Little is known about the family of this teenage boy named William Waters. His vital record of death named the cause of death as consumption, his age of 16, and the year of death 1860. His father's name was John Waters and the family's race was listed as Black. Note that a second father and son named John and William Waters have been discovered in Portland around the same time. That duo was white and the teenage William died in 1857. Better records are found for them; but this coincidence raises some questions about the accuracy of the records. As a person of color, this William Waters would have been buried in one of the two patches pictured -- those areas of Eastern Cemetery reserved for Portland's minority people. No gravestone is found today in his name.
Little is known about the family of this teenage boy named William Waters. His vital record of death named the cause of death as consumption, his age of 16, and the year of death 1860. His father's name was John Waters and the family's race was listed as Black. Note that a second father and son named John and William Waters have been discovered in Portland around the same time. That duo was white and the teenage William died in 1857. Better records are found for them; but this coincidence raises some questions about the accuracy of the records. As a person of color, this William Waters would have been buried in one of the two patches pictured -- those areas of Eastern Cemetery reserved for Portland's minority people. No gravestone is found today in his name.
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