Madison County NyArchives Obituaries.....Watson, Mott August 26, 1895
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Maquoketa Excelsior, Aug. 30, 1895
Maquoketa Excelsior, Maquoketa, Iowa, August 30, 1895.

Mott Watson Dead

Mott Watson was born in 1828 on a farm in Madison County, New York. He was one
of a family of twelve children-four girls and eight boys. He remained on the
farm until he was eighteen years old and then he left home and commenced doing
for himself. Being an energetic young man of exemplary habits he had no trouble
in finding remunerative employment. He had the loaning instinct from the
beginning. The first $100 he saved he sent home to be loaned for him. It was
loaned, but the loan was a bad one and Mr. Watson never saw that $100 again. But
this did not discourage him. He kept on earning and loaning until he had
accumulated quite a sum for those early days and in 1858 he came to Iowa. For
four years he lived with his brother, John Watson, eight miles west of this
city. Ain April 1862, he came to this city which remained his home until his
death, which occurred August 26, 1895, at 6:30 p.m., and resulted from a stroke
of paralysis. When he died he was not worth less than $150,000, and perhaps a
few thousand more. He made this immense fortune, with the exception of a portion
of the first few thousands by loaning money. He was very careful in making loans
and consequently met with few losses. He always tried to avoid making a loan
where there seemed to be any possibility that he might have to foreclose, and he
was held in much higher esteem among the borrowing class than the average money
lender. He was by nature of a kind and benevolent disposition. He assisted many
worthy movements liberally with his purse, and, to his credit it be said, he was
unlike many liberal givers-such givers as want $10 worth of advertising for
every dollar they give. He would seldom sign his name to a subscription paper,
but when it was necessary to put down something in order to keep a correct
account of the donations he would write or cause to be written, “A Friend.”

He left no will and his estate will be disposed of according to law. Only one
heir, his nephew Eugene of Baldwin, resides in Jackson County. Another nephew,
Leslie, lives at Wyoming. These two were the only relatives who were with him
during his last illness.

Some of our people seem to be greatly disappointed because Mr. Watson didn’t
leave the Boardman Library Institute eight to ten thousand dollars with which to
build a permanent home for that institution, but we are not surprised he did not
do so. He doubtless knew well what every person must have noticed, viz.: That
corporations are soulless in more ways than one and soon forget even their
greatest benefactors.

He knew that the late W. C, Boardman gave to the Congregational Church a nice
parsonage, several handsome donations in money, from time to time, and a
memorial window, which by the way, has been hidden from view by a shade,
although, perhaps, not so much because the members of that church wanted to
drive from their minds all remembrance of generous Mr. Boardman and his wife, as
because they desired to keep any stray ray of sunlight from penetrating to the
interior of their sanctuary. Mr. Watson doubtless knew nearly all these things
and he doubtless also knew that section 9 of Mr. Boardman’s “Last Will and
Testament,” a true copy of which may be seen at the county clerk’s office, reads
as follows:
“It is my will and desire that said trustees of the Congregational Church, of
Maquoketa, shall appropriate each year the sum of ten(10) dollars, or whatever
amount may be necessary in excess of said sum to keep in good condition and
repair the cemetery lot where the remains of my wife and step-daughter and
myself are and shall be deposited, and the headstone and monument, erected at
the several graves, in good condition and repair, also the fence around said
cemetery lot is to be kept in repair and painted white annually.”

If he knew this, he undoubtedly also knew that the trustees of that church have
never appropriated a penny toward keeping that cemetery lot, those gravestones
and that monument in good condition and repair to say nothing about painting the
fence white annually. If fact this very morning we asked a trustee of that
church, and one who has held that office for years, if he knew where the grave
of Mr. Boardman is located. His answer, promptly given, was “no.” Such an
answer, in all probability, would at least eighty per cent of the members of
that church give to that question.

Mr. Watson also knew that the member of the Boardman Library Institute who
wanted him to give the Library a building had never lifted a hand nor expended a
penny toward keeping Mr. Boardman’s grave green, although he had generously
given that organization the sum of $5,000. To be sure Mr. Boardman “willed” that
the Congregational Church should perform that duty, as shown above by article
nine, but when the Congregationalists failed to respect the will of their former
friend and generous benefactor, the  Boardman Library Institute was morally
bound to keep that cemetery lot in good condition and repair.

No; we cannot blame Mr. Watson for not doing something handsome for the Boardman
Library Institute, and especially if he was familiar with all these facts and we
believe that he was.

Funeral services were held at the Buckhorn Church Wednesday afternoon and the
remains were laid to rest in the cemetery adjoining. The world would be a much
better place to live in than it is if there were no worse men in it than Mott
Watson. He was honest, modest, unassuming, generous and kind-hearted.




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