Born in Ashtabula County, Ohio in April 1852, Granville Eades Waters came to Texas in 1871 and settled in north central Texas before moving to Shackelford County in 1876. In 1877 he married Rennie Harris, daughter of a Waco mayor, and they made their home in a log cabin near Deep Creek a few miles north of Hulltown, present Moran, where they and their five sons endured the hardships of frontier life with the nearest post office at Fort Griffin and the nearest railroad linking Dallas and Fort Worth. For many years, acting on behalf of his Ohio friend Cyrus B. Snyder, Waters operated the Ashtabula Stock Ranch west of Moran. Known by the honorary title of colonel, he became a successful breeder and dealer of Hereford cattle and first brought them to the ranch in 1885, later serving as president of the American Hereford Cattle Breeder’s Association. The Waters Ranch also became a social center for the area, hosting picnics, ballgames, and other gatherings for many years until the house burned and the family moved into Moran, where their property became the Waters Addition to the town. Waters served as county commissioner from 1884 to 1892 and as vice president of Moran National Bank. In the early 1900s he worked in real estate, insurance, gas and oil leasing, and as a scout for the Texas Company, Texaco, and he was also active in the Methodist Episcopal Church, Freemasons, and Knights Templar. He died at a Fort Worth hospital in 1927 and is remembered for his contributions to the local community and for influencing the area economy through the introduction of Hereford stock and the early exploration for oil and gas in Shackelford County.