H. D. Watson
It all started with a request for information from Charlotte Graham, Mt.
Sopris (Sō’ pris) Historical Society,
Carbondale, Colo. That's in the Aspen, Rifle area on the western
slope.
She had questions about H D Watson. He was in Carbondale about 1920
organizing an agricultural colony. All I knew about him was what he
had done here in Kearney during the Boom, nothing before. Then he just
faded away after the turn of the century except for one incident in 1905.
So I started digging
1. What We Knew About Him
a. A little background about the Boom Period
Kearney Board of Trade organized in
April 1881
First project – Kearney Canal
(a) water for city
(b) power for milling & manufacture
Kearney Canal & Supply Co. formed -
$100,000 capital @ $20/share; 5,000 shares
Had to be 2/3
subscribed, [$66,666}
But 25% cash
paid to come into existence ($25,000)
City of Kearney – $30,000 bonds -
Authorized in city election
Total $55,000 to begin construction
Began late summer 1882, ran out of
$$$ in 1884
1885 – George W. Frank bought 4/5
stock in Kearney Canal & Supply Co ($80,000)
- probably invited to Kearney by cousin, Wm Patterson
[After a while even George was stretched a little thin]
b. Enter Henry D. Watson - 1888
1888 – Arrived in Kearney with
his wife, Harriet, and son Henry Oliver
Don't know what brought him to Kearney
Bought ½ of Frank holdings –
Canal Co., power plant, & 2000 acres of land
1889 – Had taken charge of the
Watson Ranch on west side of Kearney
Former Capt. David Anderson & Keck ranches [unknown # of acres]
(city directory) prop Daily Enterprise [a daily paper] & All
Nebraskan [a weekly paper],
Lived at Midway Hotel – Moved to ranch when he bought it.
Was making frequent trips East to
bring potential investors to Kearney
Had many
connections with people with money in the east
Nov 1889 – Article in Hub headlined "Kearney Cotton Mill"
[interview by Omaha Evening
Dispatch with cotton mill contingent from Kearney waiting at the
Paxton Hotel for the train east. Listed the men from Kearney and
their occupations.]
B D Smith – pres. Kearney Land &
Investment
John Bartlett – pres. Kearney Nat. Bank
R. L Spencer – manager West Kearney Co
J T Keck – Midway Hotel
O S Mardan – capitalist
Mr. Watson – a leading real estate manipulator of Kearney
1892-3 – (city directory) sec and manager of 3 land companies
1895 – Boom was over 3 years – Frank
& Watson separated their business interests
– disagreements may have been going on almost from the time Watson bought in
Frank got: [business property]
Frank Improvement Co. properties
Canal & Water Supply Co.
Electric Co.
Electric Street Railway Co.
Watson got: [real estate]
Heavy holdings of city property [lots & houses]
West Kearney Improvement Co
Kearney Land & Investment Co
Watson Ranch
Various farmland from Kearney to Stevenson Station
Where did he come from?
Where did he go?
2. Where was He Before Coming to
Kearney?
(1850 census) Born in 1847 in Amherst,
Mass., son of Oliver & Sarah Watson
Father had a business manufacturing a product made of wood
Sometime before July 1870 – Married Harriet (Hattie)
Father had died before then also
(1870 census) Household includes the young married couple (23 & 22
yrs old)
Henry’s mother, Sarah, and sisters Lizzie & Elsie
All the Watson’s have property valued at 7-9 thousand dollars each
[$9,000 1879 dollars had a value of $15,000 in 2009]
Henry was a farmer, had 3 farm hands & 1 domestic servant living with them
Sometime after about 1872 Henry & wife and son, Harry, left Amherst, Mass
Lived for a time in New York where a daughter, Genevive, was born in Jan.
1880
(1880 census) Then they moved to Montclair, New Jersey, where H D was
pub manager
[Pub as in pub or as abbreviation for publication?]
4. What Did He Do After the Boom?
Watson continued to manage the ranch but
his empire fell apart
1900 – (census) Living at the Ranch, occupation farmer
Son, Henry and wife lived there also, Henry was assistant supervisor
1903, July – Had plans to divide his 10,000 acres into
50 200-acre farms
1904 – (city directory) Had
moved into Kearney to at house at 2526 Ave A [on ½ block]
Many, many
trips out of town to Chicago, Omaha, Lincoln, occasionally west, for
business
1905 - Cultivated friendship of
writer Gene Stratton Porter.
She and her husband visited the Watsons in Kearney. H D took her on a
tour of his property.
He showed her:
His best fields (Industrial School’s best fields) His celery farm (Black’s celery farm) The ranch home (Frank House) The ranch manager’s home (Juan Boyle’s house – country club house)
She took photos for article for
Country Life in America magazine. The story was
published.
Letters were written, the magazine apologized but never printed a
retraction.
1910 – (census) In Kearney
with wife and their adopted son, Joseph, 15, who was their grandson
His son, Henry & wife also lived in Kearney
1911, March – Auction at
Watson Ranch
Sold farm machinery, horses, mules and harness.
