James William Watters
James
William Watters (1874-1947) was born on Prince Edward Island, Canada,
son of Elizabeth
Fraser and Joseph
Watters. By the time 'Jim' was five or six years of age, his parents
had died. He was raised by Elizabeth's sister, Flora McGregor, who
lived in South River, Nova Scotia. The McGregor home lay in a
picturesque, pastoral valley, not far from the town of Antigonish, where
Scottish festivals are held annually.
It was
common in the 1890's for young men of the district to strike out on
their own at an early age. James William left for California when he was
sixteen. The 'pied piper' from the area was one 'California John', and
many from northern Nova Scotia heeded his call. Jim, according to family
legend, interrupted his journey west to stop in Leadville, Colorado,
where he worked, or perhaps apprenticed, as a stonecutter. He eventually
landed in Northern California, taking a job with the Canadian Pacific
Railroad in Eureka, as a member of a construction crew building
trestles.
His bride-to-be,
Grace Elizabeth
Jackson, worked in a dressmaker's shop. She peddled by on her
bicycle day after day, as she headed for her job. It is said that she
was a 'comely lass' who attracted much notice from the railroaders.
James William arranged an introduction through a friend, and started
their acquaintance and courtship at a church social. They were married
in 1902 in Eureka, her hometown.
Shortly after
their marriage and honeymoon in Nova Scotia, the newlyweds moved to Oakland,
California. Their first son, James
Leslie Watters, was born in 1903. Originally named James Jackson, his mother had the name Jackson changed to Leslie, a name that is said to have come
from a novel she had read. Florence
Elizabeth Watters was born two years later in Woodland, California. She was followed
by Raymond, who died in infancy. He is buried in Woodland.
James Leslie & Florence Elizabeth Watters
James William commuted to carpenter jobs from the family's
Oakland home. Then, in response to poor economic times, he moved the family to
Ripon, in San Joaquin County. There he acquired land, built a house, barn and
other outbuildings, and raised crops. He then sold the property, repeating the
process four times before returning to Oakland in time for the two children to
attend Fremont High School.
Janet Talcott Gawne & James Leslie Watters
James Leslie first noticed his future
wife, Janet
Talcott Gawne (see Talcott History), as he walked to Fremont from his home barely a block
below the Talcott house at High Street and Foothill Boulevard. She knew
his routine, and would make sure she was sitting out on the porch when
he passed. She later attended Mills College, and he, the University
of California at Berkeley, where he studied Foreign Trade. James Leslie
and Janet Gawne were married in Oakland in 1926. James Leslie went to
work for San Francisco's Mercantile National Bank, which later became the American
Trust Company. Meanwhile, his father, James William, together with
partner George Hill, was building homes in the Oakland Seminary
District. He and Grace lived on three acres at Washington Avenue in San
Leandro. Much of the land was occupied by a cherry orchard. They grew
cherries, pumpkins, and rhubarb, and there was always a flock of
chickens about.
James Leslie and Janet's first home
in Oakland was built for them by James William as a wedding gift. The home stood
at the extreme northeast corner of what at one time was the Talcott
dairy ranch. Over the years, James Leslie's career progressed up the banking ladder, bringing
about moves to Sacramento, Stockton, and finally back to Oakland.
The above
information courtesy of J. T. Watters, January 2000
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