Wootan Well Company [5 Gallon Jug]
Stenciled on body with cobalt: "5 / Wooten Well Co. / Wooten Wells / * Tex. * "
Name/Title
Wootan Well Company [5 Gallon Jug]Description
5 gallon "Wooten Well Co." salt glaze, double handled Slave Jug from "Wooten Wells, Tex.", with cobalt blue stencil, two large strap handles applied to the spout and to the side shoulders of the jug. Small kiln burn on the front and back of the Jug.Context
Wootan Wells was a famous health resort on Highway 6 and Farm Road 1373 3½ miles west of Bremond in northwest Robertson County. The town was founded by Francis Marion Wootan, who moved to Texas from Alabama in 1873. He bought 51½ acres of the Hugh Davlin League land and part of the Robert Moffit Survey. In 1878 Wootan dug a seventy-five-foot well to supply his farmstead with water, which subsequently turned his plates yellow and his clothes red. Wootan contracted with United States Navy chemist, Dr. W. Mew, to analyze the water. After learning of the water's high mineral content, Wootan advertised the water as curative in the Bremond newspaper. For the next year water was distributed freely and demand for land around the well grew. In 1880, Wootan formed a partnership with T. W. Wade to bottle the water and market the property as a health resort.Category
Texas Clay: 19th- Century Stoneware Pottery
Early Texas Furniture and Decorative Arts