USA > Texas > Montgomery County > A History of Montgomery County, Texas > Part 3
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his agent, John L. Woodbury, made his contract with the government for three hundred families in December, 1826. 15 His colony was to be settled in the following boundaries:
Beginning at the Town of Nacogdoches: Thence South, leaving free Twenty boundary border leagues, parallel with the Sabine River to the intersection of the bound- ary line of the same, with that of the Ten coast border leagues, on the Gulf of Mexico. Thence west to the river San Jacinto: Thence up the said river with its left bank, to its source, and thence on a stright line North to the San Antonio raod leading from Bexar to Nacogdoches: Thence with said road to the town afore- said, and previous to arriving at the River Trinity the line shall follow the road called Bull's hill road (Loma del Toro) crossing that river above the Military Post, and continuing on said road, until it unites with the road first mentioned and thence with it to the Town of Nacogdoches and place of beginning.
Vehlein's grant was in what had been the western part of Edwards' grant which consisted of the eastern half of Montgomery County. The San Jacinto River was the dividing line between Austin's colony and Vehlein's colony; therefore, the western half of Montgomery County was in Austin's colony and the eastern half in Vehlein's.
Vehlein's colony did not pan out well; therefore, having failed to carry out his obligations, he, with empresarios Burnet and Zavala, transferred his contract to the Galveston Bay and Texas Land Company on October 16, 1830. 16 The Galveston Bay and Texas Land Company
15 Baker, op. cit., p. 92
16 Ibid., p. 93
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converted the grants into a Wall-street speculation and issued scrip on the land. The scrip was worthless in Texas, where every immigrant was entitled to a league of land; but in New York it sold for one to two cents an acre. cre. 17 This This company selected the town of Anahuac for their headquarters; but when John Bradburn became commander at Anahuac, and exercised his despotism, the population fled, and the bubble of the "Galveston Bay Company" exploded. 18
There were forty-two members of Austin's and Vehlein's colonies who got their land titles from the Mexican government, and settled in what today is Montgomery County. They and the date of their patents are listed as follows:
Those on the west side of the San Jacinto River and located in Austin's colony were: Archibald M. Alexander, October 5, 1835; William Atkins, April 18, 1831; Solomon Brown, April 16. 1828; William C. Clarke, April 10, 1831; John Corner, May 10, 1831; Mary Corner, April 7, 1831; Thomas Corner, May 28, 1831; John Cronkrite, June 6, 1831; John H. Edwards, April 13, 1831; William W. Ford, October 17, 1832; Noah Griffith, April 11, 1831; Paschal B. Hamblin, October 10, 1835; Archibald Hodge, April 3, 1831; James Hodge, April
17 Homer S. Thrall, A Pictorial History of Texas From the Earliest Visits of European Adventurers, to A. D. 1879 (St. Louis: N. D. Thompso: and Company, 1879), p. 167
18 Loc. cit.
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8, 1831; Joseph House, April 13, 1831; William Landrum, April 10, 1831; Zacharia Landrum, April 10, 1831; Joseph Miller, April 16, 1831; James Poorhouse, April 7, 1831; William Rankin, April 10, 1831; Raleigh Rogers, May 6, 1831; Jacob Shannon, April 30, 1831; Owen Shannon, April 8, 1831; James Smith, May 13, 1831; Wiley B. D. Smith, April 5, 1831; Allen Vince, April 30, 1831; John T. Vince, May 4, 1831; and Ann White, May 12, 1831.
Those on the east of the San Jacinto River and located in Behlein's colony were: William S. Allen, June 2, 1835; Bennett Blake, August 27, 1835; Elijah Collard, April 29, 1835; Timothy Cude, Septem- ber 15, 1835; Jose Marie de la Garza, November 4, 1833; Samuel Lindley, August 27, 1835; Joseph Lindley, April 6, 1835; Neal Martin, April 13, 1835; Jonathan C. Pitts, September 13, 1835; John Saddler, April 29, 1835; JohnB. Tong, July 24, 1835; and William Weir, August 17, 1835. 19
Not much is known sbout these pioneers but most of them did not stay long enough to leave a trace of their activities; but some did, and the following is an account from W. N. Martin of some of those who did leave behind a mark of perseverance:
One of the original grantees was William Rankin. He and his wife Sarah came to Texas from Alabama in 1825. In June of that year they made application for a grant of
