on of Isaac Jones Watkins and his first wife, Margaret (Peggy) Reese, of Jefferson Co., TN. As a young man, he studied law and became a practicing attorney in KY. Albert G. Watkins first married Louisa M. Brittain in Harlan, KY, on 3 Aug. 1839. They soon moved to TN. With Louisa, he had nine children, all of them born in TN: Isaac George; Carlo Bonaparte; Mary Elizabeth (Nannie); Wm. Brazelton; Brittain Oswald; Drucilla Lyttle; Sallie Louisa; Reese Lee (male); and Albert Sidney. After Louisa M.'s passing, he married Lucretia A. Caldwell in 1885. A. G. Watkins served as a member of U.S. House of Representatives from 1849 to 1859, and was a Presidential elector in 1848. During the Civil War, he defended the Confederate cause, but later claimed not to have supported secession. He was jailed and charged with treason, but was pardoned in 1865 by Pres. Andrew Johnson. In 1866, he professed religion and later became a Methodist minister.