Henrick L. Watson, born May 2, 1845, in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, was a prominent blacksmith and repair shop owner in Adams, Nebraska. He settled in Adams 23 years ago, having worked in his trade for 40 years. Watson served briefly in the Civil War with the 161st Ohio Infantry. He gained expertise as an iron and steel worker in Denison, Ohio, and later worked in Illinois and other states before moving to Nebraska. Married to Jennie Shaw in 1887, they had six children. Watson was a Republican and active in the Presbyterian church, known for his community contributions and successful business.
Henrick L. Watson, proprietor of the general blacksmith and repair shops of Adams, Nebraska, is one of the most successful men in his line in Southeastern Nebraska. He has been a respected resident of Adams for twenty-three years, so that he is really an old settler. He has been engaged in his trade continuously for forty years, and his present prosperity has been well earned.
Mr. Watson was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, May 2, 1845. His father, William Watson, was born in Scotland, of an old Scotch family, and was a tailor by trade. He voted the Republican ticket and was a Scotch Presbyterian in religion. He died in Ohio at the age of sixty-nine, honored and respected for his worthy character. His wife was Lucy Barrett, a native of New York state, and she died when sixty-eight years old. They had eight sons and three daughters. Their son Evanett was drum major of the Ninety-eighth Ohio Infantry, and with Sherman in the march to the sea. Some of the sons are deceased, and the two daughters living are Mary and Eda.
Henrick L. Watson was reared and educated in Ohio. During the war he enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Sixty-first Ohio Infantry, under Captain Cables and Colonel Taylor, and served four months. He was at Harper’s Ferry and at various points in Virginia and Maryland. He learned his trade as an iron and steel worker in the railroad shops at Denison, Ohio, where he remained for five years, and became very proficient, as his subsequent success proves. He followed his trade in Illinois and other states for ten years and came to Johnson County, Nebraska, twenty-five years ago, two years later taking up his residence at Adams, Gage County, where he founded the business which he has carried on so successfully ever since. He has all the patronage which he can handle, and the long continuance of some of his customers gives his work the stamp of reliability.
Mr. Watson was married in 1887 to Miss Jennie Shaw, a granddaughter of Benjamin Shaw and a daughter of John Shaw, who is one of the honored old settlers of Adams, having come here in 1857. The Shaw family history is given on other pages of this work. John and Sarah Shaw both reside in Adams. Mr. and Mrs. Watson have six children: Blanche, Eda, Ruth, Lucy, Esther, and John McKibben. Mr. Watson is a Republican in political creed, and he and his wife are valued members of the Presbyterian church. They are liberal in dispensing their means and their efforts for the general welfare, and have a happy home and many friends throughout the town and county.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company, A Biographical and Genealogical History of Southeastern Nebraska, 2 volumes, Lewis Publishing Company, 1904.