The Furman and Linnie Bond Watson Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Kimberly Fanning, a Nancy Watson Allen descendant, of Chapin for her essay “Why I Am Proud of My Watson Heritage.”
The announcement was made at the annual Isham and Mary Watson Descendants Association Reunion held on June 26th at Antioch Church in Sellers.
Fanning is a daughter of Rick and Floy Henry Fanning of Chapin and the granddaughter of late Tracy Festus Henry and Annie Mae Dew Henry of Latta, SC. She will be attending Lander College in the fall.
Her award winning essay is below:
Why I’m Proud of My Watson Heritage
I am proud of my Watson heritage. Some of our ancestors were long-time Southern Baptist Missionaries. Two of these were Delitha “Lila” Florence Watson (SAMUEL WATSON) and Eunice Allen Sherwood (NANCY WATSON ALLEN).
Lila was a daughter of Stonewall Culpepper and Frances Stackhouse Watson. She was born on February 5, 1892, in Sellers, South Carolina. Her childhood days were spent on her father’s farm. When she was fifteen years old, she entered high school in Dillon. When she was seventeen years, she accepted Jesus Christ as her savior and became a member of Little Rock Baptist Church. She graduated from high school in 1910 and then went to the College for Women in Columbia. She graduated in 1913. She received a bachelor of religious education degree from the Women’s Missionary Union Training School. She taught for four years in rural schools in Horry County.
Lila entered the Women’s Missionary Training School in the summer of 1917. On June 12, 1919, she received an appointment from the Foreign Mission Board to do evangelistic work with Miss Hartwell at Hwanghien, China. She never had children and never married. She served as a Southern Baptist missionary for 39 years.
Lila’s vision was to have a learning center which was to be used for the benefit of the people of the Pee Dee Baptist Association Churches. She dreamed of providing a special place for us to learn about missions and work together to make missions more than just a word. In 1976, she deeded her home and 22 acres of land in Dillon to the Pee Dee Baptist Association. This is known as Stafford Place. The property is used for missionary work and for the education of the people of Pee Dee Baptist Association Churches. At Stafford Place, local, national, and international missions are promoted. Counseling services are provided and seminary extension courses are taught. Lila lived an active life after retirement. She enjoyed entertaining relatives and friends in her home. She loved children and children enjoyed visiting Miss Lila in Dillon and learning about her life in China while being served authentic Chinese food in Chinese dishes with chopsticks.
She died on September 17, 1980, at the age of 88 and is buried in the cemetery at Antioch Baptist Church. Today, she is honored and remembered. In 2003 the Pee Dee Baptist association voted to designate a day for associational prayer and give in memory of Lila Watson. This offering is used for local missions in the Pee Dee Baptist Association.
Eunice Allen, the youngest daughter of William Benjamin and Theodosia Cox Allen, was born on October 19, 1896. She grew up attending Catfish Creek Baptist Church and was very active in Sunday School and the Women’s Missionary Society. She attended Dalcho School and graduated from Latta High School in 1914. The brick building, which housed Dalcho School, still stands today across from Catfish Creek Baptist Church. Eunice continued her education and graduated from Coker College in Hartsville in 1917. She taught school for several years.
On her birthday in 1921, in Catfish Creek Baptist Church, she married Wattie Bethea Sherwood, a Southern Baptist missionary to Brazil. She was also appointed as a missionary and they sailed together to Brazil. Eunice learned the Portuguese language and served together with Wattie for approximately thirty years. They raised, loved, and educated ten children while serving as missionaries.
After retiring, they moved to Little Rock where Eunice taught Sunday School. She was deeply loved and respected by her family and friends who enjoyed visiting with Eunice and Wattie and hearing stories of their lives in Brazil. They enjoyed fifty-nine years of married life together until Wattie died on November 4, 1980. Eunice died January 2, 1983. They were buried at St. Paul Methodist Church Cemetery in Little Rock. Today, Eunice is remembered as a kind, gentle, Godly woman who put the needs of others before her own.
I am proud of my Watson heritage for many reasons. I am proud of these two ancestors for the selfless Christian lives they led, the examples they set and the important contributions they made to our heritage. I am proud of the Watson descendants who continue the tradition of gathering together at Antioch on the fourth Sunday in June to enrich family history. I would like this legacy to continue for the many Watson descendents that will come after us. I am grateful to those past and present cousins who hold Antioch dear to their hearts and seek to preserve the buildings, grounds, and heritage.
For more information about the Watson Reunion, visit their website, www.freewebs.com /the watson connection.