Today, we’re examining the delayed birth certificate of Callie Watts. She was my first cousin 3x removed through the Watts side and my grand-aunt by her marriage to Jesse Cornelius Graham.

The birth certificate was called delayed because it was not issued at Callie’s birth, but some 65 years later.

Incidentally, Callie was a twin. We can assume the details in this birth certificate also applied to her sister Leona Watts.

Delayed Birth Certificate of Callie Watts, 1958.

1. Place of Birth of Child: Watts, Searcy County, Arkansas.

“None” was entered on the line for street number. Have you ever been to Watts? There’s one road. They didn’t need to number it.

This birthplace is likely wrong. The censuses of 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, and 1950, plus Callie’s death certificate all say she was born in Oklahoma. It appears the Watts family resided somewhere in Oklahoma around 1889-1894 before returning to Arkansas.

2. Full Name at Birth: Callia Dona Watts.

Callie’s full birth name.

Callie’s name is a bit hard to read due to some handwriting quirks of the notary public that completed the form. The opening of the C is facing down rather than to the right. The last letter of the first name is an A rather than an E. What looks like a tittle (the dot on lowercase I and J) appears above and to the right of the A in Dona, but that is actually part of the W in Watts — the notary wrote all the Ws on this form like that. As a result of these oddities, this document is indexed under the name “Oallia Doria Watts” at Ancestry.

“Callie Dona” could’ve been inspired by Caledonia, which was a Latin name used by the Roman Empire for Scotland.

3. Is Child Male or Female? Female.

4. What is Child’s color or race? White.

5. What was the date of Child’s Birth? 18 October 1893.

Callie’s birth date.

This date is at odds with the 1900 census, which recorded her birth date as October 1891.

18 October was a Sunday in 1891, but a Wednesday in 1893.

6. Father’s Full Name: Samuel H. Watts

That’s a strange open H.

Callie’s father, Samuel H Watts.

7. Where was Father living at the time of this birth? Watts, Ark.

Maybe wrong. Refer back to the speculation on the Watts’ stay in Oklahoma.

8. What is Father’s color? W.

9. What was Father’s age at time of birth? 29 yrs.

Wrong. Most records on Sam Watts place his birth around 1855, plus or minus a year. His age on this certificate is about a decade off — he would’ve been closer to 39 in 1893.

10. In what State or Country was Father born? Searcy Co. Ark.

That’s consistent with available records.

11. Mother’s Maiden Name: Virginia Ann Cypert.

Callie’s mother, Virginia Ann Cypert.

12. Where was Mother living at the time of this birth? Watts, Ark.

Again, maybe wrong. Again, refer back to the speculation about a stay in Oklahoma.

13. What is Mother’s color? W.

14. What was Mother’s age at time of birth? 28 yrs.

Wrong. Most records place Virginia’s birth around 1856, plus or minus a year. Her age here is about a decade off — she would’ve been closer to 38 in 1893.

15. In what State or Country was Mother born? Searcy Co. Ark.

Probably right. The 1860 census, which is the closest record to Virginia’s birth, documented her family in Sulphur Springs Township, Searcy County, Arkansas.

16. Number of Children born to this Mother up to and including this child? 6.

This matches the 1900 census, which recorded Callie’s five older siblings: Alsidine (sister), Perry (brother), Dolly (sister), Rosa (sister), and Alpha (brother). Also, this suggests that Callie was born before her twin Leona.

Affidavit

The information in this birth certificate was provided by Mary M. Treat of Searcy County, Arkansas on Wednesday, 3 July 1957. Mary was 76 years old and identified herself as Callie’s aunt. Mary was the daughter of William Alexander Watts Jr, who was Sam Watts’ brother. That means Mary was actually Callie’s first cousin, not aunt. Mary wed James Carter Treat in 1900.

