Letter of Gratitude from Gedera Settlers to Baron Rothschild – Building the First Well, 1888

Letter of Gratitude from Gedera Settlers to Baron Rothschild – Building the First Well, 1888
"To a great and generous minister, Baron Edmond (Benjamin) de Rothschild", single leaf, printed letter of gratitude from inhabitants of Gedera to Baron Rothschild. Gedera, Nissan 1888.
"Thank G-d that we have reached the day on which we started to dig a well in the fields of Gedera, for three years we drank bitter water… and soon we will drink our own water…please allow us to name the well Binyamin…".
In 1888 Yehiel Michal Pines obtained the permits to build and dig a well. Until then the settlers of Gedera pumped water from a well in the Arab village of Katara, and during periods of disputes they had to walk to the village of Bashit, two kilometers away. Eliyahu Scheid, the chief clerk of the Baron in Palestine, persuaded Rothschild to fund the digging of the well; Rothschild agreed and donated 7,000 Francs and "Hovevei Zion" added 2,000 Francs. The settlers of Gedera named the well after the Baron without his permission, since he did not approve of their request to do so because of their participation in the -dissents against his clerks in Rishon LeZion. Only in 1895 did Rothschild finally agree to have the well named after him. A company by the name of BE"R (Initials of Benjamin Edmond Rothschild) was established in order to dig the well. On March 12, 1888, the digging started but only a year later, on February 28, 1889, was water found at a depth