Eli Watson, the son of John and Mahala (Long) Watson, was born in 1795 in Buncombe Co., North Carolina (became Haywood County in 1808). About 1815 he married Rebecca Watts, the daughter of Jacob and Anna (Harkey) Watts. In the 1830s Eli and Rebecca moved with Eli's parents, siblings, and their children to land located along Will's Creek in what is now Atalla, Etowah Co. Alabama (formerly a part of St. Clair County), where they settled by 1836. In 1852 Eli, Rebecca and their children moved to Whitesville in Marshall Co., Alabama, where they remained until their deaths in the 1870s. In 1860 Eli and most of his children changed their last name from Watson to Watts, which was Rebecca's maiden name. According to Eli's grandson, James Britton Watts, Eli was a farmer and an Indian trader, and it may be that he adopted his wife's maiden name because the name Watts was held in high regard among the Cherokee Indians who lived in that area. Rebecca's father, Jacob Watts, was a White half-brother of the half-blood Cherokee chief John Watts (aka Kunokeski or "Young Tassel"), and the uncle of Sequoyah, son of the half-Cherokee woman Wurteh Watts.

Note for Bio left by Mulberry Fork
Original graves, marked only by rocks, were destroyed in the 20th century by a farmer who was clearing the rocks from his field. Markers inscribed with the names and dates of the family members who were buried there were placed nearby in the 1990s by Neal Watts, a descendant.

Eli Watts is my 4th Great Grandfather through his son, Daniel Dodson Watts. There are different theories of of when and why the family name was changed to Watts. Several of Eli's sons continued to use the Watson name.
For the purposes of Findagrave I am using the Watts surname because that is the name he used at the end of his life according to the 1880 Census and as early at 1858 on the Marriage record of his son Jesse Watts. I added the note above because I have asked several times to change the last name on the memorial to Watson.