My Siblings

Meet My Brothers and Sister

By now you probably have read about my younger years and about finding my lost brother after 35 years of not knowing where he was. Now in this link, I’ll tell you a little about my other four brothers and my sister.

Our natural father Merrell Merle Watson was born March 14, 1910 in Odessa Township, Jewell County, Kansas. He grew up as an only child of Mary E. Watson. She never married. Merrell grew up in Odessa Township, and went to school for a few years and then had to quit. One day when he was in Red Cloud, Nebraska, he stopped in a cafe to have something to eat, and met our natural mother there, Julia R. Houghtaling, where she was waiting tables as a waitress. She told me later that he kept coming up to Red Cloud, and they kept going out together. One day he asked her to marry him. So on November 8, 1937 they got married in Red Cloud, Nebraska. Julia Houghtaling was born October 24, 1917 in Esbon, Jewell County, Kansas. She came from a family of seven brothers and seven sisters including her.

After they were married they moved to the farm of Merrell’s Uncle Ernest Rife, near Lebanon, Smith County, Kansas. There his Uncle let them use one of his hog houses to live in. It was one big building, with one room in it. Merrell and Julia decorated the room and put up curtains and placed furniture in it. The house had a dirt floor, and they used a wood stove in the winter time to heat it. At this time Merrell just worked as a helping hand on the farm for their keep. On a cold winter day on March 2, 1939, the first child was born to them. Merle Merrell Watson. After a year of living in the hog house, Ernest Rife came to them and told them he wanted his hog house back to put hogs back into it, so they had to move. They moved to Esbon, Jewell County, Kansas. There our parents lived until the break up of the marriage and our adoptions.

Our Natural Father Merrell M. Watson, remarried again to a Violet T. Ryther on September 15, 1956. This marriage only lasted about a little over a year, when they ended up getting a divorce. Then he remarried again to Ann G. Field on August 21, 1963 in Phillipsburg, Kansas. She owned a house in Ionia, Jewell county, Kansas and they moved there until her death in 1979. Merrell lived in the house until his death on July 29, 1999. He was buried next to his mother in Odessa Cemetery, Jewell Co. Kansas.

Here’s a picture of Merrell taken not too long ago.

Our Natural mother, Julia Houghtaling Watson, moved to Miles City, Montana, and worked in a cafe there for awhile, and then did domestic housework on different ranches south of Miles City. About 1958, she move to Casper, Wyoming, with a friend. There she started cleaning hotel rooms for a living. She married a Ben Uhle of Casper about 1965. She was only married to him about three years before he died in 1967. She lived in Casper, making it her home. She passed away on Febuary 20, 1999.

The following is a picture of her taken a few years ago.

Merle Merrell Watson was born March 2, 1939. He was about 13 or 14 when the family was broken up. He was placed in several foster homes, but alot of them couldn’t control him, so he ended up living most of his time with his father. He would stay with some of his cousins for awhile. He joined the Army in the early 60s. While in the Army he met Darlene J. Thompson and they were married November 22, 1965 in Huntsville, Arkansas. They had a few children, two of them died, and one was taken away from them and put up for adoption. He stayed in the Army for about eight years and then had to get out on a medical discharge. He started working all of the State and County Fairs, selling trinkets from a bus he had. He would set up a stand at the fairs and sell them that way. He and his wife lived with his dad for several years, and finally drained his dad's saving accounts dry. The local County Court forced him to move away from his father. Merle and Darlene were divorced in 1990. He lived with his father, Merrell in the 80s, and then after he divorced Darlene, he moved to Texas, where he is today. He married a woman half his age and has two children by her.

Rosealie Belle Watson was born Oct 25, 1941 in Esbon, Jewell County, Kansas. She was about 11 when the family broke up. She always went over to Burr Oak, the next town over to see Milo and Rose E Tegley and stayed with them half the time. They went to the same church we did, and took her home with them. She went to the school at Esbon for awhile. She was adopted my Milo and Rose E Tegley in 1953, and they moved to Hastings, Nebraska for awhile and then on to Lincoln, Nebraska. They were C.E.F Directors of Nebraska. Rose worked as a full time office worker for them. She never did graduate from High School, but instead decided to get married. She married James Kurtz on June 11, 1965 and had two daughters by him, Janet Faye born November 20, 1965 in Lincoln. She has three children from two different marriages. She has been married six times and lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The second daughter of James and Rose Kurtz is Diane Kaye, born September 4 1968 in Lincoln. She’s unmarried, and lives near Belfontaine, Ohio. James Kurtz worked for Russell Stover Candy Company for awhile in Omaha, Nebraska and then got a job with the Post Office. Later on he decided to move to Leo, Indiana, which is near Ft Wayne. Rose followed shortly after that. Her two daughters went to school in Leo, Indiana. James Kurtz moved to Leo, Indiana to help his brother in the siding business he owned. Toward the last few years of their marriage he developed Lou Gehrig disease. On July 11, 1980, he died. My sister Rose sufficated him with a pillow to put him out of his misery. She told me she did it for mercy. Her daughter, Janet, turned her in in 1992, and she pleaded guilty, and is now serving a 20 year sentence in Indiana for 2nd degree murder. She made Janet come downstairs and help her do the sufficating. I do not know why my sister stayed married to James, as he loved to run around with other women. Both in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Ft. Wayne, Indiana. All of the time they lived in Ft Wayne, Indiana, he lived with another woman, until his last few months on earth, before his death, then he came back and lived with Rose and her two daughters. She had to take care of him in the final months of his life. A few years later Rose had a son, by a man named Bob Deck. They weren’t married when she had her son. His name was Nathan Kurtz, born March 24, 1984 and drowned in the nearby river, next to their home on March 11, 1989. She was living in Ft. Wayne, Indiana at the time.

