It was a happy marriage and her father lived to bless the day when the “little poor Irishman” became his daughter’s husband. Subsequently Matthew purchased the farm of his father-in-law and conducted the brick-making business on an extensive scale. He erected a commodious brick mansion house which became known to the country round about as the “Great Watson Mansion,” embellished the grounds and amassed a fortune of $80,000.[48] By some it is held that Matthew’s father had also located in Barrington. The original Watson property comprised a very large part of the town. The homestead has since been greatly reduced, however, by dividing it among the children, by bequests and by extensive sales to new-comers. The estate at present comprises about fifty acres, tillable and woodland, held by descendants of Matthew. The land is very productive. There is one six-acre lot, nearly as level as a floor, and which produces rich crops of hay, although it has not been dressed in the past thirty years.[49] Underneath the greater part of the estate is a stratum of the best quality of blue clay within four to six feet of the surface. This stratum underlies nearly the entire town, cropping out on the bay and river shores. The principal industry of Barrington is brick-making, which has been carried on for an indefinite period. At present 30,000,000 are produced annually. The labor in the old brick-yards of the Watson family was done chiefly by slaves of whom Watson owned nearly fifty. All these he manumitted some time before his death. The continuous transportation of brick to the bay, by these slaves, for shipment gradually wore a roadway more than six feet in depth.[50] By plowing and cultivation this has long since been mostly filled in, though there are still places where the old roadway shows two or three feet deep. Some time in the eighteenth century a law was passed ordaining that bricks should be made of certain specified dimensions. Matthew Watson, the settler, considered this requirement as very unjust, and so decided not to change the size of his product. In order to escape prosecution, however, he ceased calling his goods brick, but instead styled them “Watson’s ware.” As there was no law regarding “Watson’s ware” the plan succeeded, and the old gentleman continued making and selling brick at their former dimensions.[51] The “Great Watson Mansion” was for a long period visited by people who had heard of its dimensions and sumptuous furnishings and who desired to feast their eyes upon so much grandeur.