INJURY SATURDAY A DIRECT CAUSE OF DEATH OF EARLY SETTLER

Fred Waterman, one of the early settlers of Washington County in the Fontanelle vicinity, died at his home Sunday afternoon at 2:30 o’clock.

His death was due indirectly to the infirmities of old age and a lingering illness of several years duration, but was caused directly by a fall he suffered Saturday noon. He fell in the house and fractured a rib which punctured his lung.

Mr. Waterman was born in Blomberg, Lippe Detmold, Germany, October 14, 1847, and grew to manhood there. He came to this country with his father in 1876 and settled on a farm in Grant Township, east of Telbasta. In 1880 he purchased a farm two miles northeast of Fontanelle and settled upon it with his bride, having been married to Katherine Riedel, a native of Germany, July 18, 1880. Thirteen children were born to them, five having preceded their father in death. In the spring of 1913 Mr. and Mrs. Waterman retired from the farm and settle in Fontanelle, having purchased the former residence of Christ Clause, and it has since been the family home.

Immediate survivors are the wife, four sons and four daughters, William, Plainview; Amelia Westerbeck, Foster; August and Mary Holtman, Nickerson; Geo., Royal; Ed, Nickerson, Mrs. Martha Dagan, Chicago and Miss Sophia at home. There are 19 grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Funeral services were held from the home at one o’clock Wednesday afternoon and 1:30 from the Salem Lutheran church in Fontanelle. Burial was in Fontanelle cemetery.

~~~Obituaries courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair, Nebraska Public Library~~~

Find a Grave Memorial #159507401