Hampden Sydney College - Kaleidoscope Yearbook (Hampden Sydney, VA)

Page 10 text:

6 The iiialeiuosrope 1925 Asa Dupuy Watkins, A. B., B. D., D. D. HE Hon. Hugh Blair Grigsby in his remarkable address delivered at the Centennial of Hampden-Sidney College in I876 said: For l think it may be affirmed that from the opening of the Academy in January, I776, to the present moment there has hardly been an interval of time, however small, in the life of the College, during which either the honorable office of a Trustee, or of a professor, or of a pupil, or of an active benefactor, has not been borne by some one bearing the name or the blood of Paul Carrington, the elder. The same general idea was in the mind of Dr. A. Morrison when he wrote: lt is a fact worthy of noting that hardly ever has Hampden-Sidney been without a representative of the Watkins family on its Board of Trusteesf, Much the same may be said of the families of other charter members of our Board, for in Virginia the ties of heredity are strong, and the patronage of the College has been largely drawn from the descendants of the remarkable men who were its founders. A casual examination of the records will reveal the fact that the contribu- tion of the Watkins family to Hampden-Sidney, both in numbers and in service, has been noteworthy. More than fifty members of the family have been students of the College and at least eleven have been Trustees. Lack of space necessitates a mere reference to Francis Watkins, Trustee of the Academy and of the College, I775-I8I5, from its origin the active, wise and munificent friend of the institutiong to Col. Joel Watkins, of Woodfork, brother of Francis and ancestor of the Watkinses of Charlotte County, Trustee I783-I820g to Col. William lVl. Watkins, John Randolph's Yazoo man, Trustee 1803-1835, to Henry Edward Watkins, graduate of Princeton, soldier in the War of ISI 2, treasurer of Dr. Hoge's Theological School, and Trustee 1807-1831 3 to Capt. Henry A. Watkins of the Class of I793 and Trustee I8l6-1837, to Henry N. Watkins whose diploma, still in the possession of his grandson, shows him to have been a Bachelor of Arts of the Class of l807, Trustee I82l-1839, to a second Henry E.. Watkins, lawyer and planter of Prince Edward County, Trustee I836-1853, to Francis N. Watkins, judge of the County Court, treasurer of the College, and Trustee I844-1885, to Asa Dickinson Watkins, judge and Commonwealth's Attorney of Prince Edward whose bow still abides in strength, Trustee l896 to this present year of grace.

Page 9 text:

DR. ASA DUPUY WATKINS COLLEGE LIBRARY UINPDEN-SYDNEY, vA. i,- - r- fz'-I Y'

Page 11 text:

1925 Ghz iltaleinnsrnpe 7 The ancestors of this family arriving in the Colony at its first settlement and moving westward from the sea in successive generations, surveyed the un- trodden soil, felled the forests, built the school-houses, reared the churches. and laid the foundations of the social polity of the new region-a race which stood at the cradle of Hampden-Sidney, was present at her baptism, wiped the tears from her infant face, supplied her with wholesome food, filled her halls with their offspring, guided her counsels through the dangers of the first century, and are ready to achieve for their patrimonial institution a still more glorious distinction for the century to come. Mingled with the blood of the Watkinses is that of the Mortons, descend- ants of Little joe Morton of Roanoke Bridge, friend of Samuel Davies, first elder of Old Briery Church, and chief promoter of organized Presbyter- ianism in Charlotte and Prince Edward. ln this connection it will be necessary to give a brief outline of one branch of the Dupuy family, also, for through his mother Dr. Watkins is a Huguenot. john Esten Cooke but states a fact of common knowledge when he says: The Huguenots were of the best blood of France-the flower of the nobility, the middle class, and the commons. The infusion of this element into the Anglo- Saxon stock has enriched and strengthened it, fertilizing as it were by a foreign substance the originally vigorous soil. The first of the Dupuys in Virginia was Bartholomew Dupuy, born in l652, who married the Countess Susanne Lavillon, escaped from France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in I685, settled at Manakintown on the James River about I 700, and died there in l 743. His son was Peter Dupuy, Peter's son was John Bartholomew Dupuy, john Bartholomew's son was blames Dupuy, and james Dupuy's son was Col. Asa Dupuy, treasurer of Hampden-Sidney and Trustee 1831-I848, and grandfather of Asa Dupuy Watkins, the subject of this sketch. On the Watkins side of the house, the line of descent is as follows: Dr. Watkins' great-grandfather was Thomas Watkins, a soldier of the Revolu- tion and, possibly, a Trustee of Hampden-Sidney. His grandfather was Henry N. Watkins fb. l787, d. 18505 of Oldham, Prince Edward County, Virginia, first honor man of the Class of ISO7, Trustee l82l-l839. The wife of Henry N. Watkins was a Miss Morton-a descendant of Little Joe Morton and of his son Col. William Morton, the gallant officer under General Greene. One of the sons of Henry N. Watkins was Richard Henry Watkins, first-honor graduate of Washington College fWashington and Lee Universityj, Captain of Co. K, Third Virginia Cavalry, and long a well known lawyer of the Prince Edward Bar. Captain Richard Watkins' wife was Mary Purnell Dupuy, daughter of Col. Asa Dupuy, of Linden, and his wife, Emily Howe. Miss Howe was a New England lady from Princeton,