William Waters, America's First Island Keeper

William Waters was the first Island Keeper on Rainsford Island and the first in America. The Massachusetts General Court authorized the Boston Selectmen to hire an Island Keeper and a result of this legislative action, he was appointed to his post on June 21, 1738. Waters was 36 years of age when he took this position. He had previously engaged in maritime trade and was a good sailor, one of the primary skills required of the Island Keeper. Mr. Waters had a modest house on Rainsford Island where he supervised sick sailors quarantined in the “Sick House.” Mr. Waters assumed responsibility for Hospital Island at a time when maritime commerce was declining due to a decline in immigration to America. Nevertheless, despite a general downturn in the economy, Waters was responsible for dealing with the smallpox outbreak of 1741, inspecting over 4,200 vessels that entered Boston Harbor and managing ten port quarantine orders imposed against nearby states and foreign ports during his nine year tenure.[1] Waters realized his services were critical to the town’s Selectmen. Virtually every year he negotiated for higher wages after he found the contract under which he worked provided few economic incentives for him to succeed. His temperament made him a consummate negotiator and this skill served him well as he negotiated a salary that included a per head allowance for each sick person he cared for. The terms of his contract turned out to be so favorable that the Selectmen eventually adjusted it to make it less profitable for him. While Waters faced an overwhelming challenge of staying abreast of epidemic intelligence from throughout the world, in practice he only quarantined 14 vessels during his reign as island keeper.[2] Waters was a businessman at heart. It appears that he may have taken the Island Keeper post begrudgingly due to the bad economy and the need to land a stable salary. While his income was important to him, especially at the annual renegotiation of his salary, he appeared to appreciate the public health challenges of his supervisors. One year during a smallpox outbreak that was said to have started in Rhode Island, he agreed to return to his post at his old salary in order to help Bostonians contend with a serious public health threat. Mr. Waters resigned from his post in the fall of 1746, replaced by a relatively unknown man, Thomas Murfey. Waters is believed to have returned to maritime trade after his departure from Rainsford Island. His exact date of death is not known. However, the Boston Newsletter carried an article on the close out of his estate on October 12, 1758 so he presumably died in that year.[3] [1] Vidich, Charles, Germs at Bay: Politics, Public Health and American Quarantine (forthcoming). [2] Vidich, Charles, Germs at Bay: Politics, Public Health and American Quarantine (forthcoming) and unpublished research by the author. [3] Boston Newsletter, October 12, 1758, p. 3.