Joseph Ray Watkins: Difference between revisions
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Watkins' wife died in 1904, which was the same year his daughter married. He then married his son-in-law's mother in September 1911, but died in Jamaica three months later.{{sfn|Higginson|1900|p=299}} |
Watkins' wife died in 1904, which was the same year his daughter married. He then married his son-in-law's mother in September 1911, but died in Jamaica three months later.{{sfn|Higginson|1900|p=299}} |
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== Legacy == |
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The [[Winona Daily News]] was founded originally by Watkins as the Winona Morning Independent in 1898.<ref name=NewsTrace> {{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Our History Traced Back To J.R. Watkins |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11034433/ |work= The Winona Daily News-page 6 |location=Winona, Minnesota |date=February 27, 1962 |via=[[newspapers.com]] {{open access}} }} </ref> |
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==Citations== |
==Citations== |
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Revision as of 14:58, 16 May 2017
J.R. Watkins | |
|---|---|
 circa 1911 | |
| Born | August 21, 1840 |
| Died | December 21, 1911 (aged 71) Jamaica |
| Occupation | medicine manufacturer |
Joseph Ray ("J.R.") Watkins was an entrepreneur and founder of Watkins Incorporated with his homemade medical products - liniment, extracts, and salves. He offered America's first money-back guarantee for a product.
Family genealogy
The American Watkins are of Welsh descent that settled in New Jersey in the latter part of the seventeenth century.[1] Watkins' great-grandfather was born in New Jersey in the early 1700s and during the Revolutionary War had contracts for furnishing food to the Continental Army. His grandfather was also of New Jersey. In 1800 he migrated to Ohio and settled at Fort Washington, where the city of Cincinnati developed.[2]
Early life
Watkins was the second son and third child of Reverend Benjamin Utter Watkins and Sophronia (Keeler) Watkins. He was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 21, 1840. Joseph and his older brother were educated at a Farmers' College founded by Freeman Cary. After graduation his father sold their homestead and moved the family to Minnesota to keep out of the American Civil War.[2]
His father purchased a one thousand acre farm in May 1862 on Pearl Lake in north central Minnesota. In August, there were rumors of an Indian massacre at New Ulm, Minnesota. That prompted the settlers of the area to build an extensive fort around their houses for protection. There were Indian skirmishes outside the fort the following year when the farmers went to work their fields. The US government then issued a $300 bounty on Indians. This caused them to move out of the area. The threat of an Indian war then ended for these pioneers. Watkins then moved to southern Minnesota around 1867.[3]
Watkins started to experiment with making Red Liniment at his home in Plainview, Minnesota, by 1868. He personally bottled the home-made medicine of Asian camphor and red pepper extract. Watkins sold his product directly to the local farmers and villagers, being credited with the founder of the direct sales industry.[4] . Watkins at first traveled as a one man business with his horse and buggy wagon full of the product and developed a 100-mile sales territory around his home town. The direct door-to-door business was so successful that he brought in other wagon salesmen that sold throughout Minnesota and eventually to other states.[5]
Watkins built his business on customer satisfaction and had America's first money-back guarantee with his product.[6][7] He had a trial mark line on the bottle about a third of a way down and if not used below that, then the customer got a refund if unsatisfied.[4][8][9][10] Watkins moved his business, known as J. R. Watkins Medical Company, in 1885, to Winona, Minnesota. There it was easier to get the materials for his medical products. He rented a four-room house and used half for manufacture of his home remedy medical products - liniment, extracts, and salves.[3] These products were purchased by lumbermen for relief of sore muscles from working all day in a sawmill.[11]
Family
Watkins and his wife, Mary Ellen, had two children while living in Plainview. The first was a son, George, who died at 14 months of age; and their second child was a daughter, Grace (b. 1877), who lived to adulthood.[2]
Later life and death
Watkins' wife died in 1904, which was the same year his daughter married. He then married his son-in-law's mother in September 1911, but died in Jamaica three months later.[3]
Legacy
The Winona Daily News was founded originally by Watkins as the Winona Morning Independent in 1898.[12]
Citations
- ^ Whipple 1998, p. 304.
- ^ a b c Higginson 1900, p. 298.
- ^ a b c Higginson 1900, p. 299.
- ^ a b Williams 2017, p. 160.
- ^ Ehrlick 2008, p. 40.
- ^ Williams 2017, p. 27.
- ^ McCann 2017, p. 117.
- ^ "J.R. Watkins". Watkins Incorporated. 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
Watkins first introduced the "Trial-Mark Bottle" and America's first money-back guarantee in 1869. Relying on door-to-door sales, Watkins gave customers a risk-free way to try his products by adding a molded "trial mark" to each bottle. Customers who used the natural products and stayed above the mark could get a full refund.
- ^ "The Watkins Opportunity". The Summit Group. 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
In 1869, Watkins offered America's first money-back guarantee—and we still have it.
- ^ "Watkins pepper can". Chudnow Museum. 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
Watkins first introduced the Trial-Mark Bottle and America's first money-back guarantee in 1869.
- ^ Arcadia 2004, p. 7.
- ^ "Our History Traced Back To J.R. Watkins". The Winona Daily News-page 6. Winona, Minnesota. February 27, 1962 – via newspapers.com
.
Bibliography
- Arcadia (2004). Watkins. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-3310-0.
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- Ehrlick, Darrell (15 April 2008). It Happened in Minnesota. TwoDot. ISBN 978-1-4617-4731-4.
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- Higginson (1900). Encyclopedia Biography of Minnesota. Higginson Book Company.
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- McCann, Dennis (3 March 2017). This Storied River. Wisconsin Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-0-87020-785-3.
Watkins began working out of his home in 1868 and gained prominence by offering America's first money-back guarantee for unhappy customers.
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- Whipple, William Jay (1998). The History of Winona County, Minnesota. Brookhaven Press.
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- Williams, Robert Jr and Helena (21 April 2017). Vintage Marketing. Palgrave Macmillan US. ISBN 978-1-137-38721-9.
Watkins introduced the first Trial-Mark bottle in 1869, which became America's first money-back guarantee.
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