Family Tree Maker is telling me Mary was also the “aunt of wife of brother-in-law” of Callie, so that could be why Mary thought she was Callie’s aunt. Let’s walk through this. Mary was actually the aunt of my grandma, Blanche Watts, who married Jesse’s younger brother Daniel Graham. So, perhaps Mary mixed up her relationship to which Watts married which Graham.

The certificate was completed and notarized by W. W. Heard, notary public, whose commission expired on Wednesday, 31 December 1958.

The certificate was filed on Tuesday, 16 July 1957 by State Registrar J. T. Herron, M. D.

Callie died one year later, on Saturday, 27 September 1958.

Bibliography

Ancestry.com, Arkansas, Birth Certificates, 1914-1917 (Lehi, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2019), Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, Arkansas Department of Vital Records; Little Rock, Arkansas; Birth Certificates; Year: 1893. Record for Oallia Doria Watts. https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=61774&h=910353&indiv=try.

Ancestry.com, 1900 United States Federal Census (Online publication – Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. .Original data – United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623.), Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, Year: 1900; Census Place: Red River, Searcy, Arkansas; Roll: 76; Page: 12; Enumeration District: 0125; FHL microfilm: 1240076. Record for Sam H Watts. https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=7602&h=20994878&indiv=try.

Ancestry.com, 1920 United States Federal Census (Online publication – Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 on roll 323 (Chicago C), Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, Year: 1920; Census Place: Mount Vernon, Searcy, Arkansas; Roll: T625_81; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 115; Image: 495. Birth date: abt 1894

Ancestry.com, 1930 United States Federal Census (Online publication – Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002. .Original data – United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626), Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, Year: 1930; Census Place: Red River, Searcy, Arkansas; Roll: 89; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 12; Image: 465.0. Birth date: abt 1894

Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Year: 1940; Census Place: Red River, Searcy, Arkansas; Roll: m-t0627-00173; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 65-13

Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2022. Original data: Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. 1913-1/1/1972. Population Schedules for the 1950 Census, 1950 – 1950. Washington, DC: National Archives at Washington, DC. Population Schedules for the 1950 Census, 1950 – 1950. NAID: 43290879. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 – 2007, Record Group 29. National Archives at Washington, DC., Washington, DC. Enumeration District: 65-16; Description: Red River township

Ancestry.com. Arkansas, Death Certificates, 1914-1969 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2019. Arkansas Department of Vital Records; Little Rock, Arkansas; Death Certificates; Year: 1958; Roll: 4; Name: Collie Graham.

Wikipedia contributors, “Caledonia,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caledonia&oldid=1089172452 (accessed June 14, 2022).

4 thoughts on “Delayed Birth Certificate of Callie Watts”

  1. Thank you, Byron!

    Callie Watts was my grandmother; Mother of my dad, Alvin Jesse Graham. Can you please clarify Callie’s mother’s maiden (last) name? I cannot make it out on the birth certificate.

    Thanks!

    Michael Graham

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  2. Byron I know both of them – Callie and Leona – have been in their homes years ago now. But I am having a little trouble getting this straight! I stayed with Leona and Ethel and remember their home had no windows, since it was summer they had removed them. The chickens would be in the window’s in the morning and the rooster would crow and always wake us up – they lived very near the Red River, where we always had our baths. It was just down the hill from their house – then they moved and years later I took my mother and stepfather and our young son to AR to visit uncle Ethel, this was after Leona had passed away. He told me to go in the house and get any dishes I wanted of hers, so I went into his kitchen and got a butter dish and the top to it and another bowl – and of course when my grandma saw them she wanted to keep them. So I did let her but she promised me that I could have them back later. Well – for some reason my mother got involved and when grandma was put in a rest home, much too young for her, she was in it for 21 years – my mother went into her home and took things that were other peoples. Then when my mother was put into a home – years later – I got my bowl back and now have it. The butter dish was given to one of my half sisters and her son threw it in the trash. This he told me when I asked about it. Interesting isn’t it – unless a person is right there – others in the family take things that belong to people and those people are being very kind and waiting – but my time never came – oh well, I got my bowl and told about it in our Watts memory book.

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