David Pingree Waters

David Pingree Waters was first elected as an alderman in 1894, 1895, and 1896, before becoming the twenty-eighth mayor of Salem in 1898. He also served two years in the Massachusetts legislature.

He was born on March 16, 1838, in Salem and was educated at Phillips Academy in Andover. He later graduated from a Boston commercial college. As a young man, he went west and spent two years in Ohio before serving from 1863 to 1866 in the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington, D.C.

Upon returning to Salem, he joined the prominent hardware business Adams, Richardson & Co., then located at 215 Essex Street. He later partnered in the business of Richardson & Waters Hardware. He married Juliette T. Richardson, the daughter of his employer. They had one son, John G. Waters.

In addition to his civic leadership, he served as a trustee of Harmony Grove Cemetery. Mayor Waters “always took a deep interest in public affairs, and he always served his city with ability and honesty of purpose,” noted his obituary.

He is buried on Dell Avenue, Lot #44.