Arnold Waters, Lower Waterford Resident: Diamond Mines and Community Service

Arnold Waters, 1906-1985, photo from the 1985 Town Report, courtesy of Helen C. Pike

It's easy to look at the white houses and green shutters of Lower Waterford's "White Village" and think that the residents will all fit together, New Englanders of some generation and maybe even "kissing cousins."

But the reality of the White Village,  even from its days as an important stagecoach stop, is far different. One of the residents who left wonderful stories behind of his adventurous life was Arnold Waters, with his wife Betty and, later, subsequent wife Beth.

Long-time local resident and attorney Kate Piper wrote this about the couple, back in 2007:

Arnold E. Waters, Jr., graduated with a PhD in geology in 1933 from Johns Hopkins University. After graduation he joined the Anglo American group, a diamond mining company. He spent his career exploring parts of South Africa, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), Indonesia, and Canada. After he retired in 1972, he and his wife, Betty, moved to the village of Lower Waterford where they purchased the house next to the Rabbit Hill Inn. Arnold was a beloved and active member of the community. He served as president of the board of the Fairbanks Museum and was later named a museum fellow. Arnold chaired the Waterford Planning Commission and served the Lower Waterford Congregational Church in many capacities. He was an avid gardener and prize-winning beekeeper who generously shared his knowledge and skills as well as his honey and produce. Betty (Elizabeth S.) Waters died in March 1977. In June 1983, Arnold married their close family friend from South Africa, Elizabeth (Beth) Hicks. When Arnold died on August 15, 1985, one of Waterford’s selectmen, lamenting his passing, described Arnold perfectly as “the cement that holds this community together.” 

Diamond mining?? Yes, indeed! The obituary written by David Lang for the Caledonian-Record said even more:

Thanks again to Helen C. Pike for this.

 

Years in the White Village meant that there are many other memories of Mr. Waters. Here is a reflection from Donna Rae Heath:

I first met Arnold Waters at Green Up Day at the Waterford Elementary School. I was assigned to the last remaining volunteer with a vehicle. That is how I picked up trash on a Saturday with a lanky retired geologist, both of us picking up highway garbage in his Mercedes Benz in the mid-1970s. I learned that he was still active as a geologist and a volunteer in the Waterford community. I was a farm girl recently graduated from Johnson State College after having to work thirteen years in low paying typist jobs before being able to afford college.

Later, I had been hired by the Essex County Conservation District through a one-year funded position to work on a USDA soil erosion project and administrative work for the district. Arnold was asked to be a speaker at the meeting of the district in Guildhall and offered to let me ride with him. When he picked me up in the Mercedes Benz, he opened the door for me.

When the I-93 highway construction was at the end of the planning stage and close to construction, I read some of the State’s paperwork and discovered in the Environmental Impact Statement that the access to my road, now called Walsh Rd., and the Hudson Rd. that enters Rt.18 by Stiles Pond was not to be saved. I discussed this with one of my former teachers from Johnson State College, and he gave me suggestions on what information to obtain to enter an appeal to the State. I obtained the accident rates for two other roads accessing my area versus
the intersection of Hudson Rd and Rt.18, the number of new houses built in the area, and the time for the St. Johnsbury Fire Department to arrive to my area. The access from Hudson Rd., to Rt. 18 was the safest. On my birthday evening in January, I walked the neighborhood and collected signatures to support the appeal. Only one neighbor refused.

I submitted the appeal with my research to the Vermont Transportation Agency and cc’d Arnold Waters as he was on the planning commission. Arnold called me and said the Transportation Agency had called him asking for information. Arnold promised to visit the Transportation Agency. He obtained a commitment from them to not close our access to Rt. 18 from Hudson Road, and we now have overpasses, and the road remains open.

Arnold had a face, somewhat reddish and windblown, like someone who was outdoors all the time. He was a man in his seventies, always running with a project or a job to do. My brother, Raymond, had a construction company, and Arnold had hired his crew to work on a new well for him. I remember my brother telling me how impressed he was when Arnold offered to collect tools or supplies from his house or garage. He ran down from the well site to the house and back again with whatever they needed.

Arnold Waters was a gentleman, always committed to his community, and never afraid to speak up even though he had a stutter or lisp, but always forceful in his beliefs. I try to follow Arnold’s rules, except speaking up, that’s still a little shaky.

