Watkinson Family Papers

Samuel Watkinson Sr. (1745-1816), and his wife, Sarah Blair Watkinson (1743-1819), immigrated to the United States in 1795 from Lavenham, England, settling in Middletown, Connecticut with their twelve children. Watkinson, who worked as a successful master woolcomber, belonged to a Dissenter Society, composed of primarily tradesmen, well-to-do craftsmen, and merchants, found itself at odds with the East Anglican Church for supporting the demands of the leaders of the French Revolution.

In Connecticut, Watkinson’s sons became successful business-owners, several of Watkinson Sr.’s sons, David, Samuel Jr., Richard, and William moved to New York City to pursue business ventures when they were stricken by a yellow fever epidemic in 1798. Both Samuel Jr., and Richard died during the epidemic. David returned to Connecticut and settled in Hartford where he married Olivia Hudson (1781-1849), and became a notable printmaker, banker, businessman, and philanthropist founding Trinity College, the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford Hospital, and the predecessor to the Hartford Library, as well as being a generous benefactor to the Watkinson Library (Trinity College), Watkinson Farm School, Hartford Hospital, the Watkinson Prisoner’s Aid Society, and the city’s orphanages. Another brother, John Revell, went on to produce woolen textiles and equipment in Middletown. He founded the Pameacha Manufacturing Company and Sanseer Manufacturing Company, and married Hannah Hubbard (d.1850).