19 Land Abstracts, General Land Office, Austin, Texas, Vol. I.
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one league of land lying between Lake Creek and the San Jacinto River, in what was then Washington County. On April 10, 1831, the Spanish granted this land. The Rankins had no children, but he was administrator for his brother's children for several years. He took an active part in the civic affairs of the county. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge, and at one time a mem- ber of the Commissioners Court. Rankin died on April 2, 1857, and was buried in the Montgomery cemetery.
A pioneer family that left little trace of its members was that of John Corner and his wife Prutia. They came to Texas from Alabama in 1825. They were received as colonist in the colony of Stephen F. Austin. In the same year of their arrival they contracted with the government of the state of Coahuila and Texas, through Stephen F. Austin, for a grant of one league of land. Having met the necessary requisites provided for by the law of coloniza - tion of 1825, they received their grant of land from the government on May 10, 1831. This land is situated on a stream called Atkin's Creek, a tributary of the San Jacinto River.
John Corner lived on his grant of land and developed much of it by clearing off the forests and putting in small farms. In 1838 he began to sell his land. He sold much of his league to Wm. W. Shepperd, a land speculator. So far as records show, Corner never took part in any civic affairs or public interests. It is known that he had two sons who lived in Montgomery until they were grown. The whole family left after selling their land to several other early settlers. Witnesses have been produced, however, who swore they knew that John Corner lived in Montgomery in the 1850's.
Not many of the original families of Montgomery were as eager to sell their land and leave the vicinity as the members of the Corner family seem to have been. Raleigh Rogers was one of the first pioneers of Montgomery, and a large part of his land was handed down to his descendants who still live on and own the land. He and his wife Polly came from Alabama about 1830. They were settlers in Stephen F. Austin's last colony. They made application for a league of land, and on May 6, 1831 the Mexican Government approved the grant
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Raleigh Rogers was a successful farmer and trader, and he owned much live stock and several slaves. He was a very active member of the community and as- sociated freely with the other builders of Montgomery. The exact time of his death is not known, but he was buried in the family grave-yard on his land.
This couple had only four children, one boy who never married, and three girls. One of the girls, Mary Davis Rogers, married a Methodist circuit preacher, Pleasant M. Yell, who is the grandfather of two women still living in Montgomery on the old family grant. Mary and her husband lived on the Rogers land until they built their home on the present site of the Yell land. Pleasant Yell gave up preaching and became a successful farmer work- ing several slaves. After emancipation most of his slaves left, but one family remained, whose descendants still live on the Yell land and work for descendants of Raleigh Rogers.
Another original family of Montgomery was William Landrum and his wife Nancy Gilmore, who came from Alabama in 1830. The Landrums were of old American stock, having come to America from England and Scotland in the early part of the eighteenth century. William Landrum's father and his wife's father were soldiers in the American Revolution. William Landrum was a member of Austin's second colony and received a grant of land from Mexico in 1831. Several hundred acres of land of the original grant are still in the possession of the descendants of William Landrum.
To this couple were born several children. Mary Landrum married Judge G. B. Gay and lived in Mont- gomery for the duration of her life. They have descend - ants living in Montgomery now. Melissa Landrum married I. C. Davis. Their descendants also live in Montgomery at the present time. One of the Landrum boys died with- our marrying.
Zachariah Landrum and his wife Letetia came to Texas in 1827. They made application for a league of land lying between Lake Creek and Atkin's Creek in what was then
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Washington County. On April 10, 1831, this grant was given him by the Spanish Government.
This Landrum family came with a train of other settlers from Alabama. With them came two sons, William and John, and two daughters, Sarah and Kathrine.
Landrum became ill in 1838 and made his will, giving all his land to his wife, his two sons, and his two daughters. He died in 1844 and was buried in a private cemetary.
