Multnomah-Statewide County OR Archives Biographies.....Watters, Rev. Dennis Alonzo May 2, 1849 - March 11, 1926 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com October 26, 2008, 2:44 pm Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company REV. DENNIS ALONZO WATTERS. There are certain men of whom it is impossible to speak, save in the language of eulogy, and of this type was the Rev. Dennis Alonzo Watters, one of Portland's eminent divines and beloved citizens. His life was dedicated to God, who multiplied his talents into a great service. For more than a half century he was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church and also became widely and favorably known as a writer of prose and poetry. Rev. Watters was born May 2, 1849, in Belmont county, Ohio, and was a descendant of Godfrey Watters, an Englishman, who came to America when a young man, securing an extensive land grant in Maryland. He was a member of the Church of England and passed away on his plantation in Maryland in 1753. On this estate his son, William Watters, was born October 16, 1751, and was converted to Methodism by missionaries sent from England to the colonies. He was the first native-born Methodist preacher in America and when he began his religious work in 1772 there were but eight ministers of that faith in this country. There were less than one thousand Methodists in America at that time and when he died in 1827 the membership of the church in the United States had reached four hundred and twenty-one thousand, one hundred and five, while the number of itinerant preachers had been increased to one thousand, six hundred and forty-two. The parents of the Rev. Dennis A. Waiters were Henry Alfred and Catherine (Kemp) Watters, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Belmont county, Ohio. They were married in 1842 and to their union were born six children, four sons and two daughters. Rev. Dennis A. Watters was reared on his father's farm, and matriculated in the University of Iowa, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Didactics in 1871. This was followed by a course in theology at the Garrett Biblical Institute in Evanston, Illinois, and by study in Europe. Rev. Watters joined the Iowa conference in 1874 and his first pastorate was at Letts, where he was stationed for three years. On August 23, 1876, he married Miss Lucy E. McKever, of Belmont, Ohio, and in the following year they removed to Oxford, Iowa. From there Rev. Watters was transferred to Victor and later was sent to Muscatine and Milton, Iowa. In 1890 he was transferred to the Oregon conference and assigned to the First Methodist church at Eugene, where his work was particularly congenial and resultant. At that time he had one hundred and fifty students in the Epworth League. Rev. Watters was next called to Forest Grove, where he spent four years, and then cattle to Portland as pastor of the Central church. Two years later he was made presiding elder of the Salem district and acted in that capacity for six years. There were thirty-five pastors under his charge and at least once each quarter he visited all of the churches in the district. During that time he taught a class in theology at Willamette University, which institution was saved through his efforts. When he located in Salem it was in serious financial straits and unable to remove a burden of debt amounting to forty thousand dollars. For the purpose of discussing ways and means he called a meeting of all the pastors in his district and started the subscription with one thousand dollars. His generous example was followed by others and the maintenance and support of the university were thus secured. In 1900 he was selected as a member of the general conference and in 1904 returned to Portland. A tireless worker, he imbued kindred spirits with his zeal and energy, and it was during his pastorate that the University Park church was erected in Portland. For two years he had charge of the Patton church in this city and then became an evangelist, laboring successfully in that field for a period of eight years. Imbued with great faith and sound doctrine, he preached the Word with power and had few superiors as an expounder of Gospel truth. He represented his church in the general conference. During the Oregon conference of the Methodist Episcopal church in Medford, September 17, 1924, Rev. Watters delivered a semi-centennial sermon, which was a masterly effort, entitled "Yesterday, Today and Forever." He was endowed with literary ability of a high order and devoted his leisure time to writing. Rev. Watters was one of the foremost members of the Oregon Writers League and the author of the following books: "History of the Watters Family," "The First American Itinerant of Methodism" and a volume of poems entitled "The Trail to Boyhood." Rev. and Mrs. Watters became the parents of two children, Raymond and Mildred. The daughter, who died in 1898, while a student at Willamette University, was just budding into womanhood and gave promise of being a soloist of note. She had a golden voice and a most gracious and charming personality. Mrs. Watters and her son were the first chiropractors in Oregon, entering the profession in 1900, and the latter is still engaged in practice. The son maintains an office in Portland and his expert services are in constant demand. He was married in Walla Walla, Washington, to Miss Lucile Effinger, whose demise occurred on the 24th of March, 1926. The life of Rev. Watters was symmetrical and complete, crowned with notable achievements, and on March 11, 1926, a few weeks before the completion of his seventy-seventh year, he was called to his final rest. The funeral service was held in First church, Portland, March 15, and Dr. B. Earle Parker presided. The Oregon conference quartet rendered three beautiful hymns and prayer was offered by Dr. R. N. Avison. The scripture lessons were read by