Asa Holman Waters (1808-1887)

He was educated at Yale and Harvard, where he briefly studied law before entering the family arms business in 1837, becoming a partner in the Waters & Co. In 1845, the government stopped awarding arms contracts to private armories (except during the Civil War when business resumed as normal) and Asa closed theirs down. Instead, he diversified into textile mills, railroads and the Blackstone Canal. He was a prominent member in the civil life of Millbury and was its postmaster fro 1836 to 1848. He participated in state politics and became a passionate supporter of the abolitionist cause and a member of the Free Soil Party. His mansion was one of those on the Underground Railroad where they hid fugitive slaves escaping from the South.