Help Wanted - Montgomery Prairie

   The Montgomery Myth

The memories of men are too frail a thread to hang history from. ~John Still, The Jungle Tide

All the ancient histories, as one of our wits say, are just fables that have been agreed upon. ~Voltaire, Jeannot et Colin

History: gossip well told. ~Elbert Hubbard, The Roycroft Dictionary

Legend: A lie that has attained the dignity of age. ~H.L. Mencken

   Harry G. Daves, Jr., a Shannon descendant, courageously wrote,

"For some reason our Shannon and Montgomery family have tried to contend that the home site of Owen and Margaret Shannon was located within the settlement called Montgomery, which is also false.  The settlement was known as the Lake Creek Settlement..." ¹

   In researching the history of the Lake Creek Settlement, I have run across several histories that claim that someone named Montgomery or Shannon had a trading post in Austin's Colony somewhere on the Owen Shannon League.  Supposedly, this trading post was called Montgomery Trading Post, Montgomery Prairie or Montgomery Settlement.  As these stories go, it was from this trading post or settlement that the town of Montgomery, Texas would later derive its name and thus the county.  My research has shown that this is a myth. 

   In fact, I have not seen a single primary document or source that supports the Montgomery Trading Post/Montgomery Settlement theory.  Have you?  Think about it.  Have you ever actually seen one with your own eyes?

   I am looking for any primary document including letters, wills, deeds, legal documents, diaries, family Bibles, newspapers, maps, etc. dated prior to July 8, 1837 that mention a place named Montgomery, Montgomery Settlement, Montgomery Prairie or Montgomery Trading Post anywhere in Texas.   I have come to the conclusion that no such documents actually exist and that a fallacious "family tradition" has been promoted as history.

   If I am wrong and if you are aware of an actual primary historical document that disproves my assertions, I would love to see it.  Please don't tell me about such a document unless you have actually seen it and know where it is located.  Thank you!

Contact me at:

Mr. Kameron K. Searle

602 Sawyer, Suite 460

Houston, Texas 77007

Telephone: 713-880-4529

^1.  From The Herald, Montgomery County Genealogical & Historical Society, Inc., Conroe, Texas, Volume 24, Issue Number 4, Winter 2001, Owen Shannon's Grave, by Harry G. Daves, Jr., pp.161-169.  In his article "Owen Shannon's Grave," Daves writes, "For some reason our Shannon and Montgomery family have tried to contend that the home site of Owen and Margaret Shannon was located within the settlement called Montgomery, which is also false.  The settlement was known as the Lake Creek Settlement..."