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Our Waters ancestry traces back to the spa village of Baden-Baden, located in the mountainous Black Forest region of southwest Germany. Its springs were known of by the Romans in ancient times. 

According to my great grandfather, Harry Lee Waters, three brothers immigrated from Baden-Baden to New York Colony from Germany. After researching major migrations of the appropriate time period, I believe that they were among one of the impoverished groups of German Palatines, who escaped the horrific conditions in Baden-Baden during the Palatine Exodus of 1709-1710, and settled briefly in England as refugees. Some were sent to the New York Colony the following spring, and were indentured to the British Navy to pay for their passage.

Prior to this movement there were many years of war in that part of their homeland. Being near the border of France, and also being a Protestant area, residents of that region were subject to much persecution and repeated invasions from the French. Baden-Baden was left in utter ruin. Famine and the harsh winter of 1708-1709, the harshest winter in a century, worsened matters significantly. Though it was perilous and illegal to do so, many of these poor, devastated Protestant left Germany by the thousands. 

David Waters and Chloe Hitchcock
Photo courtesy of Ellen Waters Britton

For those who were indentured to the British Navy, their expected role was to produce tar in the colony. This venture largely failed, and these servants were turned loose to find their own paths in life. Some ended up in Massachusetts. Our Waters ancestors were there at least by 1794, when my 3rd great grandfather,David Waters (1794-1871), was born. He later migrated to Pennsylvania and died in Tennessee a few years after the War Between the States.

David Waters married Chloe Hitchcock, daughter of Jesse Hitchcock and Mercy Walker. Her family were among the early settlers of what later became the United States. Luke Hitchcock, her 4th great grandfather, was a shoemaker who came to Connecticut from England before 1642, and was said to be a friend to the Native Americans in his region.

Our Waters ancestors and their descendants are now scattered throughout the United States, and I and two of my siblings live in western Canada. Among their history lies a wealth of fascination, mystery and loyalty.