Historical note:

            Nathaniel Waterman³ was a son of Nathaniel² and Susannah (Carder) Waterman, and a grandson of Richard Waterman¹, one of the original proprietors of Providence, Rhode Island. Nathaniel³ married Mary Olney in 1692. Two of their sons were Joseph⁴ and Zuriel⁴ (1701?-1755?). Zuriel⁴, called “Jr.” to distinguish him from his first cousin born two years earlier, married Anne Warner. He was a justice of the peace for Providence from 1738 to 1755, and for Cranston in May, 1755. Among his and Anne’s children were Zuriel⁵ (c1729-1785) who married Rebecca Potter; Elizabeth⁵, who married Benjamin Sprague, Jr. of Cranston; and William⁵

(c. 1728-1763), who married Deliverance Thornton. William⁵ and Deliverance also had a son Zuriel⁶ (“Jr.”) (1755?-1825), who married Ruth Dyer in 1783. Zuriel and Ruth had a son Zuriel⁷ (1797-1875).

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Scope and content:

            The collection is comprised of miscellaneous papers such as receipts, accounts, agreements, commissions, and the like.

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Provenance:

            There have been eight items identified in the collection as having been part of a 1975 gift or bequest of Emily H. Paine. That gift included 24 items from the Paine, Waterman, and Thornton families. It is strongly suspected that there are other items from that accession in this collection that are not marked as having been part of that donation.

            The collection may also contain items from a 1959 accession which came from James A. Tyson. Additionally, a 1755 summons signed by Zuriel Waterman was donated by F. R. Ames in 1913.

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Processing note:

            Though this collection does not contain any of his papers, it was named for Nathaniel Waterman to distinguish it from that of the descendants of Nathaniel’s brother Richard, MSS 789. Both branches include several individuals named Zuriel. This collection originally contained, in addition to its present arrangement, the papers of Dr. Zuriel Waterman (1756-1786) and his brother George (1754-1829), who were cousins of the family group represented here. Zuriel and George’s papers were transferred to MSS 789, where some of their papers and those of their ancestors and descendants were already present.

            The account book dated 1778 to 1779 has been attributed to Zuriel Waterman (1755?-1825), son of William and Deliverance (Thornton). The book mentions “Aunt Thornton” who could be related to Zuriel’s mother Deliverance, and a “Capt. Solomon Thornton” who could also be related to Deliverance.

            The papers of Captain William Waterman were transferred from MSS 9001-W (Miscellaneous Manuscripts).

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Inventory:

Box 1 of 1.

Capt. William Waterman (1728-1763) (son of Zuriel and Anne (Warner) Waterman)

Folder 1. Account / scratch book, ca. 1749-1761.

Folder 2. Logbook pages, 1751-1754.

Folder 3. Papers, 1753-ca. 1763.

Zuriel Waterman (c1701-c1755) (son of Nathaniel and Mary (Olney) Waterman)

Folder 4. Papers (including estate), 1725-1793 and n.d.

Zuriel Waterman (c1729-1785) (son of Zuriel and Anne (Warner) Waterman)

Folder 5. Papers, 1765-1767.

Zuriel Waterman (c1755-1825) (son of William and Deliverance (Thornton) Waterman)

Folder 6. Papers, 1778-1824.

Zuriel Waterman (1797-1875) (son of Zuriel and Ruth (Dyer) Waterman)

Folder 7. Agreements, 1826.

Folder 8. Undetermined Zuriel Waterman and miscellaneous, 1785-1787 and n.d.

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Subjects:

Logbooks, 1751-1754

William Waterman (1728-c1763)

Zuriel Waterman (c1701-c1755)

Zuriel Waterman (c1729-1785)

Zuriel Waterman (c1755-1825)

Zuriel Waterman (1797-1875)

Waterman Family

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RIHS1822