The first Watson noted in this collection of Watson Family memorabilia is James Angus Watson (1859-1929), a son of John Watson Sr (1832-1898) from Fochabers, Scotland. James Angus Watson graduated Lehigh University in civil engineering in 1884 and was associated with the Pennsylvania Railroad as a civil engineer. He also was a professor of mathematics at Westminster College for a time. He studied law at Georgetown University, founded a patent law firm that included his son and eventually his grandson - the Robert Clement Watsons and his youngest son Harold Fraser Watson. In 1889 he married Mary Jane Clement (1867-?) daughter of David and Sara Jane Clement of Sunbury, Pennsylvania and sister of Charles Wolverton Clement (Uncle Charles) all of Sunbury, Pa. - [the Wolverton/Woolverton family were long established in Northumberland County and their photographs are included in this collection]. Their sons born in Washington, D.C. - Robert Clement (1890-1983), James Angus Jr. (1900-1971) and Harold Fraser (1904- 1970?):

Robert Clement Watson (1890-1983) graduated Lehigh University in civil engineering in 1913 served in the Army during WWI in the cavalry in Texas and then went on to get a law degree from George Washington University graduating in 1917. He later partnered in the patent law firms of Grindle & Watson and Watson, Cole, Grindle, and Watson, Washington D.C. During the Eisenhower administration he was Commissioner of Patents 1953-1961. In this capacity, he and his wife traveled widely and he received many citations of merit. In 1954, he received a Doctor of Laws degree from Lehigh University, in 1957 from George Washington University. He was a member of Phi Delta Phi, Psi Upsilon, American Law Institute, American Bar Association, American Patent Law Association and a Lehigh University trustee. His wife was Sara Alice (Latimer) Watson (1895-1974). Their children were Robert Jr., Olive and Alice.

Robert Clement Watson Jr. (1924-1991) graduated from Lehigh in 1949 with a BA degree and served in the Army Corps of Engineers. In WWII he accompanied General George Patton through Germany and Austria and also served in the Korean War. Retired from the military as a Major C.E. In civilian life he was in construction and a representative for the Equitable Life Assurance Company and a member of the Coopersburg Lions Club and the Lehigh Valley Chapter of Retired Officers Association. He and his wife Elizabeth “Betsy” (Fenstermaker) Watson lived in Coopersburg, PA. His children are: Robert Clement Watson III (1952- ), James Grosvenor Watson (1953- ) and Dorothy Koch Watson (1953- ).

James Angus “Gus” Watson Jr. (1900-1971) brother of Robert Clement Watson was in Lehigh’s Class of 1922 in civil engineering. He joined the Marine Corps and later was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy receiving a commission in 1924. He was appointed as a aide to President Coolidge. He was founder of Watson Automotive Equipment Company in Maryland. He and his wife Mildred Murray Watson had three sons, James A. III, David Murray and Charles Clement.

Harold Fraser Watson (1904-1974?) brother of Robert Clement and James Angus Jr. graduated Virginia Military Institute in 1925 and from Harvard Law School in 1928. He was a partner in the law firm Watson, Cole, Grindle & Watson. He was born in Washington, D.C., married Sarah K. and they have four daughters: Sarah Ellen, Mary Jane, Elizabeth, and Martha Ann.

James Angus Watson III (1928-2022) graduated Lehigh University in 1950 with a BA degree in Mechanical Engineering. He became president of Watson Automotive Equipment Company. In 1954 he married Jenifer Chazal and they have four children: James Angus Watson IV, Gary Bartling Watson, Joan Cornelia Watson, Jenifer Jean Watson.

James Angus Watson IV (1956- ) graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, retired as a U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral and continued to serve as Director of the Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement.

John Watson Sr. (1832-1898) was born in Fochabers, Scotland and came to America in 1856. He was a landscape gardener learning his profession at Gordon Castle but later in life began a school with daughter Mary Watson Reik and Esther Watson, daughter of William T. Watson where they taught Pitman shorthand. He and his wife, Jean Fraser, [a sister of William Fraser] had six children: James A. and Robert C. lawyers of Washington; John of Chicago; Dr. William T., Mary (Mrs. Henry O. Reik) and Margaret (Mrs. George Mann Richardson [LU 1886]) of Stanford, California.

John Watson Jr. (died 1939) was a attorney in Baltimore, MD and a horticulturist. He was married to Katherine Clayton Watson and they had a daughter, Katherine M. and three sons: John A. Watson of Chicago, William T. Watson of Baltimore and Kenneth C. Watson of New York.

John A. Watson, also a patent lawyer and 1923 graduate of Johns Hopkins University and later a law degree from Kent College in Chicago. He practiced law in Chicago before retiring to Phoenix, Arizona where he died. He was a son of John Watson Jr. born in Catonsville, MD, served as a second lieutenant with the United State Army in France during World War I as an aviator and during World War II he was a captain in an Army Air Corps intelligence unit. He was a member of the Chicago Bar Association and the American Patent Association. He was married to Eloise Smith of Phoenix, AZ and they has a daughter Virginia Larson of New Rochelle, N.Y.. He had a sister Katherine M. Watson and brother William T. Watson both of Baltimore. He died in 1971?

George Mann Richardson graduated Lehigh 1886 AC with a degree in chemistry. He taught chemistry at Lehigh from 1888-1891. In 1890 he got a PhD from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and married Margaret Watson [died 1945] a daughter of John and Jean Watson. George and Margaret later moved to California where he took a position at Stanford University. He died in 1902.

Margaret Watson Richardson (1861-1945), daughter of John and Jean F. Watson, widow of George Mann Richardson, a professor of chemistry at Stanford. She was a graduate of Maryland State Normal School and taught for several years in the schools of Baltimore County. She and George Richardson had a son Alan C. Richardson, a research chemist with the California Packing Company.