West Family Tree

Rev. Joseph Watts was a Methodist Minister and immigrated from Ireland in the early 1800's about the time of the Irish Famine. He was Scotch-Irish. The name Watts seemed to have originated in Scotland. Apparently his people fled Scotland during the religious persecution since he was a protestant. After going to Ireland, they intermarried with the Irish people.

When Joseph Watts sailed for America from Ireland he crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a sailboat. While out at sea the boat hit a calm in the ocean and drifted for weeks since there was no wind to blow against the sails of the boat; food became scarce and rationed to one soda cracker and one cup of water per person per day for several days. One day Grandfather Watts spotted a sea gull and shot it. They were so hungry that he gave his friends the entrails, head and feet to dress it for him. They ate the bird raw. In a few days they landed on the coast of North Carolina. From here he came to Union County, Georgia where he lived his life farming and pastoring churches.

In the late 1800's he ran a week Revival at Bethel Methodist Church at Wood Station. Bethel Methodist Church is now Wood Station United Methodist Church.

Written by Robert Thomas Watts as told by "my parents”