TX BIOS:  John H. Robertson
   Selected and converted.American Memory, Library of Congress.
   
   Washington, 1994.
   
   Preceding element provides place and date of transcription only.
   
   This transcription intended to be 99.95% accurate.
   
   For more information about this text and this American Memory
   collection, refer to accompanying matter.
   
   U.S. Work Projects Administration, Federal Writers' Project (Folklore
   Project, Life Histories, 1936-39); Manuscript Division, Library of
   Congress.Copyright status not determined.
   
   00011
   
   [?]
   
   Folklore, ---White Pioneers
   
   Miss Effie Cowan, P.W.
   
   McLennan County, Texas,
   
   Dostroct 8.
   
   No of Words 2,250
   
   File No. 240
   
   Page No. 1.
   
   REFERENCE:
   
   Interview with Mr John H. Robertson, White Pioneer, Marlin, Texas.
   
   "I was born near Quincy , Florida , on March 31st, 1845. I was a
   soldier in the Confederate Army and served under Maury's division of
   the Army of Tennessee. I was captured at the battle of Gettysburg in
   [DEL: Longstreets :DEL] Longstreet's charge and was taken to [DEL: ort
   Deleware :DEL] Fort Delaware, an island of 90 acres of land where the
   Union [DEL: prisners :DEL] prisoners were kept. We were detailed to
   work in the fields and our rations was corn bread and pickled beef.
   However I fared better than some of the [DEL: prisners :DEL] prisoners
   for I was given the privilege of making jewelry for the use of the
   Union soldiers. I made rings from the buttons from their overcoats and
   when they were polished the brass made very nice looking rings. These
   I sold to the soldiers of the Union Army who were our guards and with
   the money thus obtained I could buy food and clothing. The Union [DEL:
   uards :DEL] guards kept a [DEL: ommisary :DEL] commissary and they had
   a big supply of chocolate. I ate chocolate / candy and drank hot
   chocolate in place of coffee until I have never wanted [DEL: ny :DEL]
   any chocolate since.
   
   "I was in this prison when Lincoln was killed and great was the [DEL:
   orrow :DEL] sorrow among the troops who guarded us when the news came.
   I made an attempt one time to escape and was capture , so did not make
   another attempt. This was during a storm and in the confusion I tried
   to roll out of the camp, it came up while we were asleep and I was
   sleeping in my blanket, but the guard heard me and caught me before I
   could make my escape. After the end of the conflict I returned home,
   found
   
     NOTE: C.12 - 2/11/41 - Texas
     
   00022that I had been reported missing for two years and had changed so
   much that my own people did not know me. When I left home I was
   sixteen and during the period of my absence I had grown and completely
   changed. Finally my sister identified me by my teeth. During this time
   I had grown a beard and this [DEL: alne :DEL] alone changed my
   appearance.
   
   "At the end of hostilities I returned to my home and lived there for
   five years and as so many were seeking their fortune in the state of
   Texas I left my home in Florida and came to Texas in 1870. I landed at
   the little town then of Galveston and from there came over the new
   railroad, the Houston and Texas Central, which had just been completed
   , on to the little city of Waco, Texas. I met Col. Gurley who owned a
   plantation in the Brazos bottom and hired to him as manager of this
   plantation. He also owned a saw mill and I operated it.
   
