Benton-Crawford-Washington County ArArchives Biographies.....Watson, Edmond Penn 
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Robert Sanchez http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00027.html#0006574 July 12, 2009, 6:25 pm

Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1922)

HON. EDMOND PENN WATSON.
    Hon. Edmoud Penn Watson, a member of one of the pioneer families of
Arkansas, has been a representative of the Bentonville bar since 1872 and is the
dean of the profession in this district. He has also figured prominently in
connection with public affairs in Arkansas and his record is a credit and honor
to the state which has honored him. He was born at Van Buren, Arkansas, August
31, 1848, and has therefore passed the seventy-third milestone on life's
journey, but is still an active factor in the world's work. His parents, William
Albert and Christiana L. (Crews) Watson, were natives of Virginia, whence they
removed to Arkansas in 1847, casting their lot with the pioneer settlers of the
state. They located at Van Buren, where for a number of years the father
successfully engaged in merchandising. He was a democrat in his political views,
and Mrs. Watson was a member of the Baptist church. She died at Fayetteville,
Arkansas, in January, 1872, having for twenty years survived her husband, whose
demise occurred at Van Buren in 1852. They were widely known and highly
respected residents of their section of the state. In their family were nine
children, seven sons and two daughters, and all but two are deceased, those who
survive being Clementine, the widow of Thomas H. Boles, and the subject of this
review.

    In the acquirement of an education Mr. Watson attended the schools of
Fayetteville, this state, and at the time of the outbreak of hostilities between
the north and the south he was a student at Arkansas College. During the Civil
war he aided in supporting the family and after its close engaged in clerical
work for two years. He then took up the study of law under the direction of
Major W. D. Reagan, and in 1869 was admitted to the har, entering upon the work
of the profession in Boone county, Arkansas, where he remained for nearly four
years. In 1872 he came to Bentonville, where he has continued in practice. His
ability has developed with the passing years, which have brought to him broad
experience, and that he has won the confidence and support of the public is
indicated by the large clientage accorded him. He has been admitted to practice
in all the courts and has ever held to high standards in professional service.
He displays keen discrimination in the solution of intricate problems of the law
and is seldom at fault in the application of a legal principle. He prepares his
cases with great thoroughness and his arguments are forceful and convincing,
while his deductions are at all times logical.

    In December, 1873, Mr. Watson was united in marriage to "Miss Grace
Dinsmore, a native of Benton county and a daughter of A. W. Dinsmore, who came
to Arkansas about 1846 and for many years successfully followed merchandising at
Bentonville. To Mr. and Mrs. Watson have been born eight children of whom seven
survive: Catherine C, the eldest, attended the grammar and high schools of
Bentonville and the State University and is now a teacher of expression at
Clarksville, Arkansas; Rebecca D. and Mary M. are twins. The former is the wife
of E. C. De Shong, a traveling salesman residing at Bentonville, while the
latter is employed as private secretary by a large business house of Denver,
Colorado; William W. is interested in the oil business at Wichita Falls, Texas;
Grace is the wife of W. Bull, a prominent automobile dealer of Syracuse, New
York; Edmund Penn, Jr., is a civil engineer by profession and is now residing at
San Diego, California; Charles Clement is traveling auditor for the Sinclair Oil
Company, his home being at Bentonville.

    Mrs. Watson is a member of the Presbyterian church, while Mr. Watson is
affiliated with the Episcopal denomination. He is a stanch democrat in his
political views and has been called to public positions of importance and trust.
In 1871 he was chosen to represent Boone county, Arkansas, in the state
legislature, being the youngest member of the house, and in 1877 he was called
upon to represent Benton county in that body, while in the following year he was
elected state senator from the twenty-fourth district, comprising Benton and
Madison counties. He has long been an active worker in the ranks of the party
and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1917-18. He has done much
to shape public thought and opinion, leaving the impress of his individuality
indelibly upon the history of the state, and in his public service has ever
looked beyond the exigencies of the moment to the opportunities and
possibilities of the future. For almost a half century he has been a member of
the Benton county bar, and that his life has been an honorable and upright one
is evidenced in the high regard entertained for him by his colleagues in the
profession as well as the general public.


Additional Comments:
Citation:
Centennial History of Arkansas
Volume II
Chicago-Little Rock: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
1922


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