Donna Rae Heath

Another time when memories of Mr. Waters came up was when the Waterford Historical Society hosted a "reunion" of people who owned, worked at, and for other reasons had vivid memories of the Rabbit Hill Inn, next door to the house where Arnold resided. Watch an engaging and often light-hearted video of this gathering, recorded by Donna Heath for the WHS, here.

And if you'd like to read something about Arnold Waters and the diamonds, check out The Geochemical News from January 2000 -- here's a good bit:

There are also mentions of the important role of Mr. Waters in the South African diamond mines in a 2018 conference report describing the Jwaneng diamond mine in the hands of De Beers -- Mr. Waters is decribed as consulting geologist for the famous diamond company, productively testing a theory on where to mine the gems.  

A memoir by Tom Molyneux also mentions Arnold Waters:

After a thirty-six hour journey by train across The Karoo I arrived in Johannesburg and went to the Anglo American offices at 44 and 45 Main Street. It was a Friday and I met Dr. Arnold Waters who was the Chief Geologist and a long term member of the famous Northern Rhodesian geological team of The Late Dr. Austin Bancroft. That team had been based in The Northern Rhodesian (Zambian) Copperbelt in the 1930s and they had great success in exploring for, and bringing huge copper mines to the production stage. This team was also legendary for its hard work, self-reliance, dedication and Spartan approach to field work.

After all that adventure, the most tangible sign that Arnold Waters ended up belonging to Lower Waterford is that when the village church was decommissioned a few years ago, historian and author Helen C. Pike already knew which pew had always been where Mr. Waters sat, along with his wife and their friends the Hird family -- number 12 -- and she made sure it was saved as a treasure of White Village history.

 

 

What Kind of Apples Grow Nearby? Mark Your Calendar!

The Waterford Historical Society announces:

 Stan Crane will present a program on various, ancient apples on Saturday,
September 13 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The program will take place in the barn on
Walsh Rd., in Waterford at Donna Heath’s place. Drinks and slices of apple pie or
tarts and cider donuts will be available. Contact Donna Heath for directions, 802-748-3314.

Tools from the Barn at Ray-Don Rag Cow Apple Farm: A Vermont Archives Month Presentation

One of the oldest barns standing in Waterford, Vermont, today.

"Archives" usually refers to documents, but history is also maintained through talking about objects. Here Donna Rae Heath of Waterford, Vermont, presents the remaining barn from her family's farm and some of the tools she saved from its years of active use. Notice how "farming" extends also to logging on a Vermont homestead.

Click on this short video here.

More Local Waterford Vermont History from Donna Heath: A Vermont Archives Month Presentation

This photo's importance came from the truck way in the background!

Even though Donna Rae Heath created her family farm notebook to capture the history of the farm, there's a lot more to discover from her images and stories. School trips, logging, fun!

Check out this short video and enjoy two minutes of details and insight.

Donna Heath's Family Farm Notebook: A Vermont Archives Month Presentation

Photo of Donna Rae Heath's parents, in her farm notebook.

Donna Rae Heath created a notebook of photos and documents that show her family's farm, where she grew up and still resides. This is a great example of a "family archive," which can be put together easily to save and treasure history and memories.

Click here to watch this short video and enjoy stories of Waterford, Vermont, from Donna. (Video by Helen Chantal Pike.)

Vermont Women and the Right to Vote: A Personal History

[Postcard issued in a campaign by the National Woman Suffrage Association, circa 1915]

This account comes from Donna Rae Heath of Waterford, a member of the Vermont Suffrage Centennial Alliance. She would have presented a talk in March of this year for the Waterford Historical Society, but with the coronavirus precautions in place, she's sharing it here, instead. Thank you, Donna!

A Short History of Suffrage

By Donna Rae Heath

I became a voter when I turned 21.  I took the Freeman’s Oath from Earle Whittemore in the kitchen of the restaurant that the Whittemores owned on Route 18 in Waterford.  Later, I had to take the Freeman’s Oath again in the 1970s when I went to register to vote in Montpelier.  I had moved back to Vermont from Boston.  Even though I had moved back to Vermont, the election officials insisted I take the Oath again. 

Community is one of my favorite words.  My interest in my community of Waterford goes back to my elementary school days when I joined my parents at the Town Meeting.  I watched my mother mark on the Warning of the Town Report the results of the various articles.  She wrote who was elected Selectman, Town Clerk, Town Treasurer, and the appropriations and the budget. I still have those reports. 

