded=
|succeeded=John C. Vance<br>
James Brice
|office2=Judge of Louisiana's 2nd Judicial District Court (since 26th District)
|term_start2=1865
|term_end2=1869
|birth_date= {{birth date |1828|9|27}}
|birth_place=[[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], [[Louisiana]], [[United States|USA]]
|death_date=1895 (aged c. 66)
|spouse=Mahala Flora Morrow Watkins
|children=[[John T. Watkins]]<br>
L. K. Watkins
|parents=Thomas G. and Nancy L. Dyer Watkins
|relations=[[Alexander Banks George]] (law partner)
|party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
|religion=[[Methodist]]
|occupation=[[Educator]] and [[Attorney]]
|alma_mater=Cumberland College (Princeton, [[Kentucky]])
|resting_place=Minden Cemetery
|branch=[[Confederate]] States Army
|battles=[[American Civil War]]
|rank=[[Lieutenant colonel]] and Judge Advocate
}}
'''John D. Watkins''' (September 27, 1828 – 1895) was an [[educator]], [[attorney]], [[politician]], and [[judge]] from his adopted city of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]] in in northwestern [[Louisiana]], USA.
==Background==
A native of Caldwell County in western [[Kentucky]], Watkins was the oldest of five children of Thomas G. Watkins, a colonel of the state militia, and the former Nancy L. Dyer. He graduated from the since defunct Cumberland College in Princeton, Kentucky.
==Career==
Watkins came to North Louisiana as a teacher/principal for two years at the former Minden Male Academy, a forerunner of [[Minden (Louisiana) High School|Minden High School]]. He engaged in the private study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1852. He left the field of education when he was named [[district attorney]] for [[Claiborne Parish, Louisiana|Claiborne Parish]], which then included neighboring Webster Parish, an entity created in 1871. He was the DA from 1854 to 1859. During the [[American Civil War]], he was named the enrolling officer of the [[Confederate]] Army]] at [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]] in Ouachita Parish in northeastern Louisiana. He was made [[lieutenant colonel]] of his battalion and was judge advocate of the Trans-Mississippi Department. Watkins served as a state district court judge from 1865 to 1869, but was removed on ostensible grounds of war injuries. He therefore resumed his law practice in Minden.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=57058148|title="Judge John D. Watkins" in ''Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana"|publisher=Southern Publishing Company|location=[[Chicago]] and [[Nashville]], [[Tennessee]]|date=1890|accessdate=March 24, 2015}}</ref>
In 1879, he was a delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention. From 1880 to 1884, he was a state senator<ref name=ssenate>{{cite web|url=http://senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/1880membership.pdf|title=Membership of the Louisiana State Senate since 1880: Bienville, Bossier,
Claiborne, and Webster parishes|publisher=senate.la.gov|accessdate=March 24, 2015}}</ref> and chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He was the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for Louisiana's 4th congressional district seat in the [[United States House of Representatives]] but was denied the position because of [[Reconstruction]] political wrangling.<ref name=mindenmem/> In 1884, Watkins was a successful presidential elector for [[Grover Cleveland]] in the hard-fought national campaign against Republican former House [[Speaker]] [[James G. Blaine]] of [[Maine]].<ref name=bio/>
When Watkins left Minden Male Academy, his assistant, [[A.lexander Banks George]], became the principal. The academy was the ''[[alma mater]]'' of many of the leading citizens of North Louisiana, including Watkins's son, [[John T. Watkins]] and [[John N. Sandlin]], both eight-term members of Congress for the 4th District. Sandlin unseated John T. Watkins in the 1920 Democratic [[primary]] election. Sandlin's brother, [[McIntyre H. Sandlin]], was [[mayo]]r of Minden from 1894 to 1896, a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1896 to 1900, and the Webster Parish tax assessor from 1904 to 1937. [[Thomas Wafer Fuller]], another Minden Male Academy alumnus, editor of the ''Minden Signal-Tribune'' and the Webster Parish school superintendent,<ref name=mindenmem/> served a term in the state Senate as well.