Lewis Anthony Waterman was born June 2, 1848 at Providence, Rhode Island. His parents were George Waterman and Britannia Franklin (Baxter) Waterman. His siblings included his brother Franklin Alonzo Waterman and sisters Emily Frances Waterman and Britannia Franklin Waterman. Following the death of her husband in 1850, Waterman's mother married William Patt of Providence. Lewis Williams Anthony was married to Waterman's sister Britannia from 1847 until her death in 1892. He married Waterman's sister Emily in 1894.
On April 29, 1864, at age sixteen, Lewis Waterman enlisted for a three-year tour of duty in the United States Signal Corps. He trained at Georgetown, D.C. in the spring of 1864 and in June of that year was assigned to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In late June of 1865, he joined a military expedition to Julesburg, Colorado, returning to Fort Leavenworth on October 6, 1865. He was discharged later that year. Lewis Waterman died January 19, 1868.
From the guide to the Lewis A. Waterman letters, 1864-1865, (University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Kansas Collection)
