Dr. Joseph W. Robertson
Dr. Robertson, a First Footer of the new town of Austin, arrived in the fall of 1839.
He represented Bastrop County in the fourth session of Congress 1839-1840. It
was the first session ever convened in Austin. Robertson liked Austin and moved his family to the Capital City in 1841. He served as a Texas Ranger and later the fifth mayor of Austin. He established a pharmacy and medical practice on
Congress Avenue. When there was a battle, the good doctor grabbed his guns and
medicine bag and joined the fracas. In 1848, Robertson bought the French
Legation building for his large family. It became known as Robertson Hill. Today it
is the French Legation Museum run by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
Pictured below is an ad about one of Dr. Robertson’s famous elixirs. Read more
about the early days of Austin in the award-winning Comanche Trace Book IV of
the Westward Sagas series written by fifth generation Austinite David A. Bowles
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