   "I also managed another plantation owned by a Mr Bryant who had
   brought his slaves with him to Texas before they were freed, they
   remained with him and there were around a hundred. I did not have any
   trouble with them as they were peaceful and easily managed. After I
   spent some time on these plantations I married Miss Pitts and we had
   one daughter. [DEL: er :DEL] Her youngest child married Howard
   Hunnicutt of Marlin, Texas, with whom I make my home , since the death
   of my wife in 1931. For twenty years I was a member of the city
   coommission of Marlin, Texas, and during this time there was a number
   of changes. The cattle thieves were plentiful and after some time the
   law was allowed to take its course, but for a time after the
   reconstruction days there were Vigilant societies who took the law
   into their hands for the [DEL: citizens :DEL] citizens' [DEL:
   protectio :DEL] protection. 00033"I remember there was a man by the
   name of Grundy accused of stealing cattle, the vigilants or perhaps
   some others ( I [DEL: cant :DEL] can't be accurate ) decided to take
   the law into their hands and he was hung to a large elm tree which is
   still standing in the [DEL: ty :DEL] city of Marlin today. He used to
   drive a gentle old horse to a one seated buggy and after he was done
   away with , his widow drove this same horse to this buggy to town.
   Some [DEL: mscheivious :DEL] mischeivious boys decided to play a prank
   on her and so they would tie a rope , the distance from the church to
   the tree , to be sure when the horse reached the tree he would stop.
   Which he did, much to the surprise and anger when the widow found out
   the cause [DEL: : :DEL] ; [DEL: That :DEL] that it was [DEL: a :DEL]
   the boy's prank , instead of the ghost of her departed husband. " It
   was while I was a member of the city commission of Marlin that the hot
   wells were discovered. We were drilling for city water and when the
   water came in it was hot. For a time it was piped to the residence
   section, and great were the complaints and abuses which we received
   from these residents who wanted water for domestic [DEL: prposes :DEL]
   purposes. Finally we had the hot water analized and when it was found
   to have medicinal qualities it was then changed from the residences
   and used for this purpose. The boring of this hot well cost the [DEL:
   cty :DEL] city 30;000 dollars, but was bought up by private capitol.
   The present health resort was the outcome of our drilling for water.
   The city now [DEL: use :DEL] use's lake water.
   
   "When I first came to the Brazos bottom the section [?] is now known
   as the Golinda, Chilton and Satin communities. where I settled. They
   were west of Marlin some ten to fourteen miles. The country was a vast
   area of timber and grass land with the plantations near the river.
   00044" The area extending from these communities to the river was
   dense woods with the exceptions of the clearing for the plantations.
   [DEL: They :DEL] These were huge old trees, elm, oak , ash, willow
   [DEL: [?] :DEL] , cedar and other's. There were a few winding roads in
   this area and there were deer, [DEL: widcat :DEL] wildcat and bear
   [DEL: [?] :DEL] in the thickets. There was a famous place near our
   community called Buck-head Stand, named for the number of deer that
   were killed here and their heads thrown away, hence the name of
   Buck--head Stand". [DEL: In :DEL] at the time I was manager of the
   saw-mill for Col. Gurley in the 70's I could almost any day kill any
   number of deer they came so near the [DEL: clearing's :DEL] clearings.
   
   "The section where Chilton and Golinda were situated was not so dense
   with timber as it was [DEL: more :DEL] mostly on a prairie. All the
   section west of the Brazos river from Marlin tho' was a vast
   wilderness compartively speaking. Some of the earliest families who
   helped to build up these communties lived not only at Golinda but over
   across the McLennan County line at Lorena, these were the Westbrooks,
   the Gurleys who lived at Golinda also the Duty's at Golinda, the
   Gaines of Chilton and Vic and Will Walker , later residents of the
   community of Satin when it was born , on the spot where they lived.
   There was the Gus Meisner family, the Meisner Wells was a well known
   spot in the early days. Because as the name implies an inexhaustible
   well offered a good supply of water for the community in the days when
   the drouths hit it.
   
   "This famous well was on the edge of the cedar brakes. This cedar was
   famous because at one time the choicest and most abundant cedar in the
   State of Texas was found here. As the years passed this cedar was cut
   00055and made into pencils, cedar piling and cedar lumber. The old
   Meisner log home stood for many years after this cedar was gone. They
   did not know the art of conservation which the government is now
   seeking to save such rich heritage of the land. A few years ago
   another house was built in which the Wess Lewis family now live, on
   the old Meisner home Stead
   
   "In early days a large amount of the land near the Brazos river was
   owned by a man of English descent, named Captain E.G. Hanrick. He was
   a citizen of this country and title of his land was clear. But he had
   no heirs in this country. It seems that he became aware of the fact
   that his sons or relations in Englad who were citizens of England,
   might encounter difficulties in establishing their right to the title
   of this land as an inheritance. The Alien Land Laws standing in their
   way, so before his death Col. Gurley acquired a partnership in part of
   the land. Later he became the sole owner. It came to be known as the
   Gurley ranch.
   
