ATWATER, JOHN

The two halves of John Atwater’s life are so cleanly separated that you might wonder if they belonged to two different men.

John was born into his first life in Baldwin Township in Chatham County in 1850, the son of Ned and Julia Atwater.¹Birthplace: “United States Census, 1880,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBL-96C5?cc=1417683&wc=X42G-ZNL%3A1589411027%2C1589395949%2C1589400070%2C1589395623 : 24 December 2015), North Carolina > Chatham > Baldwin > ED 21 > image 7 of 39; citing NARA microfilm publication T9, (National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C., n.d.).

Parents: Bedie Mason marriage certificate: “North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 ,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSHK-4SPZ-C?cc=1726957 : 28 November 2018), > image 1 of 1; North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History. He worked as a farmer, and his wife, Rebecca Ann (Becky), kept house. Their children included Mattie (b. 1870), Annie (b. 1872), Robert (b. 1875), Henry (b. 1877), and Genie (b. 1883).²Oldest children: “United States Census, 1880,” Baldwin > ED 21

Genie: “United States Census, 1900,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6SJ9-WY7?cc=1325221&wc=9BQB-PY2%3A1030551601%2C1031165101%2C1031441601 : 5 August 2014), North Carolina > Chatham > ED 2 Baldwin Township > image 27 of 31; citing NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

By 1900, his son Robert—now known as “Bob”—had started his own family and was living next door to John and Becky. He had married Sonia Brooks, and they had an 18-month-old daughter.³U. S. Census, 1900, Baldwin > ED 2. They would go on to have two more children: daughter Susie (b. 1902) and a son apparently named Carolina (b. 1903).⁴“United States Census, 1910,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRNB-KW8?cc=1727033&wc=QZZQ-NX5%3A133642301%2C135740101%2C133696901%2C1589089154 : 24 June 2017), North Carolina > Chatham > Baldwin > ED 3 > image 1 of 20; citing NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

And then, the next year, everything fell apart. John’s wife, Becky, and youngest son, Genie, died within two months of each other.⁵Becky: “Rebec Atwater,” Find A Grave, accessed 27 Nov 2021,  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/111720937/rebec-atwater.

Genie: “Genie Atwater,” Find A Grave, accessed 27 Nov 2021,  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/111720931/genie-atwater. All of John’s other children had moved away, leaving him in an empty house. This is the last we hear of the Baldwin farmer named John Atwater.

The first definitive appearance of the second John Atwater—this one with a sometime middle initial W—is in 1909 in Durham. This John Atwater is a bricklayer, living on Braxton Street and newly married to Bedie Mason.⁶Profession and address: Durham, N.C. Directory 1909-1910 (Durham, N.C.: Hill Directory Company, 1909-1910) p. 42, Atwater surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25158 : accessed 21 Nov 2021), PDF p. 46.

Marriage: “North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 ,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSHK-4SPZ-C?cc=1726957 : 28 November 2018), > image 1 of 1; North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History. Note, however, that Durham City Directories show a John Atwater, laborer, at various addresses starting in 1902—the year after Becky and Genie died. It would make sense that he spent those five years learning his new trade.

Bedie Mason was part of an extended family with close ties to Geer Cemetery. She had two sons before she married John Atwater, and the eldest, Bryant Mason, is buried in Geer. So is Bedie’s sister, Fidelia Latta, and Fidelia’s husband Jerry was the officiant at Bedie and John’s wedding.

John W. Atwater died of heart disease on 4 March 1926. Bedie’s younger son, Will, is the informant on his death certificate, and the facts he provides are sketchy. No date of birth, just an approximate age (65—his actual age was around 76), birthplace only listed as North Carolina, no information about his parents.⁷John Atwater death certificate: “North Carolina Deaths, 1906-1930,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F369-Y7K : 20 February 2021), Bedie Atwater in entry for John Atwater, 04 Mar 1926; citing Durham, Durham, North Carolina, reference CN 271, State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh; FHL microfilm 1,894,036. All of these things imply that John may not have shared much about his past with his second family.

The inconsistencies surrounding John’s age are confusing, but understandable. He was in a profession that required hard physical labor, and he might not have wanted employers to know his actual age.

