John D. Waters built a livestock empire, a mansion, and had a meteorite in his front yard

John D. Waters built a livestock empire in eastern Sangamon County. He also built a mansion south of Dawson that was known for, among other things, the large meteorite that adorned the front yard.

“He was one of the best known and most influential livestock men in the county and made a success in feeding cattle for the market,” the Illinois State Journal reported when Waters died in 1926. “He also was a widely known auctioneer and conducted many large sales until recent years.”

Waters was born in in 1852 in Sangamon County to pioneer parents originally from Virginia. He began buying property in the Dawson area while still a young man, eventually acquiring several thousand acres of prime farmland.

Waters was an evangelist for shorthorn cattle. He usually had several hundred pastured on his farm, and Waters-raised animals were regular prize winners at major stock shows.

Waters’ preference for shorthorns was only partly an economic decision, he explained in an article he wrote for the Journal in 1918:

“Considered from the butcher’s standpoint, they will dress more pounds of higher priced cuts of meat than any other breed. Considered either from the butcher’s or the producer’s standpoint, they have no equal. …

“Shorthorns as a breed are undoubtedly the best producers of beef, milk and butter. They have such docile and kind dispositions. They are the most attractive, with their long, silky coats of hair and fine colors – red, white and roan.”

In his later years, Waters concentrated on his auctioneering career. A newspaper advertisement in 1906 said Waters had 40 years’ experience raising stock and 15 years background as an auctioneer.

“Perfect satisfaction guaranteed to both buyer and seller,” the ad said.

More: A historic grain mill burned down in 1927 and 5,000 onlookers watched in the pouring rain

Waters’ property, south of Dawson on the west side of County Highway 16 (also known as Buffalo Hart Road or Dawson Road), was named Highland Farms. That’s explained by the fact that, while the land was typical central Illinois flatland, the Waters’ majestic brick home, built in the mid to late 1800s, was on a slight rise. The meteorite on the front lawn had fallen on Waters’ farmland.

At John D. Waters’ death, the farm was split among his four children: Nellie Wilms, Eva Morgan, Lorinne Waters, and Homer Waters. Lorinne and Homer continued to live in the home their father built.

Lorinne, the last family resident of the mansion, moved in 1963 to a senior citizen home. When she sought tenants for the home, she hoped to find renters who would be good stewards of the house, a breadwinner who had some prestige to their job, and children who were well-behaved. So for the first time in the history of Highland Farms, the Waters name gave way to those of Sanford and Joyce Mitchell and their six children. (Sanford Mitchell was a Sears Roebuck manager.) They moved in on New Years Day, 1964.

The Mitchells lived at Highland Farms for less than two years. In 2022, however, Shelley Mitchell Boehnlein found a photo of the home that inspired her to write some memories of Highland Farms for SangamonLink.

“John D. Waters deserves to have his legacy recognized,” Boehnlein wrote, in part. “Mr. Waters' farm was not small (almost 2,000 acres), nor were his contributions to the cattle community and Sangamon County. The Highland farmhouse he built is no longer, but my memories of it are, and so are the communities of Mechanicburg, Dawson, and Buffalo."

The Waters mansion was destroyed by fire sometime in the 1970s or 1980s, a century or more after it was built. Exact dates for both the home’s construction and destruction are unknown.

Excerpted from SangamonLink.org, the online encyclopedia of the Sangamon County Historical Society.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: John Waters was known for his livestock and the meteorite in his yard