Mary (Mae) Rayner Watters, born April 18, 1884 Viroqua, Wisconsin
In 1884 Alexandria, Minnesota, a Scottish farmer and his wife welcomed a boy into the family - their ninth and last child, Frank Watters. 29 years later Frank was to marry Mae Rayner, a girl who'd been born in Viroqua, Wisconsin the same year as he. They both found their way to Powder River County Montana, as so many others in the mid-west did. Thus began, through Frank, son Elmer and his children, the legacy that became the Watters Farm, Inc. Frank and Elmer bought homesteads from neighbors who fell to illness, grasshoppers, or drought to build the 7,800-acre ranch it is today.
Mary (Mae) Rayner Watters provided the genesis for this legacy to grow, filing the homestead claim at its heart on a tributary creek of the Powder River. Together with her mother, father, sister, and brother, they built the community of Kingsley just south of Mae's homestead.
Mary Watters, Echoing Footsteps:
On Friday, May 13, 1910, Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Rayner and son, Lee, set out for Montana from Viroqua, Wisconsin, to settle on homesteads that were filed on in March by Mr. Rayner and daughters, Mary and Kate. In March, the Robert E. (Uncle Bob) Rice had welcomed Mr. Rayner and his daughters with a wonderful dinner that his niece, Nanna Whalen, prepared. Uncle Bob went horseback 7 miles to bring another niece, Georgia Hyde, to see the newcomers. Mr. Rayner found a fellow Odd Fellow in Mr. Rice; and Mr. Rayner's mother (Mahala) was happy to meet Tom Yerby because he was a Mason, she was an Eastern Star and her late husband (Henry Nathaniel) had been a Mason.
The first years were very dry; but Mr. Rayner became U. S. Land Commissioner and later a Justice of Peace to help with his income. The two daughters, Mary and Kate, taught school.
Mary (Mae) Rayner and Frank Watters
In 1912, Kate Rayner married Ralph Amsden and in 1913 Mary Rayner married Frank Watters, moving into their homestead. Later, in 1918, Lee Rayner
and Elizabeth Henning were married. Their homes were about 14 miles north of Broadus at Kingsley. Mrs . H. L. Rayner became Postmaster of Kingsley and held the office and a store for some years.
Frank Watters had a bountiful year in 1915 and also a good year in 1944. The winter of 1919-20 was a terrible one and many cattle died and nothing grew but 300 bushels of wheat.
Frank bought more land and more cattle and the ranch grew . They lived in a log house 14 years and then built a two - story, frame house with basement. -- Mary Watters, Echoing Footsteps
