McDUFFIE COUNTY, GA - BIOS Thomas E. Watson Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Jam66inGA2@aol.com James Malone Table of Contents page: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/mcduffie.htm Georgia Table of Contents: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm THOMAS E WATSON Thomas Edward Watson was Born September 5 1856 in what at that time was Columbia County ,Later McDuffie County Georgia. Young Thomas’s first years were spent in the idyllic setting of the Families small Plantation Near the town of Thomson , the family while not overly wealthy did own a number of slaves . The Civil war years would bring hardship to the Watson Family with Thomas’s Father being wounded twice in the service of the Confederacy and the general devastation of the South by the Union Armies . After the War the Plantation was sold and The Watson family moved to a smaller farm nearby. Thomas prospered as a Lawyer in Columbia and McDuffie counties and in the early 1880's followed his Father into local politics, finally being elected to the Georgia legislature in 1882. Impatient and hardheaded Watson resigned before his term ended in 1884 and returned to Thomson. In 1890 Watson was elected to the US Congress by the Democrats , he soon drifted towards the new Populist Party representing the Small Farmers and Businessmen, and became a diehard Populist by 1892 when he helped found the Georgia Populist Party. Political war between the Hardcore Populist ,who wanted the movement to become a true third party , and Fusion Democrats who wanted a Democratic/Populist alliance, led to rampant Election fraud in the 1892 and 1894 elections which cost Watson his congressional seat . Though Defeated for reelection he continued to attack the Fusion Democrats through his news paper “The Peoples Party Paper” which enjoyed a nationwide circulation. In 1896 Watson was back on the national political scene when the Populist nominated William Jennings Bryan as their Presidential Candidate and a union of Southern Populist managed to have him nominated to the Vice Presidential ticket. Western Populist and Fusion Democrats opposed Watson, and Bryan Ignored him picking instead Fusion Democrat Arthur Sewall as his running mate . With the Bryan/Watson ticket appearing on some Ballots in the South and the Bryan/Sewall combo appearing in others the Populist failed to carry the Election Giving The Republicans the White House. Thomas Watson would be Nominated to the Populist Ticket for President in 1904 and again 1908 but the fire had gone out of the Populist movement and Watson’s former Populist ideals of racial equality and economic unity crumbled , eventually causing him to become a Virulent Racist, Anti Catholic and Anti Semitic. In 1920 an ailing Watson was Elected to the US Senate, becoming an outspoken critic of the Nations Post World War 1 Policies until 1922 when he died at the age of Sixty Six. His Body was Soon after returned to Thomson by special Train and many members of the US Senate and Important Dignitaries attended his elaborate Funeral in the Small Georgia Town he called Home for most of his Life. The Home of Thomas Watson can still be seen in Thomson Georgia ,Located near the Thomson Middle School and the Thomson Cemetery where Watson was laid to rest in 1922 A Historic Marker on the grounds of the McDuffie County Courthouse commemorates the life of this famous Georgia Public Servant and Statesman. Written by James Malone sources Thomas Watson Historic Marker McDuffie County CourtHouse Populism - The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy Houghton Mifflin - Boston 1896 The Presidential Campaign ,Cartoons and Commentary, a web site at http://iberia.vassar.edu/1896/1896home.html