Waters, George W.

Born: 1799-XX-XX Maryland

Flourished: Pope County, Illinois

Waters was a farmer, state legislator, county judge, and prominent citizen of Pope County, Illinois. In December 1825, Waters married Mary Whiteside, with whom he had at least seven children. Between 1836 and 1855, he acquired vast tracts of public land in western Pope and eastern Johnson counties. In 1850, he owned real property valued at $1,000. By 1860, Waters owned real property valued at $8,900 and had a personal estate of $3,250. In addition to agriculture, Waters involved himself in civic affairs and politics. In August 1840, he won election, as a Whig, to the Illinois House of Representatives, serving in that body from November 1840 to March 1841. In August 1842, Pope, Hardin, and Johnson county voters elected him to the Illinois Senate, where he served from December 1842 to March 1845. He also served as a judge for Pope County. From September 1861 to November 1862, Waters was postmaster of U.S. Post Office at Glendale. In 1862, Waters represented Pope, Hardin, and Massac counties at the Illinois constitutional convention. He served another stint as postmaster of Glendale in 1863.

Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Pope County, 1 December 1825, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; For an exhaustive list of Waters's land purchases, search "Waters George W," https://www.ilsos.gov/isa/landsrch.jsp; Theodore C. Pease, ed., Illinois Election Returns, 1818-1848, vol. 18 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1923), 335, 354; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Pope County, IL, 268; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Pope County, IL, 106; John W. Allen, Pope County Notes (Springfield: State of Illinois, 1949), 54; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 209, 210, 212; Journal of the Constitutional Convention of the State of Illinois, Convened at Springfield, January 7, 1862 (Springfield, IL: Charles H. Lanphier, 1862), 4; Pope County Illinois (Golconda, IL: Pope County Historical Society, 1989), 2:25; Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-1971, NARA Microfilm Publication, M841, 145 rolls, Records of the Post Office Department, RG 28, 1855-1865, 20a:113, National Archives Building, Washington, DC; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1863 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1864), 339.