Lost in Battle



War Cenotaph

This family has had many members that served their country's military over the years; Reynolds, Herricks, Watters and others.  But none that I knew of, until now, lost their life in combat.  Today, I found a small record stating the loss of Warren A Watters, the son of William Dingle Watters and Margaret Howard Watters of Stellarton Nova Scotia.  The battle or the place where Warren fell is unknown, but that's not important now.  Warren serviced prior to the 1945 defending his country.  However, he wasn't alone.  Warren's two brothers; James H Watters and William D Watters also served during the same period of time and both were wounded.

William's middle initial is not J, but rather D. 
These images can be seen at the War Cenotaph and on a link for Warren Watters that follows the monuments engravings. 









After I starting writing this post I was able to find the final resting place of Warren Watters.  He rests in a cemetery in Italy; Montecchio War Cemetery.

Sgt James H Watters, Sgt Warren A Watters and Private William D Watters!  All members of the West Nova Scotia Regiment RCIC.  I stand at attention and salute you for your service and life while protecting Canada and its allies. 

THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD, AS WE THAT ARE LEFT GROW OLD,

AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM, NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN,

AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN, AND IN THE MORNING,

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

Update:  Received today, 3/7/2015 an image for Warren's Headstone

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/

The Watters are Gathering

The Watters line of my tree continues to grow.  Today, I found Margaret Louisa Watters in Lowell Massachusetts.  While doing some generic searching for any Watters records with a mother of Dingle, I am came across Maggie L Waters getting married in 1894, January 17th to be exact in the town of Stoneham MA.  So, upon looking closer at the record I found a young woman at the age of 20, born in Nova Scotia and her parents are James Watters and Sarah J Dingle.  So, that was enough for me to believe this young woman was my great aunt Margaret.  Now, If know this story, you know that Maggie's sister; Elizabeth Anna Watters Reynolds was living in Woburn MA at this same time.  By the 1910 US Census, Maggie and Elizabeth are both living in Lowell and only a mile away from each other.

OK, I hear you asking. And if you are not asking, you should be!!  Who did Margaret marry?  Well, that would be a John F Osborn of Rockland Maine and he be an Irish lad.  John and Maggie had a number of child and like many families, a few don't make it past birth.  In the 1910 US Census, the family includes; John and Maggie, Anna Jane, George Raymond, Norman Goldsworth, John J Osborn.  Looking at the names of Maggie's child there are a few repeating names here.  For example; Anna Jane Osborn, I would be willing to bet, she was named after her aunt Elizabeth Anna Watters and her grandmother Sarah Jane Dingle. Just a guess mind ya!  Also, Norman Goldsworth has an uncle that carries the Goldsworth middle name.  Where Goldsworth stem, I do not know.  I'll have too look into it sometime.

Now, we have our family in 1894 and 1910, where are they in 1900.  Nothing is popping up, so back to the generic search of using just last names of Watter and Osborn and place Massachusetts.  Bang! A hit on a record with the surname recorded as Orsborn. Yes, another error!   Looking into this record, the given names were all correct with what I have and the place is of Stoneham, also Maggie was of Nova Scotia.  OK, this is them.. Oh wait look what else I find, but a brother of Maggie's staying in the house as a boarder.  This would be John Watters, which was a mystery to me, other than a birth date.  I wasn't sure he lived past his childhood, but here he is living in Stoneham and working as a steam shovel operator. 

By the time Maggie's family reach 1910, two more children were born, but didn't make it passed age one; Margaret and Howard C Osborn.  I mention them here to bring the family back together again and in one place.  Instead of the bits and piece of data that are just waiting for a family to belong to once again.  Chuid eile i síocháin

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



Grandfather found!

George H. Reynolds
circa 1940

I've been looking for my grandfather, George Henry Reynolds, since beginning this ancestral quest started ten plus years ago.  Recently, I was given a newspaper clipping of an obit that had some details about my grandfathers passing, from which I was able to extract a few hints. 