Nonetheless, it’s clear that these two John Atwaters are the same man.⁸Thanks and a tip of the hat to the author of the John Atwater family tree on Ancestry.com, which pointed us to the John Atwater of Baldwin Township. “John Atwater,” Ancestry, accessed 24 Nov 2021, https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/40814481/person/20423650468/facts. His two daughters both have ties to Durham: Mattie, the oldest, married William F. Foushee around 1888.⁹“United States Census, 1910,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RNB-K93?cc=1727033&wc=QZZQ-NNT%3A133642301%2C135740101%2C133696901%2C1589089068 : 24 June 2017), North Carolina > Chatham > Baldwin > ED 2 > image 11 of 18; citing NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). While he is not the William L. Foushee who is buried in Geer Cemetery, he may be a relative, and thus tied to both the Latta and Allen families in Durham. What is certain is that the 1897 Durham City Directory shows younger daughter Annie Atwater working as a washerwoman and living at 603 Willard—next door to Jerry and Fidelia Latta at 605.¹⁰Mangum’s Directory of Durham and Suburbs 1897 (Durham, N.C.: D. C. Mangum, 1897) p. 51, Atwater surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25139 : accessed 28 Nov 2021).

Unfortunately, John’s ability to create new families seems to have had a dark side. A birth certificate dated 28 October 1913 shows a baby girl named Alma Green Atwater, mother Rosa Bell Green, and father John Atwater.¹¹“North Carolina, Center for Health Statistics, Vital Records Unit, County Birth Records, 1913-1922,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3SY-433G-Y?cc=3477667 : 1 March 2020), > image 1 of 1; North Carolina Department of Public Health, Office of Vital Records, Raleigh. There’s no doubt that this is the same John Atwater, as his occupation is “bricklayer” and his address is Matthews St.—John and Bedie lived at 615 Matthews St. from at least 1917 to 1926, and probably well before.¹²Durham, N.C. Directory 1917 (Durham, N.C.: Hill Directory Company, 1917) p. 117, Atwater surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25155 : accessed 29 Nov 2021). Rosa’s address on the birth certificate is 707 Carrington; John and Bedie lived at 912 Carrington in 1911.¹³Durham city directories 1911-12 to 1926.

Assuming the birth certificate is accurate, could John’s extramarital affair have been a factor in what seems to be a falling out with his stepson, Bryant? At the time of the 1910 Federal Census, Bryant was living with Jerry and Fidelia Latta rather than with his brother Will, his mother Bedie, and his new stepfather. From there Bryant went to living and working on his own, and died young in 1912. For more information on Bryant’s short life, see the Bryant Mason life story.

John Atwater was part of a national migration to urban centers at the turn of the 20th century, though he joined it late in life.¹⁴“City Life in the Late 19th Century,” Library of Congress, accessed 29 Nov 2021, https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/rise-of-industrial-america-1876-1900/city-life-in-late-19th-century/. In some ways he left more behind than many did: he had at least 20 grandchildren living in Baldwin Township at the time of his death.¹⁵Mattie’s seven children: U. S. Census, 1910, Baldwin > ED 2.

Annie’s ten children: “North Carolina, Center for Health Statistics, Vital Records Unit, County Birth Records, 1913-1922,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3SY-53DH-G?cc=3477667 : 17 February 2020), > image 1 of 1; North Carolina Department of Public Health, Office of Vital Records, Raleigh.

Bob’s three children: U. S. Census, 1910, Baldwin > ED 3.

On the other hand, the rural US was mired in the past, as illustrated by John’s son Bob. In 1910, as his father was helping to build the thriving city of Durham, Bob, a widower, was living as a servant in the home of the white Columbus C. Fowler family. His oldest daughter, Lillie, was also a servant, and his two younger children were boarders in the Fowler home.¹⁶U. S. Census, 1910, Baldwin > ED 3.

This was the past that John chose to leave behind.

BORN: 1850 or 1851¹⁸U. S. Census, 1880.

DIED: 4 Mar 1926¹⁹John Atwater death certificate.

BIRTH PLACE: Baldwin Township, Chatham County, NC²⁰U. S. Census, 1880.

DEATH PLACE: Durham, NC²¹John Atwater death certificate.

SPOUSE: Rebecca Ann “Becky” Atwater, Bedie Mason²²Becky: U. S. Census, 1880.

Becky: U. S. Census, 1880.

PARENTS: Ned and Julia Atwater²³Bedie Mason marriage certificate.

CHILDREN: Mattie (b. 1870)
Annie (b. 1872)
Robert (b. 1875)
Henry (b. 1877)
Genie (b. 1883)²⁴U. S. Census, 1880, Baldwin > ED 21.

U. S. Census, 1900, Baldwin > ED 2.

OTHER FAMILY: N/A

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY: Bryant Mason (stepson), Fidelia Latta (sister-in-law)

OCCUPATION: Farmer, bricklayer²⁵Farmer: U. S. Census, 1880.

Bricklayer: Durham, N.C. Directory 1909-1910, p. 42.

CHURCH: N/A

AFFILIATIONS: N/A

ADDRESS: 615 Matthews Street²⁶Durham, N.C. Directory 1917 p. 117.

MILITARY SERVICE: N/A