University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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student of nature and he had a large fund of choice and interesting informa- tion which he had acquired by observation in the fields and woods and streams. I have not said anything of another phase of his character, namely, his love for books. llc was not only a lover of books but an assiduous and ap- preciative render of hooks, and during his life he collected a library of about ten thousand volumes, which was distinguished by its high literary excellence. He was one of the influential members of a select literary coterie in his early years in Derroil. many of whose members preceded him to that 'undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler retnrnsf After an illness of several months' duration Mr. Waterman himself passed away June 24, 1502. E. T. T., 'T3. HURON RIVER. -13-

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beaten by a man that could not write. Since then he had no political aspira- tions. His son graduated at this comniencementfl Another of his class- mates writes: f'Waterman was dearly loved by every member of his class, and justly so, as he was the soul of honor and generosity. Our meeting next June will be a sad one for me, as Josh and I at our meeting in '84 were the first in the room and we had great fun in scoring the fellows as they came in. Mr. Waterman was always interested in athletics, and while in college and for years after graduation he was an enthusiastic heavy athlete himself. While a young man in Detroit he organized a gymnasium with some of his friends, and he and his brother were the strongest men of that circle. After graduation Mr. Waterman studied law and in the course of a few years settled in Detroit. He did not practice his profession very long but drifted into lending money on mortgages. This necessitated his traveling all over Michigan by buggy the first few years. Afterwards his business was done in his office. Mr. Waterman married, in 1846, Miss Eliza Davenport, of Bath, New York, whom he had known and had been attached to from-his boyhood. Two sons and a daughter were born from this marriage. Mrs. Waterman died in 1864, and five years later Mr. Waterman married the sister of his former wife, Miss Fanny Davenport. In 1881 Mr. Waterman was left a second time a widower and remained so for the remainder of his life. He continued his interest in athletics, being a member of the Detroit Ath- letic Club, and the founder of the Peninsular Cricket Club in the year 1858, which was disbanded only a year or two ago, and merged into the Detroit Athletic Club. Mr. Waterman was always a friend to young men and many have been helped by him at opportune times. His love of healthful exercise and of manly sports of all kinds accounts for his gift to the University for the purpose of building a gymnasium, though the fact that his family have been graduates of Yale for several generations, makes us, the alumni of the Uni- versity, specially grateful that he was so patriotic as to think in this connec- tion of the noble head of the educational system of his adopted state. This act, too, illustrates tl1e kindliness of his disposition, for he appreciated that the University was in much more need of the money than Yale. In this con- nection I might say that the Detroit alumni have been very much pleased to- understand that the increase of the University's income will allow her to finish this handsome memorial. Mr. Waterman was a philosopher and impressed his intimate friends with his mental and moral strength. None of his actions were for effect, but sprang from conviction or from kindly and generous feeling. He was a close , -12-

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