We have somewhere said that Officer McWatters has received not a dollar
for his years of constant, active benevolence. This is literally true:
but it is not exactly true in the interpretation which some readers
might give it; for Officer McWatters has not been wholly without
substantial rewards other than those of the joys of his own happiness
in well doing. But we have not space to notice all of these. The one
which we presume is most dear to the gallant heart of Officer
McWatters, is a testimonial of his benevolent services given him by the
Ladies' Union Relief Association, in July, 1868. We copy the following
article regarding it from the New York Times of July 31, 1868:--
"TESTIMONIAL.--The well-known services of Officer George S.
McWatters on behalf of disabled soldiers and of the widows and
orphans of fallen ones, received a handsome acknowledgment, a
few days since, at the hands of the Ladies' Union Relief
Association, with whose invaluable labors he has closely
identified himself since the organization of the institution.
Mrs. John A. Kennedy, who is President of the Association,
presented Mr. McWatters with a very valuable gold watch,
purchased for him with private contributions of the ladies of
the Association, as a testimonial of their appreciation of his
energetic labors in the work they have so much at heart. The
watch is richly chased and bears on one side of the outer case
the monogram 'G. S. McW.,' and on the other, also in monogram,
'1868.' The inner case has the following inscription:--
"'_Presented to George S. McWatters by the members of the
Ladies' Union Relief Association, in appreciation of his
services to the families of Union Soldiers._ 1868.'
"It is pleasing to note this handsome recognition of the quiet
energy and modest worth of Officer McWatters, who has in many
ways and frequently, during the war and since, given remarkable
evidence of how much good work, in a humble and unpretending
way, is within the compass of a single individual, impelled by
a spirit of true philanthropy."
We also append a notice of the same testimonial, taken from The Sun of
the same date, since it very succinctly sets forth Officer McWatters'
great worth as a philanthropist.
"HANDSOME AND WELL-DESERVED COMPLIMENT.--A few days ago Officer
G. S. McWatters was surprised by a request to attend at the
residence of Mrs. John A. Kennedy, the President of the Ladies'
Union Relief Association. There he was presented with a
beautiful gold watch, as a token of recognition of the valuable
work done by him in assisting the objects of the society. Ever
since the war Officer McWatters has devoted all his spare hours
to the benefit of Union soldiers and their families. _We could
fill columns with stories of his work and its good results, but
have only room to say that no man of equal means has worked so
hard and so successfully._ To the assistance and encouragement
of that noble institution, the Ladies' Union Aid Society, he
has given every moment that could be spared from his official
duties. It is a fitting and graceful compliment, when such
ladies as Mrs. Wm. F. Havemeyer, Mrs. Marshall O. Roberts, Mrs.
Kennedy, and others of similar standing, so generously
recognize the faithful services of their co-laborer. Of course
Mr. McWatters has official permission to accept his well-earned
present, and long may he live to wear it."
We also subjoin the following from the Tribune, inasmuch as it makes
allusion to certain benevolent acts and plans of Officer McWatters, to
which we have not referred in these biographical notes, but which are
most worthy of record. So good a summary is the Tribune's article of
Officer McWatters' claims upon the public esteem as an active
philanthropist up to the period of its date, that we copy it entire,
though it embraces several matters upon which we have descanted more or
less extendedly in these Notes:--
"It is always gratifying to see genuine and unpretending merit
recognized and honored. We are therefore specially glad to
record the fact that the Ladies' Union Relief Association of
this city have recently, by the presentation of a valuable and
appropriate gift, so recognized and honored the services
rendered by Officer G. S. McWatters to the peculiar cause of
benevolence to which they are devoted. The gift is a handsome
gold watch, and the presentation was made on Thursday evening,
the 23d inst., by the President of the Association, Mrs. John
A. Kennedy, at her residence, No. 135 West Twenty-Second
Street. The Ladies' Union Relief has been established two
years. It was instituted with a view to the relief of sick and
disabled soldiers, their families, widows, or orphans, from the
evils of extreme poverty. Great good has been accomplished by
the Association; and, in its peculiar charity, it has had no
ally more efficient and indefatigable than Officer McWatters.
Indeed, from the very beginning of the late civil war, this
officer has consistently and faithfully devoted himself to the
cause of the Union soldiers. In 1861 he was associated with the
late Daniel Carpenter in the mission of raising money from the
police force for the support of the families of policemen who
had gone to the war. In 1862--an assessment having been levied
on the police force for the purpose of raising and equipping
the Metropolitan Brigade--Officer McWatters subscribed more
money to this fund than any other patrolman on the force. In
1863, when our military hospitals around Washington and
elsewhere were in great need of lemons for the wounded and
suffering victims of battle, Officer McWatters collected six
hundred dollars from among the police towards supplying this
want; and the lemons so procured were gratuitously forwarded to
the hospitals South and West by Adams Express Company. A letter
of thanks from Dr. Bellows, representative of the Sanitary
Commission, was, on this occasion, addressed to the Police
Commissioners. In 1863, also, Officer McWatters was a member of
the little band of police officers that rescued and defended
our building from the miscreants who attacked it during the
July riots, and in that affray he was badly wounded. In 1864 he
was one of the originators of the New York Sanitary Fair, and
he served as one of its committees, with so much devotion and
success that he won a letter of thanks from Mrs. Lane, the
President of the Fair, Mrs. Jessie Benton Fremont, and Colonel
Le Grand Cannon. Officer McWatters, it should also be
mentioned, is the originator of the Police Mutual Aid Society,
a very useful institution, founded on the principle of
fraternal benevolence. The society has served as a model for
similar societies--of firemen, post-office clerks, and other
bodies of men all over the country. A plan of practical
benevolence has likewise been formed and matured by Officer
McWatters in the Masonic Fraternity, and has won the
commendation of some of the highest officials in that
organization. These facts strongly attest the humane spirit,
active intelligence, and earnest devotion to duty which have
characterized Officer McWatters in a highly creditable career
of practical benevolence. The ladies of the Union Relief
Society have no less justly than gracefully acknowledged the
worth of his character and services, in making the gift we have
recorded. Every lover of this country, we may add, and every
friend of mankind, will naturally wish the amplest success to
all these workers in the good cause of charity."