December 14, 2017 is the one hundredth anniversary of the
passing of William Waters. After a century,
many of his buildings are no more but many remain as monuments to his ability. His extant structures serve as touch-stones
to our past, a reminder of what was and may server to inspire our future. William Water, like many early Wisconsinites had roots in
the east. He was born in 1843 to William
and Elizabeth Waters in the village of Franklin in Delaware county New York, his
father a successful man of business and civic leader could provide well for
wife and three children. Young William
was educated in Franklin, then in 1863 attended Rensselaer Polytechnic School
in Troy, New York but left to take a job on the Midland Railroad, after the
Civil War he made his way west. What brought him to Oshkosh? Surly Milwaukee or Chicago held great allure
for young men wishing to start a life in the frontier where opportunity was
abundant. Having acquired sufficient
knowledge of engineering and architecture the twenty-three-year-old William
went to Oshkosh, arriving there in December of 1866 and married Catherina
Follett. Miss Follett’s family also originated
in Franklin, New York, her father moved west to Oshkosh in 1849 with his family
following in 1850. Mr. Follett was very
successful, even becoming the city’s second mayor and although he’d been killed
in an accident his son, Catherine’s brother was a prominent citizen who’s name
and position carried a great deal of weight in the city.
William Waters wasted little time in establishing himself as
an architect and was soon receiving commissions from the city for schools and
fire houses. He also took on supervision jobs, guiding the construction of
other’s buildings. The state of
Wisconsin also noticed him and picked his plans for the new normal school to be
built in Oshkosh as well as giving him the job as superintendent of
construction of the Northern State Hospital for the Insane, just north of
Oshkosh. Mr. Waters’ amiable nature,
attention to details and ambition soon garnered him commissions from parties in
other cities such as Sheboygan Falls, Neenah-Menasha and Appleton making him
one of the premier architects of fast growing central Wisconsin. He and Catherine started a family and by 1872
had three children, first born was Elizabeth then Willie and finally Katie who
lived but ten months. William’s carrier
continued to expand helped by a devastating fire in 1874 and another even more
destructive conflagration in 1875. James
Peter Jensen Waters’ draftsman, quipped “Plans by the yard” were drawn up after
the fire of ’75. The office was busy but
things at home took a terrible turn when Catherine suddenly died in October of
1875. For fifty-one years William Waters made Oshkosh his home and
worked for the improvement of the city and the state. I know I drew inspiration from his life
story, I hope others might as well.
