Mrs. MARGARET    WATSON 

The Story as I know it. 

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Margaret was born 1800 according to the 1850 Census which will be noted below possibly in Chester County PA.   Her birth name is unknown. 

About 1820 Margaret married John Watson.  They had at least one child and possibly more.    In 1829 the Chester County Archives has a record (probably from Orphan's Court) that states Andrew McMaster became the guardian for a 5-year-old boy named Jesse Watson  and that Jesse had lived with him since 1826.  I believe that in 1826 Andrew McMasters married the widow Margaret Watson, widow of John WatsonJesse Watson died in Delaware in 1890.  His death certificate lists his parents to be John and Margaret Watson.

Andrew McMaster had grown up in Cecil County Maryland, but then moved into Chester County, PA.  It is just across the line.  He married Ann Dobbin there.  It would have been about 1813.  They lived on and farmed the land given to her by her grandfather, James Perry of Chester County, PA.  They had 3 children:
1.  Robert James McMaster born 1814 wed Elizabeth
2.  Mary K. McMaster born 1817 wed William Ewing
3.  Joseph A.  McMaster born 1820 wed Mary

Ann Dobbin McMaster died sometime after the birth of Joseph.  I believe the new family including Margaret and her sons, John and Jesse Watson, continued on the farm, though it eventually became the property of Ann's three children. 

Margaret and Andrew also had three children.  They were

4.  Margaret Jane McMaster, born 1828 wed William Pennock
5.  Jackson McMaster born 1830
6,  Eliza McMaster born 1832

The 1830 Census for East Nottingham, Chester County PA, M19, row 148, Page 261 has the Andrew McMasters family as:

1 male < 5  (I believe this to be Jesse Watson and Jackson was born after the census was taken.  What I could find, did not provide the date taken.)
2 males 5-10 - John Watson born 1821, and Joseph McMasters born 1820
1 male 15-20 - Robert McMasters born 1816
1 male 40-50 - Andrew McMasters
1 female <5 - Margaret Jane McMasters born 1828
1 female 15-20 Mary Kay McMasters born 1817
1 female 30-40  Margaret Watson McMasters born 1800

Andrew McMaster died sometime between 1840 and 1850.  The 1850 East Nottingham Chester County PA Census we find a family grouping:
In dwelling #83 is Joseph McMaster, wife Mary and 5 children.
In #84 is Margaret McMaster, age 50 with 2 children Eliza and Jackson McMaster,
In #85 is William Ewing, wife Mary their 6 children and Sarah Perry age 70.
Robert McMaster and his family are a few pages away. 

From this I would certainly assume that Margaret ?? Watson McMaster is the mother of Margaret, Eliza and JacksonMargaret Jane was with the John Watson family in 1850 in London Grove (next township to East). They had 3 young children.. The data certainly connects the McMaster and Perry family. 

And they all seem to be cordial.  We have Margaret Jane McMaster living with John Watson, who I believe was her half brother.  and then in later life many of Ann Dobbin's children moved to Manayunk, just north of Philadelphia - when Margaret Jane McMaster Pennock became a widow, she also moved to Manayunk. 

The 1860 Chester County PA Census film 805091, roll 653_1091, page 269 has those 3 children and their large families all living next to each other. (possible on their Perry Land? They are said to be in Elk township, Joseph and Robert are farmers, William Ewing a Cooper.   Interestingly, Margaret McMaster now said to be 68, and her daughter Elizabeth McMaster, age 28 are living in London Britian township with the young Watsons that daughter Margaret Jane had lived with 10 years earlier.

Margaret ?? Watson McMaster does not show up on the 1870 Census, so I believe she died sometime after 1860 and before 1870.  I do not know where either she or her husband Andrew were buried.  So much to learn yet.

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS

If you know the answer please CONTACT US

                                        1.  What was Margaret's birth name
                                        2.  When did she marry John Watson
                                        3.  When did John Watson die and she remarry Andrew McMasters
                                        4.  When did Andrew die?
                                        5.  When did Margaret die?
                                       


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