TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: John Mark Dierlam (1853-1938)

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: John Mark Dierlam (1853-1938)

I don’t know if the interest in history is the same for everyone, but for me it was a gift that my grandmother passed down to me with the stories of my ancestors’ lives and the times that they lived in. They took root and I found myself wanting to answer the questions I had about how those times shaped the people they were. Every discovery led to another question and mystery to solve. The rest was, to coin a phrase, history. I believe that there are many people who find the history of their ancestry fascinating by learning what shaped who we are today. 

There are many people in this county that can trace their ancestors back to the beginning of the place we call home. They helped shape this county and because of their hard work and efforts, we can have the comforts and amenities that we enjoy today. One such family was the Dierlam family. Many descendants of this family still call Calhoun County home and are proud of the rich family history their ancestors had in shaping it. John Mark Dierlam and his wife Roberta Sims Dierlam are two of them.

John Mark Dierlam was born on February 15, 1863, in LaSalle, Texas. His mother was Frances Yetta Alert, who was born here in Calhoun County, and his father was Christian Dierlam who was born in Oberhessen, Germany and came to America when he was 14 years old.  The family settled in what was then known as Lower Mott and was later changed to the City of Seadrift. His parents were married on July 23, 1859, and together they had 8 children and John was the eldest son. John grew up working as a cowboy on his father’s ranch and on neighbors’ ranches. When not working cattle, he traveled around the county with equipment he owned cutting and bailing hay for farmers and ranchers. He grew up appreciating the land and the arduous work that went into tending it in order to meet the basic needs of everyday life. 

Around 1880, a 17-year-old girl who had moved to Lower Mott and taken the job of teaching the children of the farmers and ranchers in the area caught his eye. A courtship developed and on May 1, 1882, John married Roberta Sims. They made a home together and added 9 children to it through the years. Their children were May Yetta, Francis Azile, Robert Jackson, John Mark, Emmett Manning, Esther Louise, James Sims, Albert Sidney, and Jesse Howlet. These names can still be found in the Dierlam and Sims ancestral lineage and in their descendants that are still here today. 

In 1889 the First Baptist Church was started in Seadrift, 137 years old this year. Seadrift at that time was not a city but a small settlement. For several of the first days a Reverend Leake preached to build the first congregation. During those days 9 people gave their lives to Christ and were baptized, two of them were John and Roberta Dierlam and they along with the other 7 established the church there. John and Roberta were both active in the church throughout their lives. They taught Sunday school, John led singing and when the Reverend Leake was out of town John would fill the pulpit. There came a time when John Mark became an ordained minister and he performed services of marriage, funerals, and spreading the Lord’s word throughout his life. 

It was around the same time in 1891 that a post office was established and Seadrift was named and officially became a town. The name Driftwood was the first name selected based on the amount of drifted wreckage that drifted their way from the Guadalupe River and on the shore from the bay. Bertie, as she was called, told stories of the settlers that would pickup the driftwood and use it for fuel, they called them “driftwood settlers.” However, upon learning that another town had already taken the name they had to find another one. Bertie’s sister Jessie became the first postmistress and Bertie who was her assistant and later was the second postmistress. As such she got to pick the name Seadrift. 

By 1911 the city became a place of rapid growth and was known as a popular place for hunting and fishing. When the train came through the area, it brought in vacationers, salesmen, and travelers to the growing small town. Businesses began to spring up and with them one hotel, known as the Hotel Lafitte, was built on, the shore of the San Antonio Bay. It hosted those who came in with a nice room and a good hot meal. Around this time John gave up on ranching and bought a farm outside of Port Lavaca and he moved Bertie and the family there and made it home until around 1920 when they sold the farm and moved back to Seadrift. 

That same year John and Roberta purchased the Hotel Lafitte and remained the owners until their deaths. The hotel was featured in brochures that were printed and distributed with the purpose of selling lots in the city. It boasted to be a “modern hotel with running water and indoor bathrooms, and fine seafood meals that would satisfy you.”  It also professed Seadrift to be a place that storms avoided. During that time, the hotel stayed busy and full, especially since it was the only hotel in town. The photo attached to this article shows the photo from that brochure.

The city had built a fine big pavilion just down from the hotel. It was a favorite spot for parties, dances, and celebrations and that was good for business as well. John and Bertie ran a nice business there and they adhered to their commitment to the church there as well.  John often officiated in marriages in the hotel to travelers and local citizens. Contrary to the claims in the brochure, in 1919 Seadrift was struck by a destructive hurricane. The First Baptist Church was heavily damaged, along with many structures in the city and in the whole county of Calhoun. After the storm and during the lengthy repairs to the building the church congregation held church services in the hotel. Through the years the old hotel withstood many storms including Hurricane Carla in 1961 which was one of the strongest and most destructive storms to ever hit the Texas Coast. Carla did leave several feet of wet sand and mud in the bottom floor, but it did not keep the hotel from re-opening, and the business survived many more years. 

On September 2, 1938, at the age of 75, John Mark Dierlam died. He died at home in the Hotel Lafitte, and in 1955 Roberta passed there at home as well. They are both buried in Port Lavaca Cemetery along with many of their children and descendants. After their deaths, their daughter Azile Dierlam ran the hotel until her death in 1979. 

As far as the grand hotel that sat on the shore of San Antonio Bay, it was bought by another couple and made into a bed and breakfast, but it never again saw the steady business that it did in earlier times. The Dierlam children and grandchildren remember the place with great fondness. It was where they spent a good deal of their time visiting their grandparents and making memories that stayed with them throughout their lives. In 2005 the 95-year-old Hotel Lafitte caught fire. At that time, it was owned by a couple named Harding. The fire started in the laundry room on the first floor, and it quickly spread to the third story attic and while the first and second floors were spared, the third floor suffered extensive damage. There were no injuries and what started the fire was never figured out. The hotel still had a lot that could be salvaged but the owners decided to sell the place. Sadly, no one locally or the city of Seadrift were able or willing to buy and restore the place, so it was sold to John Clegg who owned the Espiritu Santos Ranch in lower Mission Valley in Victoria. The ranch held the Mission Espiritu Santos before it’s move to Goliad, and its ruins are still on the property. He had the Hotel moved from Seadrift to his ranch and had it restored to its original splendor complete with a rebuilt 3rd story. Today it sits prominently on the ranch, and it can be seen from the Lower Mission Valley Road. It is now named The Spirit Inn of Mission Valley and hosts weddings, parties, and events. 

The sad part is that the Hotel was one of, if not the only historic building that survived so many years and storms in the City of Seadrift. It was sad to see it moved. Now visiting the shoreline of San Antonio Bay, the hotel is missed. It is now only seen in the memory of the Dierlam family who lived their lives there for all those decades and for those who still remember it standing there tall and proud.

written by Sheryl Cuellar

Port Lavaca Wave Vol.103, No. 71, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 8, 1994, pg. 37

Spirit Inn of Mission Valley https://spiritinnmv.com

Houston Post Sunday, April 20, 1975

Port Lavaca, Texas 1840-1990

Seadrift Memories: Old Settlement 1848 Lower Mott – 1986 Seadrift