What happened to Watson, South Dakota
TLarsonHello, I am trying to find any information I can about the town of Watson, South Dakota where my great-grandmother first lived in a sod house around 1909. I can not find any information really about where it was located in the state or even what happened to the town. I don't know if it's possible to find much of anything but any information that anyone can find would be much appreciated! -Tim Larson
Jo Anne SadlerYou need to determine what county this was in. Finding your great grandmother in the 1910 census is the first step. Many of these original townships and villages no longer exist. Once you know what county it was in you can contact the local historical society for more information. Here are some links: http://www.vitalrec.com/sdlinks.html
HopkinsCheck older gazatteers, directories and postal guides for the South Dakota area. There are a number of those listed in the LDS Family History Library Catalog - other libraries and historical societies may also have others.
HopkinsIf this is the same great-grandmother that you've previously asked questions about - then you are probably confusing Watson Minnesota with South Dakota. Double check your original sources and other information given to you.
TLarsonHello, My granfather told me that Watson, South Dakota was in Day county and it was near Holmquist. Yes this is the same great-grandmother as I have asked other questions about, but I know for sure that this is Watson, South Dakota as I have a clipping from a newspaper that gave notice of her filing homestead in that area. She only lived there for about two years at the most. She did also live in Watson, Minnesota. But I am not confusing the two towns. -Tim Larson
HestehavenThere is a lot of information on Day County, SD at www.rootsweb.com/~sdday/
Jo Anne SadlerWas she listed in the 1909 Landowners in Day County? In the 1900/1910/1920 census there is no Watson village/township listed under Day County. Finding her in the 1910 census is your best bet. Sometimes people filed a homestead claim and only lived there was a short time, a few months just to satisfy the requirements of the claim. They had to build a shelter and do some farming.
BriningShe is listed in the BLM [url="http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch/Detail.asp?Accession=200118&Index=1&QryID=79317.52&DetailTab=1"]Click Here[/url] The land is in township 29N in Perkins County South Dakota Carla
BriningIn the 1910 census ENTSRUD MARTHA 23 F W UNKN SD PERKINS ALLEN PCT Carla
TLarsonShe is not listed in the 1909 landowners list for Day County or the one for 1929 as she kept the land for close to the time that she died. so she owned it up until a few years before 1973. don't know if that info might help or not. -Tim Larson
Jo Anne SadlerIs the information Brining gave you correct?
SaintOlafI grew up in the Watson, Minnesota area. You could try http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic Select South Dakota, wait for county names to load, then enter watson in the feature name. There is an historical Watson in Harding County, SD. latitude 454608N Longtitude 1035642W That is extreme NW South Dakota. There is also a Watson Mine and Watson School. If I walked on the railroad tracks NW out of Watson, Minnesota I would eventually reach the town of Holmquist, SD. I can see the railroad looking through their book of town names and planting another Watson along the same railroad tracks. The railroad would build a shack and make a sign for where they would like a town to be. Take a look at this one. http://www.sellanyhousequick.com/CityPropertySearch-SD-Watson.html What database did they buy that includes Watson, SD or did they just make up the name? And another site. http://www.allyoucanrent.com/RentSearch.php?state=SD&commProp=0&city=Watson Probably from the same database. But they felt it necessary to get the town of Watson indexed with SD at google.com