Born in Cumberland, Maryland, George W. Watts was the son of Gerard Snowden Watts and Ann Elizabeth Wolvington. He received his early education in private schools in Baltimore, and graduated from the University of Maryland in 1871 with a degree in civil engineering. Watts married Laura V. Beall in 1875. The two had one child together, Annie Louise Watts, before separating in 1915. Two years later, He married Virginia Ecker, whom he stayed with until his death in 1921. After graduation, Watts joined his father's tobacco commission business in Baltimore. Becoming associated with Washington Duke of Durham, North Carolina in 1878, he helped organize and incorporate W. Duke Sons and Company, a tobacco business of which he became a stockholder, secretary, and treasurer. However, being the only non-family member in the company created some animosity between Watts and the oldest Duke son, Brodie. This resentment resulted in Brodie purchasing multiple streets in Durham, North Carolina, and naming them so they read "Washington, Hated, Watts," referring to his father, Washington Duke. Years later, "Hated St." was changed to "Gregson St." In 1890, Watts helped organize the American Tobacco Co. and in 1892, the Erwin Cotton Mills Company. Invested in the welfare of his employees, Watts built libraries, parks, and playgrounds for them. He also built and endowed Watts Hospital in Durham, North Carolina. Watts was heavily involved in other businesses as well, as listed below:
By 1922, Watts Hospital's quality of care and philanthropic mission to provide healthcare to the working poor was so well-regarded that James B. Duke and North Carolina GovernorCameron Morrison proposed the creation of the state's first four-year medical college, Duke University. The goal was to educate students in conjunction with clinical services provided at Watts Hospital.
In addition to founding the clinical hospital, George Watts also established the Watts Hospital Training School for Nurses at the hospital, in 1895. It was then renamed the Watts School of Nursing, and had its first graduate, Ethel Clay, in 1897. Watts SON has been housed at Durham Regional Hospital since 1976, and is now a part of the Duke University Health System.
