Robert Waterman

Robert Whitney Waterman (December 15, 1826 – April 12, 1891) was an American politician. He served as the 17th governor of California from September 12, 1887, until January 8, 1891. Early years Waterman was born on December 15, 1826, in Fairfield, New York. He was born to John Dean Waterman and Mary Graves Waldo. His middle name derives from the second wife (Clarissa (Dwight) Whitney) of his maternal grandfather. He had seven siblings, including James Sears Waterman, John Calvin Waterman, Henry Franklin Waterman, Charlotte Judith Waterman, Mary Waterman, Charles Waterman, Caroline Waldo Waterman, and Theodore Francis Waterman. Illinois Waterman moved to Newbury, Illinois, when he was thirteen to join his brother as a clerk. Until 1850, he was a store clerk and postmaster in Geneva, Illinois. In 1850, he sold his assets and headed to California. He traveled with F.A. Park, and befriended Brigham Young in Salt Lake City along the way. When he arrived in California, he joined one of his brothers prospecting near the South Fork of the Feather River on Oregon Creek. In 1851, Waterman returned to his family in Wilmington, Illinois, and became a successful grain dealer. He returned to Illinois, and helped form the Illinois Republican party in 1854 and published the Willmington Independent newspaper. In 1856, he was one of two Illinois delegates to the first Republican National Convention in Bloomington, Illinois. The other was Abraham Lincoln. In 1860 he played a key role in delivering Illinois to Abraham Lincoln. Return to California In 1873, Waterman returned to California and became a machinery salesman in Redwood City, California. In 1874, he moved to San Bernardino, California. He operated the Stonewall Jackson Mine which netted him $500 a day.