Well

Typed as spelled and written
- Lena Stone Criswell

THE DAILY DEMOCRAT
Thirtieth Year - Number 302
Marlin, Texas, Monday, April 20, 1931

ONLY SURVIVING MEMBER
COUNCIL WHO DRILLED WELL

Was an Alderman in Marlin for Twenty-Three Years --
Took Lead for Progress

       Only surviving member of the city council at the time Marlin's first hot mineral water well was sunk, J. H. Robertson, 86-year old Confederate veteran of this city, talked interestingly of his more than a score of years' service to the city as an alderman. Mr. Robertson was a member of the council 23 years, his service in this capacity being continuous except far an intermission of one year. He was first elected as a member of upwards of a half century ago.
       You may thank Mr. Robertson for the courthouse clock. It happened like this:
       "When Falls county was building its courthouse, I wanted to see a clock and bell to sound the hours on it," he relates. "The contractor said such a clock and bell would require a tower, not provided for in the plans and specifications. He said further such a tower would cost $1200. I went before the commissioners' court and got them to bear half the expense. Then I got the city council to take care of the other half. That's how we got the clock."

Early Parking Problem.

         All of these traffic arrangements for the annual convention of the East Texas Chamber of Commerce recalls that Marlin had a parking problem--oh, so long ago that even Mr. Robertson has forgotten how many years.
       "There was a live oak tree on the street which bears his name about one-third way out in the street from the north side in front of Rickelmann's about where Andrews cafe is now located," he says. "An ordinance was passed making it a fineable offense to hitch a horse under that tree. Strangers would come in from the country and not knowing of the ordinance would tie their saddle horses to the tree and then the law would pounce upon them. I didn't like that. So I made a motion before the council to have the tree cut down. And thus it was removed from the street, and with it that particular parking problem."
       Mr. Robertson made the motion before the council fathering Marlin's first bond issue--$4,000 for a school building.

Wanted Pure Water Well

       Telling of the sinking of Marlin's first hot mineral water well, Mr. Robertson says:
       "Marlin wanted pure water for domestic use. All we had in the way of a public water supply was a shallow well from which water had to be drawn with buckets.
       "I agitated the proposal to sink a well for an artesian water supply
before the council for three months before I got any action on my motion. Finally, a bond issue was authorized and we advertised for bids to put it down. Contractor Johnston and his crew from Kansas got the job. Sinking of the well extended over a period of about three years, and then we didn't find any pure water. Folks didn't like it much. I've seen 'em pass by the well, turn up their noses and say: 'Old Robertson spent $30,000 and only got water that ain't fit for a hog to drink.' Later, however, they discovered its curative qualities. I knew a negro who healed a place on his leg with it. I made a motion for the council to have it analyzed. And the analysis showed it was pretty good mineral water.
Marlin's development as a health resort began and it's been growing ever since."

Proud of Public Service.

       Mr. Robertson takes great pride in his public service in Marlin.
       "An alderman got a dollar a month and plenty of cussing in those days," he says. "However, I felt I was doing a public duty and I have no regrets over the service rendered in this capacity whether it was appreciated or not," he philosophizes.
       "I've stood on the street and heard 'em say: 'Old Robertson leads that council around by the nose,' Well, at any rate, I was leading them in the right direction."
       After bringing in of the Marlin hot well, the water was used for fire fighting purposes for a period. A problem was presented when water began to well up around the casing. The council turned the problem over to Mr. Robertson. He built an improvised cotton dam some distance down, coated the casing with cement and remedied the trouble.
       Coming to Texas from Florida in 1872, Mr. Robertson located in the northwestern part of Falls county.
       In 1878, he moved into Marlin. And does he like it? -- well, he's been living on the same piece of ground 53 years?

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Permission granted to Theresa Carhart and her volunteers for printing by
The Democrat, Marlin, Falls Co., Texas.