Source: Gray, Edith; Recollections of Boerne and Kendall County, Family Histories p. 149.
George Thatcher Waterman
was the son of C.C.F. Waterman of Massachusetts, who, in partnership with his cousin, ran the big Sandwich Glass Factory. Mr. George Waterman came to Texas in 1878. He camped out for a year near the Dane Ranch (Kendall Ranch) to see if he wanted to settle in this part of the country. His reason for coming to Texas was that he had a factory at Indianola on the coast.
While in Texas Mr. Waterman invented the cold storage process and sold the states rights in Texas for $5,000. Before he could sell them in other states the patent was infringed upon, for in that time there was no law to prevent it here in Texas. He was killing a hundred beeves a day and shipping the hides to the north. Mr. Waterman sent for $ 10,000 worth of new machinery by Capt. DeSavalle, but the cargo was wrecked in the Gulf, so he went back to Boston, leaving house, factory and store.
In Boston Mr. Waterman went into business selling tea, flour and tobacco. This firm's name was Chase and Waterman. { It later became Chase and Sanborn.} He also had a branch house in New York for 25 years. He developed a bad cough and came back to Texas where he spent the remaining thirty-three years of his life. He settled near Boerne on 640 acres in what is now called Waterman's Valley. Here he built a ten room house and farmed. Three children were born to the Watermans: George, John, and Bertha (Perrin).
This article was written by Mrs. Bertha Perrin