Owen shannon and his wife Margaret came from Georgia, landed in Texas, and settled near San Augustine in 1827. Although they had much difficulty trying to get information concerning Austin's colony, they finally succeeded in getting into it in about 1830. The Shannons settled north of the present site of Montgomery. They reared a large family and lived on the land until his death in 1850.
Benjamin Rigsby and his wife came to Montgomery in 1828. They made application for a league of land which was granted April 14, 1831.
A land speculator, Thomas Taylor, furnished the money to finance Rigsby. In return for this service, Rigsby returned 2214 acres of land to Taylor. Rigsby sold the remainder of his league of land to different settlers and left Montgomery in 1837. There is no record of where he went.
Although, Montgomery County has only forty-two grants of the original titles left today, it had included in its boundaries when it was created a total of three hundred and eighteen of the first colonists.
20W. N. Martin, "A History of Montgomery, " (unpublished Master's thesis, Sam Houston State Teachers College, Huntsville, Texas, 1950), pp. 11-17.
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Gradually its boundary lines and original grants diminished as the new counties of Waller, Walker, Grimes, San Jacinto, and Madison were carved from it.
CHAPTER IV
ORGANIZATION AND EARLY POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
After its declaration of independence on March 2, 1836 and its victory in the war with Mexico, the newly declared Republic of Texas set about the task of organizing its government and breaking down its large domain of municipalities into smaller workable units. For some time Texas had been divided into two departments,
Nacogdoches and Bexar, which in turn were subdivided into munici- palities. Prior to the declaration of independence, however, another department was created, the department of Brazos, which extended from the Lavaea River to the watershed between the San Jacinto and
the Trinity. 1 All three of these departments were divided into twenty-three municipalities and by the formal adoption of the Consti- tution of the Republic of Texas the twenty-three municipalities became counties with a new legal status, and their creation was, therefore, uniformly dated March 17, 1836. 2
One of the new counties formed by the act of March 17, 1836,
Louis J. Wortham, A History of Texas (Fort Worth: Wortham- Molyneaux Company, 1924), Vol. II, p. 132.
2 T. C. Richardson, editor, East Texas: Its History and Its Makers (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1940), Vol. II, p. 787.
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was the county of Washington which had been a municipality in the department of Brazos. The newly created county of Washington comprised a vast extent of country on both sides of the Brazos below the old San Antonio road. The county seat was located at the city of Washington, and due to the vastness of its boundaries and the sparsely distributed population of certain sections of its domain, it was incon- venient for the citizens who lived on the east side of the Brazos to meet their obligations toward their government; therefore, soon after the county was organized the citizens east of the Brazos River began to petition the government to form a new county.
The first indication that a new county would be created from Washington County appeared in the Telegraph and Texas Register, July 8, 1837, advertising the sale of lots in the newly organized town of Montgomery. The article was written at Montgomery on the fourth of July, 1837, by W. W. Shepperd stating that, "It is expected that a new county will be organized, at the next session of congress, em- bracing this section of country. 13
The first congress of the new republic convened at Columbia, but due to its instability and also the threats of the Mexican army, the government adjourned and moved its seat from Columbia to Houston. Growing impatient, some of the citizens from Washington 3 Telegraph and Texas Register (Houston), July 8, 1837.
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County who resided east of the Brazos River petitioned the called session of Congress in Houston on October 13, 1837 to create a new county. The petition to congress from the Washington County citizens ran as follows:
We your petitioners, citizens of Washington County East of the Brazos River, being desirous for a division of said county do hereby petition your honorable body to make the Brazos River the dividing line between said new county so as to throw our new county seat out in the high healthy prairies; as for the arrangments of the new county after that is done we are willing to abide the justice of Congress in the honesty of our own citizens in fixing the other lines and locating the seat of justice. "
More than a month elapsed before Congress got around to con- sidering the petition of the Washington County citizens. The First Congress commenced its regular session at Houston on November 6, 1837, and it was not until November 23 that the bill to create Montgomery County appeared on its agenda. Mosely Baker, represen- tative from Austin County, and William W. Hill and W. W. Grant, representatives from Washington County, took the most interest in the Montgomery bill. The introduction and progress of the bill through both of the houses of congress was as follows:
Thursday, 10 o'clock, Nov. 23, 1837.
