Here is a postcard sent from the Chattanooga, Ohio, Post Office in December 1900.
Postmarked Chattanooga, Ohio, 10 Dec 1900
The postmaster in Chattanooga’s post office in 1900 was Andrew Leistner. He was appointed postmaster in 10 April 1899 and served as their postmaster until 14 September 1904. Chattanooga’s post office was discontinued on 3 May 1905 and the mail was sent to Rockford.
This postcard was sent by Dr. Price Taylor Waters, a physician in Chattanooga. It appears that Dr. Waters was also interested in farm matters, specifically a local wheat insect infestation in 1900. He was writing to obtain information about the pests from Ohio’s Experimental Station in Wooster.
Postcard sent by Dr. P.T. Waters, Chattanooga, Ohio, 10 Dec 1900
12-10-1900/12-12-00
State Experimental Station, Woster [sic] O
I send you this date a vile with a few specimens of some kind of animal life that is infesting the farms universily [sic] here and destroying the wheat. They are found in corn fields as well but they don’t seam [sic] to attach that. Will you please inform me what they are and any means of destroying them. Address. P.T. Waters M.D., Chattanooga Ohio.
Who was this Chattanooga physician, enumerated in Liberty Township in the 1900 census as Dr. P. T. Whaters? [1]
Price Taylor Waters was born in Ohio on 27 June 1853, the son of Eber D. Waters (c1820-1879) & Sarah Jane (Taylor) Waters (c1825-1904). Dr. Waters was named after his maternal grandfather Price Taylor. [2] [3]
In 1850, before Price’s birth, his parents lived in Delaware County, Ohio. [4] Price may have been born in Delaware County, but by 1860 the Eber Waters family had moved to Jefferson Township, Mercer County, Ohio. The Waters family in 1860: Eber, 39, head, farmer; Sarah, 34, wife; Harriet, 15; Mary, 13; Clara, 10; Price, 7; Charles, 4; Sherman, 2; and Malissa Younger, 1. [5]
The Waters family remained in Jefferson Township and was enumerated there in 1870. [6]
Price’s father Eber died in 1879 and is buried in Oldtown Cemetery, Mercer County.
Sometime between 1870 and 1880, Price Waters married Alma E. Jameson (1849-1884). They had a daughter Kate, born in Mercer County on 6 June 1879.
In 1880, Price Waters, 27, wife Alma, 30, and daughter Kate,1, lived in Celina and Price worked as a day laborer. [7]
Price and Alma Waters had a son Thomas, born in Mercer County on 23 September 1882. He died the next day and is buried in North Grove Cemetery, Celina. A daughter was born to them on 10 February 1884 and died the next day. Price’s wife Alma died the following day, 12 February 1884, and is buried in North Grove Cemetery.
Price Waters married Florence (Broadwell) Feldheiser (1856-1934) in Mercer County on 22 April 1885. [8] Florence was the widow of Henry Feldheiser (1843-1881). Florence and Henry Feldheiser had a daughter who died in infancy and another who lived to adulthood, Cora B. Feldheiser, born in Mercer County in 1881. [9]
Sometime after 1880 Price Waters attended Medical College in Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from there in 1886. [10]
Price and Florence had a daughter, Iva Waters, born in 1887 and died in 1892. She is buried in North Grove Cemetery, Celina. [11]
By 1900, the Price Waters family had moved to Chattanooga, Ohio. Their family in 1900: Price T Whaters [sic], 46, born in Ohio June 1854, physician; Florence, wife, 45, born in Ohio February 1855; C [Cora] Feldheiser, 20, born in Ohio April 1880, single. Price and Florence had been married 15 years, and reportedly 2 children were born to Florence, one still living. Some of their Liberty Township neighbors were Fr. Heffner, George Hagerman, Joseph Markle, Philip Deitsch, John Strabel, and Andrew Koch. [1]
Dr. Water’s mother Sara Jane (Taylor) Waters died in 1904 and is buried in Oldtown Cemetery.