   "In the meantime a kinsman of Captain Hanrick, Ned Hanrick, came from
   England, hoping to establish claim to the land in event of the [DEL:
   Captains :DEL] Captain's death. Captain Hanrick died. Title to the
   land was [DEL: cloed :DEL] clouded because of the alien land laws. (
   which [DEL: revents :DEL] prevents aliens from inheriting property in
   the United States. ) The finest legal talent in Falls and surrounding
   counties fought to clear the title to this / land. It was called the "
   "Hanrick versus Hanrick suit ", in which the late L.W. Goodrich and
   B.B. Clarkson and others at Marlin worked for many years (from 1871 to
   1919) to untangle. Title / was finally established and the land was
   distributed [DEL: too numr :DEL] to a number of people. 00066"All the
   land was not Hanrick land but part of it was finally absorbed thro'
   transactions by the following men. Mose Westbrook of Golinda Col.
   Gurley, Sanger Brothers of Waco, the late J.T. davis of Waco and
   Goodrich and Clarkson of Marlin. [DEL: ther :DEL] Other land nearby
   became the property of other men including the Guderians, Wittners,
   Wooleys, Duty's Jackson, and Hatch, Evans and Gaines families.
   
   "The earliest information I have of the first family in this section
   was the Duty family. This family came to Falls county from East Texas
   in 1849 and it is said there was not another family living between the
   Brazos river between Marlin (Marlin was created in 1850) and the west
   side of the river in this community. Mr Duty often related how the
   Indians were in and out of the vecinity ( but were friendly Indians )
   on their way to the Torrey borthers (later Barnards) trading post
   above or east of Waco on the Tehuacana. Buffalo had not all left this
   section. There were herds of Deer, wild horses, cattle and antelope
   which made their home near the Brazos river [DEL: , :DEL] as late as
   the [DEL: 0' :DEL] 70's, when I came. Many of these wild animals were
   still here.
   
   "Mr Duty's home was built of post oak logs and the floor was of split
   puncheon. It was still standing in the early 90's. Still farther back
   , so the local history goes , in 1851 Gilbert Jackson erected the
   first mill in this area of Falls county at what was called Shake Rag,
   now known as Rock Dam, this was east from the Duty home.
   
   "From the Jackson family came what is known as the Jackson Lake, a
   large section of land of three or four hundred acres, at that time
   filled with 00077water and became a favorite camping and fishing place
   for the communities surrounding it. Young men built a dancing
   pavillion where the young people made merry and the candidates did
   their part in making things , at least interesting , if not merry.
   Finally a private club was formed in the later days and it became a
   recreational spot for only those who help membership. The passing of
   time and the erosion and changes made by the Brazos river erased this
   lake and it was filled with soil from the flood of 1913 and today is a
   fertile farm owned by J.E. Thigpen and Robert Goelzer of Chilton,
   Texas.
   
   "There were two other families who came soon after the Duty's, they
   were with the Duty's, those of Joe Salmon and E.H. Hatch, for many
   years these families formed the principal settlement on the
   Waco-Marlin road centering about Golinda. They were stock-men on an
   extensive scale and helped to bring others to the settlement. Henry
   Duty died in 1876, but his son carried on in place of his father and
   was a veteran of the Civil War.
   
