Elizabeth A Watters Reynolds

 Elizabeth was the first born of James Watters and Sarah Jane Dingle Watters in year of 1868.  James is of Cornwall England, and a miner.  Sarah is of St Mary's River Nova Scotia.  Sarah is the daughter of a fisherman, Thomas and Margaret Leigh Dingle. According to the 1900 US Census, Elizabeth migrated to the US from Nova Scotia  with a son, James W Reynolds and I assume then husband George Henry Reynolds in the year 1889.  I say assume because I can't find any data about George Henry Reynolds before  1889 and nothing after 1892.  I have no idea where George came from or got off too, but he was in the picture for two children after James.  In the following couple of years, George and Elizabeth gives birth to George Henry Reynolds (II) and Flossie Jane Reynolds.  Both George (II) and Flossie's birth are registered in the city of Woburn Massachusetts.

Marriage Certificate

In 1907 Elizabeth remarries to a James McArdle of Lowell Massachusetts. In the 1910 US Census Elizabeth, George (II) and Flossie are living the McArdle house of Lowell MA.   George (II) marries twice, first to a Margaret Hodge of Lowell MA and then Edith Ruby Heaney also of Lowell.  Flossie (Florence) married a William Kershaw of Lowell MA

Obituary

In 1919 Elizabeth passes away at her daughters home in Lowell MA.  Elizabeth rest in the Edson/Westlawn Cemetery, Lowell Massachusetts. The bearers were sons James W Reynolds and George H Reynolds (II) and brother James L. Watters.

Today, 17 Feb 2014, while seeking other records for other relatives, I bumped into a record that I had not see previously;  Massachusetts Standard Death Certificate; issued 1919.

Death Certificate

The name on the above record is Hannah E McArdle, which is really Elizabeth A Waters Reynolds McArdle.  My grandmother used her given name of Elizabeth and middle name Anna at different times. Well, apparently she used Hannah too.  The above record has her parents as James Waters and Sarah Lee, which is not totally accurate as Sarah was a Dingle.  Sarah's mother was a Lee or Leigh depending of the record you look at.  This is an understandable error as the informant for the Death Certificate is James McArdle.

To find other posts about Elizabeth enter Watters or Reynolds in the search box  top left corner of this blog post.

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Police Chief

by George Megeney

Chief James L. Watters son of James Watters and Sarah J. Dingle Watters, started his police career in Westville Nova Scotia as an officer in the early 1900's Then he was promoted to the office of Police Chief in Westville.  Around 1915, Chief Watters was offered the Chief of Police position in Stellarton, in which he accepted.  In the early 1920's moves onto the city on Mahone Bay NS, where he held the office of Chief of Police  for about a year.
 
The following is extracted from the book in the image to the left.   In 1915 Mayor W.C. MacDonald was again conducting the town's business.  He and the Council  appointed the Mr. M.A. Patterson to be Stipendiary Magistrate.   The census that year showed the town's population was 4,970.  In April of the year the Council located an experienced Police Office who was willing to accept the position of Chief of Police.  He was the James L. Watters, a former Chief of Police in Westville.  Chief Edward Fraser willingly submitted his resignation and stated that he was relieved.  He said that his nature was not that of a policeman and he had found it difficult to carry out some duties that were required from time to time. He was thanked by the Mayor and Council for his efforts and loyalty during his short tenure.

James L. Watters was born in Westville in 1869¹. He went to school there and married Margaret McNulty.  They had five children, one daughter and four sons².  He started his police career in his native Westville where he became Chief of Police.  In 1915 when an opportunity came up for a police job in Stellarton he readily accepted and moved his family to Stellarton.  He remained in Stellarton as Chief of Police for many years until accepting an offer from the Town of Mahone Bay, to become their Chief of Police.