Mr. Baker, Chairman of the Committee on County
Memorial Petitions, October 13, 1837, in Texas State Archives, Number 10.
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Boundaries, reported a bill accompanied by the petition of sundry citizens of Washington County for the creation of a new county to be called Montgomery County: read a first time. 5
Then on Thursday, November 30, 1837 the bill creating the county of Montgomery was taken up on its second reading in the House and then passed on to the Senate chamber. While the bil 1. was in the Senate chamber the Senate saw fit to make come chans; s concerning the seat of justice and the lower boundamy line; there": :: on Thursday at one o'clock, December 7, a message was receive. .. the House from the Senate informing the representatives that they had 7 At three
amended the bill creating the county of Montgomery.
o'clock on the same day the Senate read the amended bill and, "
the rule being suspended, it was read a third time and passed. " 8 The bill went back to the House for the necessary changes and on Friday, December 8, the bill was reconsidered by the House as
follows:
5 Journal of the House of Representatives of The Republic of Texas, called session of September 25, 1837, and regular session commencing November 6, 1837 (Houston: National Banner Office-Hiles and Company), p. 176.
6 Ibid., p. 207
7 Ibid., p. 235
8 Journal of The Senate of The Republic of Texas, first congress and second session (Houston: Telegraph Office, 1838), p. 102.
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The bill creating the county of Montgomery, as amended by the Senate, was taken up, and on motion of Mr. Hill, the amendment relating to the Seat of Justice, was dis- agreed to, and the amendment relating to the lower line concurred in.
When the House had threshed out its disagreement about the location of the seat of justice the bill passed back to the Senate for its reconsideration, and on Saturday at ten o'clock, December 9, a message from the Senate was received in the House informing its members that the Senate had concurred in ". . . the bill creating the county of Montgomery, with amendments, and request the House to concur therein. 10 .,,10 The House concurred on the bill and
on Tuesday, December 12, it made the following report:
Mr. Baker, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, reported the following bills as having been examined . and found correctly enrolled, viz. :
"An Act creating the county of Montgomery. .
When the bill had been signed by Joseph Rowe, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Mirabeau B. Lamar, the President of the Senate, it went to Sam Houston, the President, for his signature. On December 14, 1837, 12 just twenty-one days
9 Journal of the House of Representatives, op. cit., p. 236. 10 Ibid., p. 240 11 Ibid., p. 251 12 H. P. N. Gammel, The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897 (Austin: the Gammel Book Company, 1898), Vol. I, p. 1357.
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from the time the bill was introduced in the First Congress of the Republic, Sam Houston signed the act creating Montgomery County. The bill in part is as follows:
AN ACT Creating the county of Montgomery.
SEC. 1. Be it enacted, by the senate and house of representatives of the republic of Texas in congress assembled, That all that part of the county of. Washing- ton lying east of the Brazos, and southeast of the Navasota rivers, shall constitute and form a new county to be known and designated by the name of Montgomery county.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That James Mitchell, Pleasant Gray, William Robinson, Elijah Collard, Charles Garnet, Joseph L. Bennet, B. B. Goodrich, D. D. Dunham, and Henry Fanthrop, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners, with power and authority (any five of them concur ing) to select a proper place for the seat of justice for said county, and to obtain by purchase upon the faith and credit of the county, or receive by donation such quantity of land as will be sufficient for the erection of public buildings, and for defraying such other expenses of said county as said commissioners may deem expedient and that the land so purchased or donated shall be under the superintendance and control of the board of commis- sioners of said county.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That the said county of Montgomery, shall be entitled to one representative in congress, and that the counties of Washington and Mont- gomery shall constitute a senatorial district.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That the lower line of the county of Montgomery shall commence at the mouth of Lake Creek, thence in a direct line to the head of Pond Creek, and thence in a direct line to the mouth of Deeson's Creek thence up the Brazos river to the mouth
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ot the Navasota river. 13
Another petition that Congress seriously considered along with the Montgomery petition, was a petition from Washington County citizens wanting the new county to be called Travis. Congress seriously considered this petition, as is verified in the following congressional report:
An act to form a new County to be named Travis,
The committee on County boundaries have had under consideration the petition of sundry inhabitants of Washington County residing on the East side of the Brazos River praying to be formed into a New County to be named "Travis" ask leave to report the follow- ing Bill:
Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Texas in Congress assembled:
That that part of Washington County lying on the East side of the Brazos River and bounded as follows, to wit:
Beginning at the place where the San Antonio road crosses the Navasoto thence with said road eastward to where the said road crosses the Trinity River thence with down the said Trinity River to the Colette village of Coshattee Indians thence on a straight line to the Brazos River to the mouth of the Pond Creek, thence up the Brazos River to the mouth of the Navasoto thence up the Navasoto to the place of beginning to be formed into a New County to be called "Travis. " 14