   "In 1866 the late Col. W.D. Gaines, father of Spinks Gaines of Chilton
   and his brother Captian D.Y. Gaines owned farms which were cleared
   from the timber land near the Brazos river in the vecinity of Golinda,
   where I lived. The lowland hemmed in by [DEL: dene :DEL] dense woods ,
   and the mosquitoes caused sickness, so he moved higher up on the
   prairie near the town of Chilton. It was then [DEL: more :DEL] better
   known as Carolina. The J.B. Evans family lived some few miles nearer
   the river at the place known as Shake Rag, at that time the river
   flowed farther west having changed its course about 1900. Mr Evans was
   an example of the hardy pioneer's fighting spirit and it was 00088the
   community impression that he had fought a few duels in and around the
   settlement.
   
   "Col. Gurley maintained a home for awhile in the late seventies, or
   early eighties , near the present town of Satin where Will Walker
   lives today. This was before the name of Satin was thought of, before
   the coming of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass railroad which was
   built thro' the communities I have mentioned. Col. Gurley was an
   eminent lawyer and had lived at Waco specializing in land titles and
   civil law practice. He was a Confederate veteran, hence his title of
   Colonel. Before his death he was head of a company organized to
   manafacture a mechanical cotton picking machine / which he needed for
   his extensive farm in the Brazos valley [DEL: [?] :DEL] But he was not
   successful in this and so he had to keep the negro labor, just as he
   had when I was his manager.
   
   "Col. Gurley had much influence it was said in the building of the San
   Antonio and Aransas Pas road thro' this community. It was claimed by
   his friends that the many twists and turns in the vecinity of the
   present town of Satin was to [DEL: accomdate :DEL] accommodate him by
   the railroad weaving about advantageously to his farms. Dave Gurley
   and Bob [DEL: ross :DEL] Ross were the main builders of the road bed,
   cutting up the timber and throwing up the road bed, they were part of
   the firm of Gurley, Ross and Gurley, which contracted with the
   railroad to throw up the road bed. Their head quarters were at Waco.
   
   "Before the turn of the century Col. Gurley passed on and his son,
   John Gurley continued the work began by his father so many years
   before. J.T. Davis of Waco acquired an interest in the Gurley ranch
   and after he passed on, his son, J. Lee Davis of Waco not only
   continued farming according 00099to modern methods, but recently
   interested himself in the production of oil on the land. Under his
   direction a number of producing wells were drilled and the foundation
   laid for more oil development. This in the section where once was
   densely wooded land. Many facts were buried with the early days of
   this section , with the pioneers who wrought well and passed on.
   
   "Rapid changes have taken place in this as in the other communities of
   Central Texas, as well as other section of the state. Nowhere down the
   long corrider of time [DEL: s :DEL] has these changes been so [DEL:
   miaculous :DEL] miraculous as in the last fifty years here. So, like
   magic , rose from the wilderness of the Brazos bottom, from the wild
   cat thicket and the wooded timber of the low-lands, from the rich
   alluvial land of the river section , rivalled only in the early days
   by the valley of the Nile, the progressive towns west of the Brazos as
   well as those to the east have become steady and continues in their
   contribution to the world of industry and civilization.
   
   "In this brief sketch I have failed to mention some who also helped in
   the upbuilding of this section. There was [DEL: ohnny :DEL] Johnny
   Vickers who came in 1887 to help clear the cedar brakes for a lumber
   firm, and Wallace Hunter came to Golinda about the same time. Both
   families / have descendants still here. There were the Ruble families,
   R.E. and Mayor R.G. Ruble of Lott, whose grand father was one of the
   first settlers also. All have left a heritage rich in folklore of the
   early days of the Brazos vecinity, and [DEL: he :DEL] the river of
   Central Texas, known in the days of the Indians as "Brazos de [DEL:
   dois :DEL] Dios ". (Arms of God.).

************************************************************************
USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE:  These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced 
in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or
persons.  Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must
obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative
of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of
this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives
to store the file permanently for free access.

http://www.usgwarchives.net/

Thanks to the Library of Congress
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/txcat.html
***********************************************************************