Lewis Nathaniel Watkins

Lewis Nathaniel Watkins’ Personal Narrative was derived from information found in public records, military personnel files, and local/state historical association materials. Please note that the Robb Centre never fully closes the book on our servicemembers; as new information becomes available, narratives will be updated to appropriately represent the life story of each veteran.

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Military Honor(s):

Distinguished Service Cross 2 December 1918

Citation: The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Private First Class Lewis Watkins (ASN: 2816131), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company A, 350th Machine-Gun Battalion, 92d Division, A.E.F., near Eply, France, 4 November 1918. Private First Class Watkins accompanied an infantry patrol, acting as gunner with a heavy machine-gun. When a large party of the enemy had worked around the flank of the patrol and was advancing across a road along which the patrol was withdrawing he went into action with his gun at a range of less than 100 yards, although the order to withdraw had been given. Displaying exceptional coolness and bravery under heavy rifle and machine-gun fire, he succeeded in dispersing the enemy. He was the last of the patrol to retire.

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Life & Service

  • Birth: 20 August 1896, Ullin, IL, United States
  • Place of Residence:
  • Race/Ethnicity: African American
  • Death: 15 July 1971 Pulaski County, IL, United States
  • Branch: Army
  • Military Rank: Private First Class
  • Company: [Machine Gun]
  • Infantry Regiment: 350th
  • Division: 92nd

Personal Narrative

Early Life (Pre-War): Includes general parent information, sibling information, education Toggle Accordion

Lewis Nathaniel Watkins was born to Stella (maiden name unknown, 1877-?) and an unknown father on 20 August 1896 in Ullin, Illinois. After becoming widowed sometime between 1890-1900, Watkins’ mother moved the pair to Villa Ridge, Illinois. Between 1900-1910, Watkins’ mother married their landlord, Joseph Gaddis (1866-?) whose first wife had died sometime after 1900; it is unknown if Gaddis’ son, Eddie (1896-?) is the son of Gaddis and Stella, or Gaddis and his first wife, Mary.

Watkins lived with his mother and stepfather, working the family farm until his late teens. On 7 December 1917, Watkins married fellow Ullin-native, Viola Coleman (1901-?) in Pulaski County, Illinois. The couple appear to have split up in the 1920s.

Service: Includes a summary of transfers, rank change(s), training, enlistment, and discharge locations Toggle Accordion

Watkins enlisted into the U.S. Army on 29 April 1918 at Mount City, Illinois. Private Watkins and Company A, 350th Machine Gun Battalion left Hoboken, New Jersey on 10 June 1918 aboard the U.S. Army Transport Ship Mt. Vernon, arriving in Brest, France on 16 June. Then-Private First Class Watkins received the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions near Eply, France on 4 November 1918;

“The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Private First Class Lewis Watkins (ASN: 2816131), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company A, 350th Machine-Gun Battalion, 92d Division, A.E.F., near Eply, France, 4 November 1918. Private First Class Watkins accompanied an infantry patrol, acting as gunner with a heavy machine-gun. When a large party of the enemy had worked around the flank of the patrol and was advancing across a road along which the patrol was withdrawing he went into action with his gun at a range of less than 100 yards, although the order to withdraw had been given. Displaying exceptional coolness and bravery under heavy rifle and machine-gun fire, he succeeded in dispersing the enemy. He was the last of the patrol to retire.” WD, G.O. No. 139.

Watkins was promoted to Sergeant (it is assumed he was also, at one point, a Corporal) whilst in France. Sergeant Watkins and Company A, 350th MG Batt. Left Brest, France on 25 February 1919 aboard the U.S. Army Transport Ship R.M.S. Caronia, arriving in New York, New York on 6 March. Sergeant Watkins was Honorably Discharged on 18 April 1919 at Camp Grant, Illinois.

Later Life (Post-War): Includes post-war education, occupation, marriage(s) and/or children, location and date of death Toggle Accordion

Watkins returned home to live with his now-widowed mother in Ullin, but by the late 1920s, had moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he briefly convalesced in a National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (Dayton, Ohio) in March of 1927. Watkins’ whereabouts are unknown until 1940, when he is living in Cincinnati, working for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Line at Cheviot Section Railroad Yard. By that time, Watkins was married to Anna Mae Greggs Hazeley (1904-2000), who had three children from her first marriage. Two of Mrs. Watkins’ children took Lewis’ surname for brief periods of time, but reverted back to their birth names by adulthood.

Watkins lived in Ohio until the 1950s, when he moved back to Ullin, Illinois. Information on the remainder of his life is scarce; he died on 15 July 1971 of an unknown cause, and is buried in Mound City National Cemetery, Mound City, Illinois.