John Waters: Tireless Worker

The second child and first son of Stephen Waters and Huldah Flagg Waters, John Waters was born in 1766. John was so small at birth that, tradition says, he was put into a two-quart pail and the cover put on for a moment as proof of his small size. He later grew to be a large and powerful man. In his lifetime he had three wives and eight children. Known as a tireless worker, he stopped his work only to eat and sleep. Family records note that, although he was a very devout man, he often fell asleep during church services. John Waters raised apples in the orchards that were first started by his father Stephen. He also made cider in the cider mill on the property. The cider mill was a necessity, from the earliest occupancy of the place, owing to the large hillside orchards, and great apple industry carried on here. The old home-made account books carefully kept by Stephen and John are full of records of many “bariels” of cider, sold to neighbors; and also of grinding apples, brought in by surrounding farmers, to be made into cider. In his later years, when he was less able to handle tools, he would balance on a one-legged stool and, with a long-handled saw, travel through the orchards sitting on the stool and pruning the trees. He continued to work on the farm for as long as he was able. He died in the West Ell of the farmhouse in 1847 at the age of 81.