First, George was the second son to George H Reynolds and Elizabeth A Waters, of whom I have written about in earlier posts.  His date of birth is 27 April 1891.  It is said that he was born in Providence Rhode Island, but there is no records confirming this as of yet.  I did find his folks in Woburn Massachusetts where his sister Flossie was born in 1892.  At the turn of the century, George's father was no longer in the picture.  At this time, the family unit consisted of Elizabeth, James, George and Flossie and were now residing in Lowell Ma.   You can read more about Elizabeth Watters Reynolds; Waters or Watters. This seems to be starting point of the this Reynolds family in Lowell.  However, there are other Reynolds of similar first names living the area.  I wonder if there was a reason for the move to Lowell, either family or ethnicity. I was able to track the family forward to the year 1907, where Elizabeth is remarrying to a James McArdle of Lowell Ma.  And then again I found them in the 1910 census, where young George and Flossie are with their mother Elizabeth and step-father James in Lowell.  Then, in the winter of 1916, George gets married to Edith Ruby Heaney.  Edith is daughter of one William Heaney and Margaret Caldwell of Chelmsford Ma and Ireland.  This is George's second marriage according to the marriage certificate of 18 Nov 1916.  I have no record as of yet of George's first marriage, but I would think it would be in Lowell also, more research needed. Updated Aug 2012, read more about first marriage here; Hodge.  Well, shortly after my grandparent marriage, my uncle George came along.  Yes, another George!! Then in 1919 uncle E. Arthur and then my father William Caldwell in 1920.  I am sure you can figure out where my father got his name from... So, all the way up through to the 1930 the family is together, then George (my grandfather) is out of the picture.  Why,  I don't know, divorce I guess.  The three boys were were enumerated in the Ayer home for boys in Lowell on, 2 April 1930 as Wards of the state.  Then, but a few days later on the 8 of April 1930 they were enumerated again at home with their mother on Bleachery street in Lowell. 

So, what happen to George H Reynolds?  Up to this point, I found bits and pieces, some possible hits, but nothing to solidify his where abouts. Then a week ago or so, a cousin told be that he had moved to New York state and was working in a hospital.  Quite a change in careers, as George started or at least for awhile was a railroad man.  He worked for the Boston and Maine Railroad company at the time of his marriage to Edith.  Did he start there cause of his father?  Hmm, something to ponder!  Ok, back to the hospital job.  I had discovered a George years ago working in New York as an Orderly.  Is this him?  Then, the same cousin sent me an obit for George that she dug up in her files.  The obit didn't have a date or a newspaper name, but it did have a funeral home name, a city and state, and a cemetery name. I was had enough to start digging again for George.   All weekend I searched and searched the city records, but nothing except dead ends.  The cemetery didn't have a contact point like the Edson cemetery in Lowell, so I moved onto the funeral home.  This morning, after some simple digging for a Burnette Funeral Home of Middletown NY, I found a reference to a Applebee-McPhillips Funeral Home.  They had change their name from Burnette in the early 1960's.  I found a contact email address to which I sent a request for record and confirmation that it was the same funeral home.  I was told that it was and that the records back int he 30's 40's and 50's were sparse.  So, at this point I am waiting for something more from the funeral home.  But, in the meantime, I chatted with a few genealogy researcher from the Middletown area and we came up with the same obit that was earlier mention, plus another clipping from a different newspaper that reported the death of George.

I have three clippings below.  

Middletown Times Herald

 Thursday 17 Oct 1946

Middletown Times Herald

Friday, 18 Oct 1946

Middletown Times Herald

Friday, 18 Oct 1946

Funeral Announcement

There are no markers for George in the Hillside Cememtay according to the management office. The grave is located at Section 5, Single Grave 310 in the Hillside Cemetary, Middleotown NY.

Get photo of plot

More information updating record for George.  According to the above mentioned death, George passed away in Middletown New York.  The death accouncement suggests that George worked in the Middletown State Hospital, as an ordealy I assume. During this period of time (1940s) George was documented in WWII draft records for older men.  His listed his mailing address as Camp LaGuardia Chester NY and living in a shelter in Middletown NY.  His place of death was in a restaurant on Centre Street in Middletown NY called Long's Restaurant.  I should mention that Long's Restaurant no longer exists.

Camp LaGuardia was a woman's prison 1914-1934 called Camp Greycourt prior to NY purchasing the prison an thus renaming it in honor of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.

Get photo of camp

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.