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America was just a young country and Texas was but a wish in the heart of those that choose to wander. And, as is often the case, time and distance merge with adventurous souls and history begins a new page. An early stirring of breath for Falls County Texas and the city of Marlin would begin here, many miles from its current location. A child named John, the son of Rachel and William Marlin, was born in Madison County, Alabama on October 17, 1792, where he would mature into a young family man. In 1832, Sterling Robertson would bring some families to Texas when it was still Mexico. Nine families came to his Nashville Colony disregarding new laws by the Mexican government that prohibited further immigration of U.S. citizens to Texas. The John Marlin family would settle near the capitol of Robertson’s Nashville Colony, Sarahville de Viesca. An ongoing dispute between Robertson and Stephen F. Austin would eventually be settled by the Governor of Mexico. During this time, Z.N. Morrell, that crusty ol’ Baptist, came to the Falls of the Brazos to meet up with Davy Crockett, planning to do some bear hunting. Crockett did not show up, but Morrell and John Marlin hunted and found the game to be plentiful. In 1835, John Marlin would be granted a league of land on the east bank of the Brazos River, in an area that would eventually become Falls County. His family would be involved in the “Runaway Scrape” of 1836, but once Texas had won her independence from Mexico, he brought his family back to the area where he established his home known as Fort Marlin on the east side of the Brazos River a short distance from a trading post known as Bucksnort, so named by an inebriated patron of a local saloon. Fort Marlin would be a place that early settlers would gather seeking protection from the occasional war parties of Indian tribes that used the natural river crossing at the Falls of the Brazos. During the time period before 1830, the grounds around the Falls of the Brazos had no permanent Indian residents, but several tribes claimed the area for hunting grounds. These were mostly the local area tribes of Wacos, Tawakonis, and Anadarkos . These tribes were often attacked by the stronger Comanches from the northern edge of the territory. The more peaceful Cherokees arrived in the area in the early 1830s shortly before Sterling Robertson brought American settlers to this land near the Falls of the Brazos. John Marlin served with the Home Guard and Indian Fighters when he arrived in Texas and in 1836 enlisted with the Texas Rangers under Capitan Sterling Robertson’s Company F. Through the years, he furnished various supplies to the government of the Republic of Texas, and became the Commissioner of Precinct 5 at Bucksnort in 1838 which was currently in Robertson County. The January 10, 1839 minutes from the Robertson County Commissioner’s Court reported that John Marlin was not in attendance. Later it was found that the reason for his absence was the fact that his home, Fort Marlin, was being attacked by Indians just ten days after the massacre of the George Morgan family. The attack resulted in seven Indian warriors being killed. The Texas state legislature formed Falls County, so named because of the Falls of the Brazos, on January 28, 1850. Eventually, the community of Adams would officially become the county seat for Falls County. A short time later, the town was renamed Marlin in honor of the Marlin family.