From Wadkins to Watkins — A Name Changed, A Life Started Over
**The Father: John Wesley Wadkins**
John Andrew's father was John Wesley Wadkins, born in 1824 in Wilkes County, North Carolina. He served as a Confederate soldier in the Civil War, and family records note that he fired "the biggest cannon the South ever fired at Union ships" at Fort Fisher, North Carolina, in December 1864 — a massive coastal fortress defending the last open Confederate port. Contrary to one record's claim that he did not survive the war, the dates tell a different story: John Wesley came home and died around 1870 in Wilkes County, at roughly age 46. Family lore also suggests he did some work as a bounty hunter before the war — a detail worth further research.
**John Andrew Watkins — Builder, Fugitive, Survivor**
John Andrew Watkins was born Christmas Day 1858 in Wilkes County, North Carolina, and originally carried the family name as "Wadkins." He was a skilled builder by trade. According to family accounts, he was hired to construct a house for a man who, upon completion, refused to pay the agreed-upon price. Andrew's reply was terse: "Well, I'll take it out of your hide then." And he did. The client died shortly thereafter.
Andrew left North Carolina, relocated to Damascus, Virginia, and changed the spelling of the family name from Wadkins (W-A-D-K-I-N-S) to Watkins (W-A-T-K-I-N-S) — apparently a change just significant enough to avoid being traced. He was never pursued for what happened in North Carolina.
**Two Marriages, About Twenty Children**
Andrew had married Louisa Ellis in 1878 in Wilkes County, and together they had about ten children. After Louisa's death, in 1907 Andrew married Mary Alice Ham in Damascus, Virginia — a woman of Cherokee heritage. They had about ten more children together, and Mary Elizabeth — likely the eldest of that second group — was born in 1918 when Andrew was 60 years old. She would go on to marry Eugene "Pap" Dutton and continue the family line.
**The Die Plant and the Self-Amputation**
Damascus's mountain water was famous for its quality, and several manufacturing plants located in the area because of it. Andrew worked at one of them — a die plant with enormous machine wheels and cogs. He took on extra work on Sundays lubricating the machinery, a job that required turning the wheels by hand to reach every surface. He was entirely alone.
One Sunday, his right arm got caught in the machinery. He called out, but there was nobody within hearing range — and no one was expected until the next morning. Realizing he would not survive the wait, Andrew cut off his own arm. He survived. But a right-handed man with no right arm was, as the family put it, "not particularly valued," and the injury contributed directly to the family's struggles during the Depression that followed.
**John Wesley Wadkins Jr. — "John" of Cedar Creek**
Andrew's brother (or son, depending on which record is believed) John Wesley Wadkins Jr. — who simply went by "John" — was a smallish man who did dairy work over on Cedar Creek, not far from Greenfield Baptist Church. He faithfully milked cattle for many years. One of the stories that has survived: a cow kicked him once, and John, good and aggravated, jumped up and kicked the cow back with both feet at the same time. John had daughters named Linda and Judy, and a son nicknamed "Punk."
**Poodle and John Campbell — Threads Still to Pull**
"Poodle" was a nickname in the family whose given name has not yet been recovered. And there is a man in Bristol — believed to be John Campbell — who attended a Watkins family reunion in Damascus and is said to know a great deal about the Watkins line. Finding him is on the list.
**Resting Place**
John Andrew Watkins, Sr. died in 1937 at age 78 and is buried at Greenfield Baptist Church Cemetery in Meadowview, Washington County, Virginia — not Abingdon, as some records have mistakenly noted. The tombstone has been located, and Alice's maiden name may yet be confirmed from the stone itself.