My mother has always had the right to vote.   She was eight years old in 1920 when Suffrage was passed by Congress.  [Editors' addition: Because the Suffrage Amendment reached ratification only nine weeks before the Presidential election of 1920, there was enormous pressure to get women registered to vote, resulting in about one-third of eligible women casting their vote in 1920, when Warren Harding was elected president, with Calvin Coolidge as vice-president, stepping in as President when Harding died in office in 1923.] Women have been allowed to vote in national elections in 31 of 58 Presidential elections.  Calvin Coolidge’s election [to continue as President] in 1924 was the first Presidential election in which women were seen as significant to the vote.  They could not vote for Teddy Roosevelt, but they could vote for Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  Edna Beard of Orange, Vermont, was the first woman elected Representative in the Vermont Legislature in 1920, and she won the Orange County Senate seat in 1922.

There are many significant years in the history of woman’s Suffrage.  One hundred years is not a long time that women have had the right to vote.  Look at these significant dates in the history of women in their Vermont community:  1900, women were allowed to be town clerks, library trustees, and Superintendent of Schools; 1917, women who pay taxes were allowed to vote in municipal elections; 1942, women were allowed to serve on juries; 1964, the Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women was established; and in 1988, the United States Congress passed the Women’s Business Ownership Act, which allowed women business owners to obtain loans in their own name.  That was only 32 years ago.

Women’s issues go back to the early years of the country.  The Temperance Movement began in 1826 when the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance was formed.  By 1869, two organizations were promoting voting rights for women: The National Woman Suffrage Association fought at the national level through Congress, while the American Woman Suffrage Association worked for Suffrage through the states. 

Locally, the Vermont Woman’s Suffrage Association (VWSA) was formed in St. Johnsbury in 1883–1884. Nationally known activists like Lucy Stone, editor of the Woman’s Journal, and Julia Ward Howe, President of the Massachusetts Suffrage Association, attended the meeting.  Laura Moore of Barnet was elected Secretary and documented the VWSA’s work in very thorough minutes. She served as Secretary from 1883 until her death in 1902.  The minutes are available for viewing at the University of Vermont website. 

Moore wrote about the fight to give Vermont women the right to vote in municipal elections.  It was a petition drive throughout the state during 1883–1884.  Volunteers, men and women, spread across the state and obtained 3,278 signatures.  Some of the towns returning petitions were:  Barnet with 187 signatures; Barton, 164; Burke, 110; Concord, 277; Danville, 6; Hardwick, 89; Lyndon, 68; Peacham 61; St. Johnsbury, 258; Ryegate, 9; and Sheffield, 26.  Waterford was not listed in Moore’s report.  The right to vote in municipal elections was not passed by the Vermont Legislature until 1917, and that right was allowed only for tax-paying women.

A different petition that came from Waterford probably closer to 1920 asked the Vermont Legislature to ratify the “Federal Suffrage Amendment.” The signatures had Waterford and St. Johnsbury addresses, and there was no date on the petitions. Many of the signatures were written in the same handwriting ,with a note at the bottom that they were taken over the telephone.

The amount of information on Suffrage in books, magazines, libraries and archives is immense. Celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Suffrage are being planned by the Vermont Suffrage Centennial Alliance (VSCA), a committee of about 25 women who represent several organizations.  Sue Racanelli of the League of Women Voters chairs the committee.  On August 22, 2020, a parade of people, floats, and bands will march down Main and State Streets in Montpelier to the State Capitol lawn.  There will be speeches, exhibitor booths, games, food, and music.  Other events include a traveling exhibit on woman’s Suffrage that will go to schools, a traveling play, and programs in various towns.  Check out the VSCA website at vtsuffrage2020.org for details on programs, how to volunteer, and the status of all activities that may be impacted by the coronavirus. 

[Donna Rae Heath is vice-president of the board for the Waterford Historical Society.]

Waterford's Poets and Poems

Wednesday evening April 26, 2017, the Waterford Historical Society gathered with many guests at the Lower Waterford Congregational Church, to celebrate National Poetry Month through the words of local writers. What a great event!

WHS Pres. Donna Heath as master of ceremonies.

Patirica Powers

Teagan and Joe Healy reading together.