W. W. Watson & Son

City: Springfield

County: Sangamon

State: Illinois

W. W. Watson & Son consisted of William W. Watson and his son Benjamin A. Watson. A confectionary in Springfield, Illinois, on the corner of Fourth and Main streets, the store sold a wide variety of goods including toys, candies, oysters, cakes, oranges, coconut, butter, soda, and nuts. William originally opened the store in September 1836, under the name W. W. Watson, with Benjamin joining the business in October 1839. In 1855, the company boasted that every grade of white sugar could be purchased there cheaper than anywhere else in the city. The store remained in business until January 1865, when it was listed for sale.

Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 17 September 1836, 2:7; 1 November 1839, 3:4; Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 5 April 1855, 1:6; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 31 December 1855, 3:6; Roy P. Basler, ed., The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953), 7:253; Illinois Daily State Journal (Springfield), 23 January 1865, 3:4.