<ref name=ssenate/> [[William G. Stewart]], a pioneer farmer who lived in Webster Parish as a child prior to the Civil War, was later president of the [[Webster Parish School Board]]. The since defunct [[William G. Stewart Elementary School]] in west Minden was named in his honor. Daniel Webster Pratt, a two-term nonconsecutive Webster Parish [[sheriff]], also graduated from Minden Male Academy. [A. M. Leary|Alexander McIntyre Leary]], a businessman and the mayor of Minden from 1903 to 1905, was still another Minden Male Academy alumnus. The institution was supported by such families as the Drakes, [[Richard Cleveland Drew|Drews]], Crichtons, and Webbs.<ref name=mindenmem>{{cite web|url=http://www.mindenmemories.org/Parks%20and%20Highways.htm|title=The Impact of the Minden Male Academy|publisher=''[[Minden Press-Herald]]'' in mindenmemories.org|author=John A. Agan (Webster Parish official historian)|accessdate=March 24, 2015; website no longer on-line}}</ref>
Watkins had first met A. B. George, a native of Wilcox County in southern [[Alabama]], as a fellow student at Cumberland College, from which George graduated in 1850. He then came to Minden to work with his friend Watkins. George had also read law at night and was admitted to the bar in 1855 and joined Watkins in the formation of a law partnership. George was also a town alderman and from 1856 to 1858 the mayor of Minden, having succeeded [[W. Jasper Blackburn]], a former newspaper editor who held Louisiana's 5th congressional district seat from 1868 to 1869. Like Blackburn, George was also an editor of a newspaper, ''The Minden Democrat,'' and like Watkins a district attorney, state senator, district judge, and delegate to the 1879 constitutional convention. George left Minden after his election to the Louisiana Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, based in [[Shreveport]].<ref name=mindenmem/>
Watkins was married to the former Mahala Flora Morrow (1834-1899), a native of Walton County in north central [[Georgia]]. In addition to John T. Watkins, the couple had a second son, L. K. Watkins, also a lawyer and member of the Minden City Council, who was in practice with his father near the end of the latter's career.<ref name=mrswatkins>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=57058216|title=Mahala Flora Morrow Watkins|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=March 24, 2015}}</ref>
Watkins was a [[Methodist]]; Mrs. Watkins, [[Southern Baptist]].<ref name=bio/> The couple is interred at the historic Minden Cemetery.<ref name=mrswatkins/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, John D.}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Kentucky]]
[[Category:Educators]]
[[Category:Attorneys]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Judges]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Methodists]]
[[Category:American Civil War]]
|name= John D. Watkins
|image=
|size=
|caption=
|office= [[Louisiana]] State Senator for Bienville, Bossier, Claiborne, and Webster parishes
|term_start=1880
|term_end=1884
|preceded=
|succeeded=John C. Vance<br>
James Brice
|office2=Judge of Louisiana's 2nd Judicial District Court (since 26th District)
|term_start2=1865
|term_end2=1869
|birth_date= {{birth date |1828|9|27}}
|birth_place=[[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], [[Louisiana]], [[United States|USA]]
|death_date=1895 (aged c. 66)
|spouse=Mahala Flora Morrow Watkins
|children=[[John T. Watkins]]<br>
L. K. Watkins
|parents=Thomas G. and Nancy L. Dyer Watkins
|relations=[[Alexander Banks George]] (law partner)
|party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
|religion=[[Methodist]]
|occupation=[[Educator]] and [[Attorney]]
|alma_mater=Cumberland College (Princeton, [[Kentucky]])
|resting_place=Minden Cemetery
|branch=[[Confederate]] States Army
|battles=[[American Civil War]]
|rank=[[Lieutenant colonel]] and Judge Advocate
}}
'''John D. Watkins''' (September 27, 1828 – 1895) was an [[educator]], [[attorney]], [[politician]], and [[judge]] from his adopted city of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]] in in northwestern [[Louisiana]], USA.
==Background==
A native of Caldwell County in western [[Kentucky]], Watkins was the oldest of five children of Thomas G. Watkins, a colonel of the state militia, and the former Nancy L. Dyer. He graduated from the since defunct Cumberland College in Princeton, Kentucky.
