The family property dates back to 1856 when Israel Sherouse purchased the property. He, his wife, and family moved to Alachua County from Blackshear, Georgia. Among his children was John Sherouse, who married Alice and become the second officially recorded owners of the property. Among many of their children was Beulah. Beulah Shearouse spent the majority of her life on the farm, growing up with her parents and siblings on the property. She married George Neal Waters and resided with her family in the home. This is where all 5 of her children were born, including Lee "Buddy" Waters. After her passing, George and the children moved to Gainesville for several years until Buddy and Cleo married and returned to the farm. Using whatever material they could find, they rebuilt the fallen down farmhouse and lived here for the next 64 years. Even to this day you can still see the writing on boards that came from old boxcars in certain farm buildings.

Over the years, Pop slowly bought back portions of the land that had passed to various cousins, aunts, and uncles, rejoining over 200 areas of property under a single operation once more. Both are staples to the Hawthorne community, impacting countless lives in the area as school bus drivers for students and Pop as a volunteer fireman for many decades.

When they had their son, Jerry, the fifth generation was born. Riding with his dad on the tractor, Jerry was part of the farm since before he could walk; working cows, chickens, and hay since his first day. He and his wife Donna are high school sweethearts; Donna contributing a majority of her life supporting the farm since age 15, when she and Jerry began dating. Jerry was a firefighter for 34 years while Donna is a teacher going on 30 years; both working the family land alongside their careers and with their children - Kelsey and Weslee. Donna and Jerry pioneered the current Angus/Charolais breed and began selling show heifers and steers to Central and Northeast Florida. They both continue the cow/calf operation on a majority of the farm.

AFter meeting at church, Kelsey and I married in 2023. United by a love of Jesus and farming, it was a truly God-given blessing to meet. Now, we support both Donna and Jerry in cow/calf operations and also run Watersf Farms and Cattle LLC. Through this expansion into direct to consumer sales, our hope is to eventually merge and diversify the family operation. Regardless, the dedication to the land has produced generations of deep agriculture understanding, committed to preserving land and producing quality cattle.

And it is our mission to continue this for generations to come.