Robert "Bob" M. Britt was born close to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on April 6, 1897. His father, William, was a sharecropper farmer. After William's wife died at the early age of 32, William took two of his sons and headed for a better life in Mexico.
They stayed with other American farmers and ranchers in the state of Vera Cruz, but it was a "rough place to work." One day bandits looking to rob a payroll stopped Bob, but his brother was the one transporting the money on that day. Failing to get the payroll the bandits hung him by the neck, leaving him with rope burns and an injured neck but not killing him.
In addition to bandits there were many hardships in their early days in Mexico. One summer they had only pumpkins as the main food in their diet.
They had several "good American mules" that were needed by the American oil companies, so they went to work in the oilfields of Panuco, Vera Cruz.
Later, as the on going Mexican revolution became more violent, the American Government advised and arranged to evacuate American citizens. Bob, his brother and father escaped Mexico on a tanker ship from the port of Tampico, Mexico, sailing to Galveston, Texas.
William and Bob lived for months in Arkansas. When William thought it was safe he returned with Bob to again work in the oilfields near Panuco.
While working in Panuco, Bob's father told him about a pretty young American girl whose family managed a boarding house in nearby Tampico.
Bob met and later married Delaine Snell in 1918. Life was easier and happier for Bob after finding work in the oil fields and after his marriage. He and Delaine even bought a second hand Model "T" Ford, in 1919.
About 1926, Bob and his wife, Delaine, bought the "general store" in Chamal from Delaine's father and mother, William and Clementine Snell.
Bob and Delaine feared another revolution in Mexico; consequently they sold the store and moved with their three children to San Antonio, Texas, in June of 1937.
Bob first bought a combination grocery store/gas station in San Antonio. In 1945, he sold it and bought a triplex apartment and small grocery store also in San Antonio.
He and Delaine ran the store until 1962, when due to his health issues they sold out.
Robert M. Britt died in 1963, in San Antonio, Texas.