Here is a picture of me and Rose taken in the State Pen in Indiana.

Thomas Luther Watson, was born September 11, 1943 in Esbon, Jewell County, Kansas. He was adopted with his sister Rose to Milo and Rose E. Tegley. He was about 9 years of age at the time of his adoption and the family breakup. He grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska attending school there, and playing in their bands. He played the trumpet. After High School he joined the Army and served a three year hitch, serving in Italy. He was a photographer in the Army. He does that as a hobby today. When he was discharged from the Army, he married his childhood sweetheart, Valana Hansen, on April 20, 1967, in Lincoln. He worked at several different jobs after the Army years, He worked for Lenco, a plastic making plant. In September 2005 he retired after several years at Lenco. Tom and his wife enjoy vacationing in Colorado. He says that is his second home, because he loves Colorado. He has two sons, Thomas Luther Tegley II, born December 2, 1969 in Lincoln, who married Barbara Ann Snyder on November 4, 1989. They have two sons. Thomas Luther Tegley III born November 13, 1991 in Linclon, and Evan Taylor Tegley, born June 6, 1995 in Lincoln. Thomas II works for a local hospital in Linclon. The second son to Thomas Sr. is Trevor Lane Tegley, born October 3, 1973 in Lincoln. He married Amy Noel Kinnaird on May 4, 1996 in Lincoln. They have no children yet. He works for a printing place in Lincoln. The following picture is of Trevor’s wedding.

The following picture is a picture of Milo and Rose Tegley and their two adopted children, and their grandchildren. James and Rose Kurtz and their two daughters, Janet and Diane. Tom and Velana and their two boys Tom II and Trevor.

Fredrick Lee Watson, was born September 11, 1945 in Esbon, Jewell County, Kansas. He was adopted to Paul and Hazel E. Brumbaugh in 1952. He was about 7 years of age at the time of his adoption. The same people I was adopted to, so we grew up together. Look at my younger years and you will see the different places that we lived at. In June 1964, he graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas, Texas and then joined the Navy. He spent four years in the Navy, and got out. Right after getting out, he lived in California for a short period of time. He then moved to Omaha, Nebraska and lived with some friends there, working for Campbell Soup Company. After getting laid off from that job, he moved to Parkersburg, W.Va. Since I was living in Parkersburg, West Virgina, he came and lived with me and my wife for a time being. He finally landed a job at Idea Box Company where he met his wife Gracie Allen. They were married September 28, 1973 in Parkersburg, W.Va. Our sister Rose and her husband drove down from Ft. Wayne, Indiana to attend the wedding. The following picture is their wedding reception. Left to right Rose and her husband James, Me and my wife Terri, Fred and Gracie, her parents the Allens, and her sister in the front of her mom. He worked for Ideal Box Company until they shut the doors and laid him off. He looked around for another job and worked for a food distributing place later. He went into the Naval Reserve. In 1980 he decided to go back into the Regular Navy. He reenlisted and spent the next 18 years in the Navy, until his retirement on February 14, 1997. He spent 22 years altogether in the Navy, serving aboard several different ships during his Naval career. After his retirement he landed a job at a warehouse place near Jacksonville, Florida. He worked this job until December 1997, and went into driving a truck. He says that was his long ambition to drive a truck. So he’s a trucker now driving across country. He takes his wife Gracie with him sometimes. They never had any children. They have two dogs they call their children. They bought a home while he was still in the Navy in St Marys, Georgia, and reside there today, that is when he is at home, and not on the road. He still has not met his youngest brother Marvin. Has not seen him since his adoption in 1952.

Daniel William and David William Watson, were born March 4, 1948 in Esbon, Jewell County, Kansas. David was stillborn at birth. Look at my younger years for my life story.

Marvin Dean Watson, was born August 27, 1950 in Salem, Jewell County, Kansas, which is near Esbon, Kansas. Look at Finding Lost Brother for his information.

The above were the children of Merrell M. and Julia R. Watson. The family was split up in 1952, and each child adopted into different families. We have had several reunions, and we do go and see one another. I’m the only one that sees our sister in the State Pen in Indiana.