Largest farm sale ever held in Buffalo County or central Nebraska
1911, May 31 – [age 64] Put house up for sale
1912, Oct – sheriff’s sale - 3 lots sold; house & 2
lots didn’t get high enough bid; re-advertise
1913, May 28 – moved house from Kenwood to 26th & 9th
Ave; remodeled into modern home
1917, Aug 24 – [age 70] All the Watson land to be sold
– houses, city lots, acreages
Watson said
he had an opportunity to sell to a syndicate but would rather sell it in
small lots to small investors
[May have moved to Omaha, not listed
in the 1917 city directory]
1924, Feb 8 – Col. H. D. Watson, 78, died in Omaha
Survived by invalided widow
son Ollie (Henry O) living in New Orleans
grandson Joseph, living in Omaha
Had been in failing health for past 2 years
Despite his ailments and his advanced age he persisted in pursuing an active
life.
5. The Carbondale Connection
1919, May 2 – H. D. Watson left for the east yesterday on
business connected with his Community Farm project.
Charlotte
Graham wrote: [in her local newspaper on Feb 3]
What do Missouri Heights [in Carbondale]
and Greeley [Colo.] have in common?
Both had bold visionaries who came west to create their dream of a
utopian society, one named Nathan Meeker, the other — Henry David
Watson.
It all started with a French philosopher named Charles Fourier [\ˈfu̇r-ē-ˌā\]
… who believed it was possible to create a cooperative agricultural
community for the perfect kind of life, where people live in harmony and
work together for common good ….
Here in Colorado in the late 1800s and early 1900s, plots of land were
purchased both in Greeley and Missouri Heights, and communities were
started à la Fourier
[So she started looking for information about Henry David Watson]
I was … guided to one of the commune’s great, great family members: our
own Roaring Fork High School history teacher, Larry Williams.
“Somewhere around 1920, my great-grandparents, Walton and Anna Boyd …
read an ad in the paper telling about a colony that was developing on
Missouri Heights. The colony was led by a supposed millionaire named H.D.
Watson. It was to be a communal living situation in which each family
would get 22 acres of land to farm and live on, with all profits and
expenses to be shared by everyone who joined the colony,” Larry said.
“After arriving with their five children, Walton and Anna found things
to be a little sketchy,” he added.
Next thing I knew I was in Cornhusker country…..
6. Proof from this end that Watson was
there
The Hub reported his comings and goings. Usually his business
trips took him to points east, but….
1920, June 17 – Went to Pueblo, Colo, on business
1921, April 15 – Went to Denver on business
July 21 – returned to Carbondale,
Colo. after taking care of some business here in Kearney
7. Recognition in his Declining
Years
Nov. 1915 – The Commercial Club went
on record in favor of naming the seedling mile Watson Boulevard because of
the trees he had planted [in 1893] along that road and cared for all these
years.
Jan. 1922 – Resolution passed by City Council recognizing the
contributions made by H. D. Watson –
developing alfalfa,
demonstrating fruit crops can be
raised in Nebraska,
laying out what is now called Watson
Boulevard.
At some later date some a suitable
marker was to be erected as memorial to his accomplishments
[The article also mentioned that at
this time he was a guest of the city and seriously ill.]
Sept 1923 (historical edition of the Hub for Kearney's 50th
anniversary) –
A tribute of Watson for his
achievements in Kearney, especially on the Watson Ranch
alfalfa,
winter wheat
dairy
farming.
“Had a magic touch with trees, forest
trees, fruit trees, evergreens, shrubs, etc.
Watson’s boulevard, one mile in
length adjoining the city
Double row of elms planted thirty years ago entirely at his own
cost,
Now one of the most delightful drives on the Lincoln Highway between
the two coasts.”
8. H. D. Watson – the man
Appears to have been a charismatic man,
Very persuasive,
Able to convince people of financially successful prospects
in Kearney
Painted rosy pictures
A salesman
Apparently had many contacts with wealthy families in the
East
A wheeler/dealer
“Watson's method of financing has been described as taking from Peter to pay
Paul but never giving Paul as much as was taken from Peter.” [Holmgren in
Nov 1979 Buffalo Tales]
A real estate agent
Would leverage one piece of property to buy another
Had many different partners in business, probably took the lead in most
partnerships
Kearney Land & Investment Company
West Kearney Investment Company
Miller Land Company
[This would be one reason for difficulty in knowing the number of acres he
owned]
A farmer
Introduced practice of raising winter wheat
Used crop rotation – three year alfalfa, wheat, corn system
A man with spectacular ideas, did things in a big way
Not always real practical
Didn’t really think them through.
Take Alfalfa, for example
Alfalfa grew under drought conditions & was a valuable livestock feed
1893 – raised 15 acres of alfalfa, increased to 15,000 acres in following
years
1896 – 3000 tons of alfalfa but could not sell it.
1897 – sold 1000 tons to sheep feeder for $3/ton & gave him all the old hay
in the stacks.
Could not harvest 15,000 acres of alfalfa efficiently due to lack of
equipment and men
Alfalfa grown for seed – better seed from
alfalfa in hills than in the valley
Annual cherry picking day at Watson Ranch – announced in paper each year
$1.50/bushel you pick, or $2.50 if
picked for customer
Children under 15 had to be
accompanied by a parent who would discipline them (”paddle them if they got
smart”)
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