Sunday’s Obituary–Asher Waterman

This is Asher Waterman, my 3rd great-grandfather.  He was married to Bathsheba Paulk.  They had 12 children, all of whom were born in Athens County, Ohio:  Eliza, William B., Charles Wesley, Eunice, Homer Clark, Jerusha, Jason C., Nancy Jane, Sarah Amanda, Cynthia Maria (my 2nd great-grandmother), Lucy Mae, and Lewis.

In a previous post I wrote about The Waterman Family Books by Donald Lines Jacobus.  In Volume 1, page 565, the recollections of a niece of Asher Waterman are quoted.  She said, "Asher Waterman was a man of great piety and some learning, also strong and handsome.  The Bible and Clark's Commentaries were his chief reading.  When a thunder-storm came on at night, he had all the family get up and dress and he read the Scriptures till the storm passed over. Sunday was kept in as great strictness as was possible and all misdeeds were strictly punished on Monday morning by Solomon's rule, and the boys, being the chief offenders, were more anxious to get to the fields to work or to the hills for the cattle than on any other morning in the week.  They were Methodists.”

The following obituary notice was from The Athens Messenger dated 4 Feb 1875:

Ancestry.com. The Athens Messenger (Athens, Ohio) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

Original data: The Athens Messenger. Athens, OH, USA. Database created from microfilm copies of the newspaper.

Transcript of Obituary:

"During the past week our vicinity has suffered by death, the loss of two of our most prominent and respected citizens, whose death requires something more than a mere passing notice.  Asher Waterman was born in Duchess county, New York, in the year 1792, came to Ohio and settled in the neighborhood where he has always lived, Troy township, in the year 1810.  He died January 19th, 1875, in the triumph of the Christian faith.  He joined the M. E. Church in 1819, under the labors of the Rev. Curtis Goddard and ever after lived to exemplify his profession.  He was a member of Capt. Gregory's Company and served in the war of 1812.  The death of Father Waterman has caused a vacuum which, perhaps, will not soon be filled.  For sixty-four years he lived and worshipped in the same neighborhood, and his life is a part of the history of Athens county."

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Copyright © Jana Last 2012