This work, the fourth in a series of books about Maryland families, is primarily an account of the ancestors and descendants of Jeremiah Watkins. The Watkins families' prevalence in Montgomery County, Maryland, is illustrated by the fact that an 1879 atlas of the Washington area, which includes Montgomery County, lists no less than sixteen Watkins families. The book opens with an introduction to the early Watkins families, primarily of Anne Arundel County, Maryland, with some progenitors living as early as 1410. The principal subject of the following chapter is John Watkins, 3rd, who died about 1696 in Anne Arundel County. Subsequent chapters follow his numerous descendants: Nicholas Watkins, Sr., his son (b.1691); Jeremiah Watkins, his grandson (b.1743); along with Thomas Watkins, his great-grandson (b.1774); Alpha Watkins, his great-great grandson (b.1803); the descendants of Samuel B. Watkins (b.1807); and the descendants of Denton Watkins (b.1795). Later chapters discuss a number of other individuals bearing the Watkins surname found in the same geographic area as the others above, and perhaps related. This book reads like a collection of rural Montgomery County mailboxes and town names. It's not hard to believe that these families were the early settlers of the area. The bibliography lists about a hundred sources used in the preparation of this volume, and the every-name index lists 4,000 or more names included in the book.
