Charles F. Watkins

Charles Franklin Watkins (September 28, 1872 – March 4, 1936) was an American physician, surgeon and physiotherapist. He played college baseball for the University of Michigan and later served as the coach of the Michigan Wolverines baseball team for three years. He moved to Billings, Montana, in 1905 where he maintained a medical practice for approximately 30 years.

Early years Watkins was born in Mount Cory, Ohio, in 1872 to Issac and Esther Watkins (née Corwin), and the youngest of eight children. Watkins moved with his family to Reed City, Michigan, in 1878. Issac was a postmaster at Ashton, Michigan, and was active in Democratic politics until his death in 1894. Watkins attended the public schools in Reed City and graduated from Reed City High School. Watkins first played organized baseball with the Derbies, a Reed City team sponsored by a cigar maker, and later played semi-pro baseball while working at a drugstore in Traverse City, Michigan. He was known as "Watty" during his college baseball career and was reportedly "one of the first lefthanders to develop both a curved and a slow ball and once pitched a no-hit, no-run game." He was reported to have had "uncanny control" as a pitcher and was also a solid hitter, maintaining a batting average of .300 in the deadball era. Due to his desire to enter the medical profession, Watkins turned down many offers to play Major League Baseball, including an offer from the Cleveland Indians.

Medical career Watkins spent two years working at a railroad hospital in Brainerd, Minnesota, specializing in surgery. He became the first assistant surgeon at the Northern Pacific Railway Hospital in Missoula, Montana, in 1903. He remained in Billings as a physician, surgeon and physiotherapist for approximately 30 years and became a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons in 1917. Watkins presented several papers on surgery and physiotherapy to medical societies and served as chairman of the executive committee of St. Vincent Hospital in Billings for many years. He was also a surgeon for the Great Western Sugar Company and the Great Northern Railway. In September 1918, they were living in Billings, and Watkins was working as a doctor with an office in the Electric Building in Billings. At the time of the 1920 census, Watkins and his wife remained in Billings, and Watkins was still operating a general medical practice.

Watkins was a lover of outdoor recreation and an "ardent trout fisherman" who "never lost an opportunity, when practice would permit, to get into the river." His death was attributed to bronchopneumonia after an extended illness resulting from the x-ray burns sustained 30 years earlier. The burns reportedly "ultimately broke down his physical condition, leading to his death."