Rev. J. T. Abbett, D. D., and Dr. Edward Laird Mills. A character sketch of Dr. Watters was presented by Rev. John Parsons; the address was made by Bishop Shepard and Dr. A. L. Howarth pronounced the benediction. Members of the conference served as pallbearers and the interment was in City View cemetery, Salem, the last resting place of Dr. Watters' beloved daughter. Mrs. Watters resides at No. 321 East Eighth street in North Portland. Her life has also been fraught with good deeds and kind words. She has always been very actively interested in temperance work and back in Ohio, as early as 1874, was a member of the Crusaders, who were a band of women prominently identified with the early temperance movement. When in Iowa she was one of fourteen that signed a protest against the Woman's Christian Temperance Union affiliating with the prohibition party. She has always exerted a wonderful influence for good in the communities where she has resided. After taking up chiropractic work she was less active in the temperance movement but has always retained her interest in the same. In 1928 she became a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, her great-grandfather having served in the war for independence. A man of scholarly attainments, Dr. Watters dedicated his powers and talents to the moral uplift of humanity, and his memory is revered by all who were brought within the sphere of his influence. A strong bond of friendship existed between Dr. Watters and the well known writer, Rev. John Parsons, one of the editors, of The Pacific Christian Advocate. Following is an excerpt from an article which was written by Dr. Parsons and appeared in the Advocate under date of April 1, 1926: "The career of Rev. Dennis A. Watters as a minister of Jesus Christ was beautiful and helpful. He was evangelistic. His sermons were prophetic in tone and quality, filled with moral warmth and spiritual earnestness, and revivals adorned his pastorates. He diligently instructed the children and was quite a favorite among the youth of the church. It is not surprising therefore to find him in the forefront of every movement to conserve the young life of the church, particularly that of the Epworth League. "Brother Watters likened good qualities of mind and heart to golden threads woven into the fabric of life, and glittering as the sun. His life was rich in these ‘golden threads.’ He was a good man. Milton used to say that he who would write well in laudable things ought himself to be a true poem. D. A. Watters came as near fulfilling this dictum as any man I know. He had a favorite selection from Henry Van Dyke, which he often used. It was this: 'Four things a man must learn to do, if he would keep his record true.' The four things are these: 'To think without confusion clearly; to love his fellowmen sincerely; to act from honest motives purely; to Trust in God and heaven securely.' These ideals were like a trellis to a vine, and over them he spread himself in the light and sunshine of God. "He was a living soul, a soul alive unto God. Browning's Faultless Painter had the mind to conceive and the hand to execute, but he failed through lack of soul. Dead souls cannot make pictures. D. A. Watters was touched with a live coal from off the altar of God, which filled his life with new meanings and new motives. One day the call was trumped out, 'Whom shall I send? and who will go for us?' To young Watters it was a solemn call to duty. He did not hesitate; he was ready; and his triumphant soul replied, 'Here am I; send me.' "'The Lord will bless His people with peace.' Brother Watters enjoyed this gift, and to follow after peace with all men was one of his objectives. William Watters, his great-great-uncle, was notable as a peacemaker in the early history of our church, and his latest family representative in our ministry was eminently fitted for the same gracious service. He knew the power and joy of human kindness, and it was his daily practice. "D. A. Watters was a man of letters. His thoughts were easily winged to poetry, and he wrote excellent prose. . . . He loved nature, and his poems are rich in observation and interpretation. So far from the world being the work of an evil deity, as some of the ancients supposed, it was to this observer the exterior throne of God's glory. 'He shall sit with me on my throne,' is the promise of the Father. Mr. Watters enjoyed this distinction — occupied a seat by the side of God, and looked out upon the work of His hands. What glorious things he saw! He regarded the magnificence of nature, the spacious heavens, the infinite sea, the whole region of the vast and the beautiful as, by God's appointment, the fitting pomp and pageantry of His earth-born children. He magnified the ministry of beauty, and thought of it as an overflow and outflow of the beauty of God. "Dennis Alonzo Watters looked forward to the day of his death as the day of his coronation. In one of his later poems he speaks of death as 'climbing the golden stair to the soul's immortal throne.' Glorious things awaited him at the head of the 'golden stair.' In one of his meditations he said: 'Have you read of the crown of glory? Have you hope of sometime wearing it? But there is something I would rather have than that crown, as glorious as it may be. I would rather have my mother and Jesus. Give me my mother, my dear mother, who went up the golden stair when I was a lad of seven; yes, my mother and the other dear ones of my blood. Yes, and there is dear Mildred. I would see her and hear her sweet voice again in song. The crown is not all. We shall be face to face with Jesus and our loved ones.' " Additional Comments: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, Pages 530 - 534 Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/photos/bios/watters514gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/bios/watters514gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 12.3 Kb