  In May of 1922, James renders his resignation to the Stipendiary Magistrate in Stellarton and takes the Chief of Police position in Mahone Bay, a fair distance away.  He remained in Mahone Bay for near a year, where he decide to moves his family back Stellarton..  Upon returned home and secured employment in the Acadia Coal company's machine shop, where he remained until retirement.  He maintained a life long interest in Police work but after leaving Mahone bay was never tempted to get actively involved again.  However, succeeding Chiefs of Police called upon him for advice up until the time of his death at age 74.  Chief Watters had been involved in many interesting cases during his career, however the most widely reported case which was jointly investigated by him and Sheriff J. S. Harris was the Marabilito murder case³.

The Stipendiary Magistrate expressed regret at the resignation of Chief Watters, stating that the Court had lost the service of a very capable Officer, who was well versed in the law.  He also praised Mrs Watters for having rendered a valuable for having rendered a valuable service as matron of the lock-up and noted that her kindness, tender sympathy and strong personality would be missed.

1.  The birth registry for James states his birth was Goldenville NS and the year was 1869.
2.  The children were;  Ellen R Watters, James G Watters, William D Watters, Harry T Watters, Hugh M Watters.
3. The Marabilito Murder will be told in a separate post.

The information presented here is from the book; The Stellarton Police Department 1889-1989, One Hundred Years of Service and Protection.  By George Megeney

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Could it be?



Chas. Newbury; James G. Watters; Malcolm McGregor (Trainer);
Wm. E. Fraser; Howard McIntosh; Neil McLean;
and Alf. Hughes

 This picture is of the Rescue Team at the reopening of the Allan Shaft after the explosion of December 20th, 1914. The Reopening commenced March 31st, 1915 and finished April 18th, 1915.  I understand that two miners were lost in the explosion.  The type of mining that was going on here was Coal, dark dirty stuff.

Take note of the second individual on the left side.. James G Watters.  We have a James G Watters our tree, but I don't think this is he, for in 1915 James G would be only 22. And this man looks older than that.  There is a James L Watters that is 45 year in our tree, could it be he.  After all, James L was a miner in Stellarton.  I really don't know, but thought it interesting enough to share.  Trish you should like this picture of its steampunk qualities of this picture.




Picture is from the Stellarton Mining Museum and used with permission.  http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/

Loco Wiper



page 1

 This is a display of a railroad employment record for William Dingle Watters.  William lived his life in the Stellarton and Westville area of Nova Scotia.  The record contain the wages, the layoffs, the merits and demerits that Watters experienced while with the Cape Breton and Nova Scotia Railway, CBNS.  Now, I would like to draw your attention to the top right of page #1 of the record.  Notice the wages!  Can you image working for such a way.  Oh, Yes you can click the image to enlargen.

Also found on this record was valuable genealogy data, pretaining to his birth date, the name of second wife; Alice and the reason of his death.

page 2

Take a moment to read down through the second page of the record, where you will find some interesting entries such as; falsify a report, damaging an engine, and valuable assistance giving on righting an engine.

On the final page of the record we learn that William held many positions with the railroad, from Loco Wiper which is a starting position with the duties of wiping down the engine, to Enginmeer.  On the page we  find that William died of a heart attack in 1954. William worked for the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway, CBNS, most of his short life.





page 3



William is a second cousin through Elizabeth A Watters Reynolds.

William Dingle Watters

4 Oct 1894

Westville, Nova Scotia

13 Jan 1954

Stellarton, Nova Scotia



Waters or Watters! Muddy waters indeed!

A while back I found my great grandmother in 1910 US census living Lowell Massachusetts with new husband and my grandfather (a boy at this time) and his sister Flossie. For whatever the reason, it wasn't until this past month I decided to request a copy of the marriage certificate from the state of Massachusetts. I was hoping there would be more information on the certificate than just the union of the two. So, after gathering the proper information and time frame of the marriage, I sent the request to Massachusetts. I was told to expect a long wait for the return on any documentations. Happily, I received the certificate in just over four weeks. Not long at all for government work. Anyway, I hit pay dirt and more confusion, at the same time, about my great grandmother's nee, in which this blog post is about.