==Career==
Watkins came to North Louisiana as a teacher/principal for two years at the former Minden Male Academy, a forerunner of [[Minden (Louisiana) High School|Minden High School]]. He engaged in the private study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1852. He left the field of education when he was named [[district attorney]] for [[Claiborne Parish, Louisiana|Claiborne Parish]], which then included neighboring Webster Parish, an entity created in 1871. He was the DA from 1854 to 1859. During the [[American Civil War]], he was named the enrolling officer of the [[Confederate]] Army]] at [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]] in Ouachita Parish in northeastern Louisiana. He was made [[lieutenant colonel]] of his battalion and was judge advocate of the Trans-Mississippi Department. Watkins served as a state district court judge from 1865 to 1869, but was removed on ostensible grounds of war injuries. He therefore resumed his law practice in Minden.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=57058148|title="Judge John D. Watkins" in ''Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana"|publisher=Southern Publishing Company|location=[[Chicago]] and [[Nashville]], [[Tennessee]]|date=1890|accessdate=March 24, 2015}}</ref>
In 1879, he was a delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention. From 1880 to 1884, he was a state senator<ref name=ssenate>{{cite web|url=http://senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/1880membership.pdf|title=Membership of the Louisiana State Senate since 1880: Bienville, Bossier,
Claiborne, and Webster parishes|publisher=senate.la.gov|accessdate=March 24, 2015}}</ref> and chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He was the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for Louisiana's 4th congressional district seat in the [[United States House of Representatives]] but was denied the position because of [[Reconstruction]] political wrangling.<ref name=mindenmem/> In 1884, Watkins was a successful presidential elector for [[Grover Cleveland]] in the hard-fought national campaign against Republican former House [[Speaker]] [[James G. Blaine]] of [[Maine]].<ref name=bio/>
When Watkins left Minden Male Academy, his assistant, [[A.lexander Banks George]], became the principal. The academy was the ''[[alma mater]]'' of many of the leading citizens of North Louisiana, including Watkins's son, [[John T. Watkins]] and [[John N. Sandlin]], both eight-term members of Congress for the 4th District. Sandlin unseated John T. Watkins in the 1920 Democratic [[primary]] election. Sandlin's brother, [[McIntyre H. Sandlin]], was [[mayo]]r of Minden from 1894 to 1896, a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1896 to 1900, and the Webster Parish tax assessor from 1904 to 1937. [[Thomas Wafer Fuller]], another Minden Male Academy alumnus, editor of the ''Minden Signal-Tribune'' and the Webster Parish school superintendent,<ref name=mindenmem/> served a term in the state Senate as well.<ref name=ssenate/> [[William G. Stewart]], a pioneer farmer who lived in Webster Parish as a child prior to the Civil War, was later president of the [[Webster Parish School Board]]. The since defunct [[William G. Stewart Elementary School]] in west Minden was named in his honor. Daniel Webster Pratt, a two-term nonconsecutive Webster Parish [[sheriff]], also graduated from Minden Male Academy. [A. M. Leary|Alexander McIntyre Leary]], a businessman and the mayor of Minden from 1903 to 1905, was still another Minden Male Academy alumnus. The institution was supported by such families as the Drakes, [[Richard Cleveland Drew|Drews]], Crichtons, and Webbs.<ref name=mindenmem>{{cite web|url=http://www.mindenmemories.org/Parks%20and%20Highways.htm|title=The Impact of the Minden Male Academy|publisher=''[[Minden Press-Herald]]'' in mindenmemories.org|author=John A. Agan (Webster Parish official historian)|accessdate=March 24, 2015; website no longer on-line}}</ref>
Watkins had first met A. B. George, a native of Wilcox County in southern [[Alabama]], as a fellow student at Cumberland College, from which George graduated in 1850. He then came to Minden to work with his friend Watkins. George had also read law at night and was admitted to the bar in 1855 and joined Watkins in the formation of a law partnership. George was also a town alderman and from 1856 to 1858 the mayor of Minden, having succeeded [[W. Jasper Blackburn]], a former newspaper editor who held Louisiana's 5th congressional district seat from 1868 to 1869. Like Blackburn, George was also an editor of a newspaper, ''The Minden Democrat,'' and like Watkins a district attorney, state senator, district judge, and delegate to the 1879 constitutional convention. George left Minden after his election to the Louisiana Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, based in [[Shreveport]].<ref name=mindenmem/>
Watkins was married to the former Mahala Flora Morrow (1834-1899), a native of Walton County in north central [[Georgia]]. In addition to John T. Watkins, the couple had a second son, L. K. Watkins, also a lawyer and member of the Minden City Council, who was in practice with his father near the end of the latter's career.<ref name=mrswatkins>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=57058216|title=Mahala Flora Morrow Watkins|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=March 24, 2015}}</ref>
Watkins was a [[Methodist]]; Mrs. Watkins, [[Southern Baptist]].<ref name=bio/> The couple is interred at the historic Minden Cemetery.<ref name=mrswatkins/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, John D.}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Kentucky]]
[[Category:Educators]]
[[Category:Attorneys]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Judges]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Methodists]]
[[Category:American Civil War]]