A surviving portrait identified as Benjamin Watkins circa late 1830s

About twelve miles directly west of Danville, near Cascade Creek, several busy communities emerged during the early 1800s. Among the influential settlers of the time was Benjamin Watkins, who helped to establish some of the oldest business ventures in the area. He was born in the midst of the American Revolution, in 1777, to Joel J. Watkins and Agnes W. Morton. His father owned several hundred acres of land in Charlotte County, Virginia, and served as an officer during the American Revolution. 

In 1805 Benjamin married Miss Susan A. Dupuy, whose French Huguenot ancestors lived in the Manakintown Settlement of Powhatan County in the early 1700s. They decided to settle further west in Pittsylvania County and established a home about two and three-quarter miles north of the Dan River, not far from Trotter’s Creek. Eventually a store was built on his property as goods were few and far between prior to the arrival of the railroad. In 1819, he began offering postal services under the name of Watkins’ Store Post Office. Census records from 1820 show that he lived near other founding families including Benjamin Estes, Peter Cahall, Matthew Cabaniss, and Richard Millner. A few years later, Samuel Hairston had an imposing brick home named “Oak Hill” constructed a couple of miles to the south and controlled much of the land following the Dan River. 

Benjamin expanded his business into the nearby community of Cascade, where he opened a second store. Back at the homeplace, young Stephen H. Watkins was appointed postmaster of Watkins’ Store when he was about sixteen years old at the recommendation of his father. In 1833, the office name was changed to “Comity,” but it was ultimately discontinued two days later. That same year, Benjamin was appointed to run the Cascade Post Office from his second store, and he served jointly with a co-postmaster named Diskin Grant (born in 1809). While serving as a justice of the peace, Benjamin was referred to as an “orator” on pension statements for local veterans of the Revolutionary War. During the 1830s, he administered oaths for residents of Pittsylvania County and recorded sworn testimony of their service. In all, he remained a central figure in the community for over forty years.

At least nine children were raised on the Watkins homeplace, several of whom married into historically significant families. Their son John Dupuy Watkins married Miss Susan J. Martin, a granddaughter of Martinsville’s namesake Gen. Joseph Martin. He moved to Rockingham County, North Carolina, and brought his merchandising skills with him. Another son named Henry A. Watkins served as a physician in Prince Edward County, Virginia, for most of his life. A daughter named Agnes married Col. Thomas Smith Jones who established “Mountain View,” a tall Federal-style brick home near modern-day Tightsqueeze. Another daughter Frances married Robert W. Williams, an early mayor of Danville and owner of one of the community’s most important businesses of the time, the Arlington Hotel, which is long since gone. Lastly, a daughter Caroline married George Wythe Martin, a son of Gen. Joseph Martin. Much more could be written about the numerous Watkins descendants.

In 1850, John Henry Daniel was appointed postmaster of Cascade. That same year, his grandfather Benjamin Watkins sold one of the most desirable properties in Cascade, a commodious home that stood just south of the current post office building. The new owner, George W. Grant (a cousin to Diskin Grant), decided that the home would make a good tavern. After obtaining the license, “Grant’s Tavern” became a center of the community for the following fifteen years. It later housed Dr. J.D. Estes for many decades and was largely demolished in 2022. 

The 1860 census shows that Benjamin Watkins, who was then in his eighties, had retired to live with his daughter Agnes and nine grandchildren at Mountain View. He lived to the impressive age of eighty-seven and his body was returned to the property near Trotter’s Creek, where he was buried in the Watkins family cemetery. His marble stone is surrounded by an impressive rock wall off Oak Hill Road. There he remains, born in one war and laid to rest during another.