Richard Leigh Watkins was born circa 1878 and raised in Tennessee. In 1896 he attended the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where he studied English Literature, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy and Latin. He graduated from the Law Department of Vanderbilt University in 1899. The next year he moved west to Colorado Springs, Colorado, and in about 1904 settled in San Antonio and opened a law practice. In 1909 Watkins formed a partnership with another San Antonio lawyer, W.A. Wurzbach. In addition to his law practice, he was a notary public in Bexar County from 1905 to 1911. Between 1910 and 1911 Watkins was business manager for the Beeville Manufacturing Company. Also in 1910 Watkins and five other men formed the Texas Title Guaranty Company. Watkins was active in a variety of associations and clubs in San Antonio, and in 1910 was one of the vestry of St. Mark’s Church.
From the guide to the Richard Leigh Watkins Papers MS 137., 1896-1911, (University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections)