The Waters’ family remained in Chattanooga for over a decade and was enumerated there in the 1910 census. Dr. Waters was 56 by this time, occupation doctor, enumerated with Florence Waters, 54, wife, and Erma Morningstar, 60, sister-in-law, divorced. This enumeration indicates Price and Florence had been married for 22 years and that Florence had given birth to two children, one of whom was living. [12]
Dr. Waters and wife Florence moved to Michigan between 1910 and 1916. They had moved from Mercer County before 1916 since they were not listed in Mercer County’s 1916 Farm Journal Directory.
In 1920 Dr. Waters, 66, and wife Florence, 64, resided in Wilcox, Michigan, [13] and in 1930 they resided in Wayland, Michigan. [14]
Dr. Price Taylor Waters died from a cerebral hemorrhage at his home in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on 8 July 1930, at 77 years of age. He was buried in North Grove Cemetery, Celina. [2]
Price’s widow Florence (Broadwell) Waters died in Chicago, Illinois, on 26 January 1934. She is buried in Oldtown Cemetery, Celina. [15]
Price T. Waters and his first wife Alma Jameson had the following children:
Kate W. Waters (1879-1907), married Loah Justus Hamilton
Thomas Waters (1882-1882)
Infant daughter (1884-1884)
Price T. Waters and his second wife Florence (Broadwell) had a child:
Iva Waters (1887-1892)
Price T. Waters had a step-daughter:
Cora B. Feldheiser (1881-1957), married Victor V. Dull
I wonder if they ever figured out what insect was causing the wheat infestation and if they were able to control it.
[1] 1900 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED 85, p.10, dwelling 185, family 190, Price T Whaters [sic]; Ancestry.com.
[2] Source: Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health statistics, Death Records, Dr. P.T. Waters, 8 Jul 1930; Ancestry.com.
[3] Find a Grave.com, memorial no. 38536923, Dr. Price Taylor Waters (1853-1930), North Grove Cemetery, Celina, Mercer County, Ohio.
[4] 1850 U.S. Census, Ohio, Delaware, Orange, p.226a, family 1773, Eber D Waters; Ancestry.com.
[5] 1860 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Jefferson, p.424, dwelling 839, family 842, Abner Waters [sic]; Ancestry.com.
[6] 1870 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Jefferson, p.133B, dwelling 175, family 173, Edward Waters; Ancestry.com.
[7] 1880 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Celina, ED 187, p.457, dwelling 224, family 272, Price Watters [sic]; Ancestry.com.
[8] Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, Mercer, Vol 1861-1887, p.309, P.T. Waters & Florence Feldheiser, 22 Apr 1885; Ancestry.com.
[9] Florence (Broadwell) and Henry Feldheiser had at least 2 children, a daughter Bertha M. Feldheiser, born in Mercer County 21 December 1877, died 6 May 1879, and Cora B. Feldheiser, born 2 April 1881, married Victor V. Dull in Mercer County on 12 June 1900, died 3 Jul 1957, and is buried in Muskegon County, Michigan.
[10] Ohio Physician and Dentist Directory, 1905, Cincinnati, Ohio, Galen Gonsier & Co, 1905, Amy Armstrong, ed; Ancestry.com.
[11] Find a Grave, memorial no. 38536929, Iva Waters, 1887-1892, North Grove Cemetery, Celina, Mercer County, Ohio.
[12] 1910 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED 119, p.17b, dwelling 382, family 333, Prist [sic] T Waters; Ancestry.com.
[13] 1920 U.S. Census, Michigan, Newaygo, Wilcox, ED 184, p.6B, dwelling 146, family 148, Price T Waters; Ancestry.com.
[14] 1930 U.S. Census, Michigan, Allegan, Wayland, ED 38, p.4A, dwelling 115, family 116, Price Waters; Ancestry.com.
[15] U.S., Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947, Illinois, Florence Waters, 26 January 1934; Ancestry.com.
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