13 Loc. cit.
14 Bills of the First Congress, December 1837, in Texas State Archives. Number 900.
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The bill was engrossed in December, 1837, the same month that the Montgomery bill was passed, and it was signed by Jesse Grimes, Chairman, R. A. Iron, and J. S. Lester; therefore, Montgomery County was almost named Travis County. 15
Montgomery County was the third county created by the Republic of Texas, with Houston County and Fannin County preced- ing it. Although it ranked third in the order created by the Republic, it ranked twenty-sixth when added to the twenty-three original counties plus Houston and Fannin Counties.
The county of Montgomery took its name from the town of the same name, because the town was named before the county was created, as is shown in the following article dated July 4, 1837:
MONTGOMERY
Situated in the county of Washington, sixty miles northwest of the city of Houston, thirty five miles east of the town of Washington, and six miles west of the San Jacinto River, in the center of a high, beauti- ful and undulating district of country, distinguished for health, good water, and soil.
It is expected that a new county will be organized, at the next session of congress, embracing this sec- tion of country, in which event, the town of Montgomery from its central position, must be selected as the seat of justice.
The San Jacinto affords an excellent keel boat navigation to this point. The most direct route from the city of 15Loc. cit.
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of Houston to Robertson's colony and Red River settlements, and from Bevil's settlement to Washington, pass through this town. The great extent of good land lying continguous, and its increasing and enterprising agricultural population, cannot fail of making this one of the most flourishing inland towns in this republic.
Sale of lots at auction will take place in the town of Montgomery, on the first Monday in September ensuing, and continue for three days.
Terms of sale, six, and twelve months credit. Notes with approved security will be required. Good titles will be made upon the payment of the first notes. 16
Due to the above article stating that ". . . a new county is expected to be created . . . ", and also due to the fact that have previously been stated, that Montgomery County might have been named Travis, one might conclude that the citizens of the new county did not know in advance what the county would be called; therefore, the county must have taken the town's name.
There is still difference of opinion concerning the origin of the name of the town. Some of the citizens and historians contend that Montgomery got its name from a Richard Montgomery, who was born in Ireland, and settled at King's Bridge, New York, in 1773. He served as a delegate to represent Dutchess County, New York in the first New York Provisional Assembly in 1775, and in the same year he appointed Brigadier General. He was killed in a battle at
16 Telegraph and Texas Register, op. cit.
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Quebec December 31, 1775. 17
It is the more popular belief by the citizens and old timers, however, that the town of Montgomery was named from the family name of Margaret (Margret, Margart, or Margit) Montgomery Shannon, wife of Owen Shannon. Owen Shannon and Jacob Shannon, his son, came to Texas in November 1821 and settled near San Augustine. They stayed there nine years before they were accepted in Austin's fourth colony, and in 1830 they moved to Montgomery
County. 13 Both father and son got a grant of land from the Mexican government. Jacob's grant of land was located where present day Dobbin now stands. He established a trading post on his grant which became known as Shannon's and its locality known as Shannon's Prairie.
Owen Shannon and his wife, Margaret, settled on their grant of land which was located northeast of the present town of Montgomery. They likewise set up a trading post to trade with the Indians and settlers in that area. This trading post was established on a creek, later known as Town Creek, and since his son Jacob had named his post Shannon's, Owen named his store from his Wife's maiden name, Montgomery. 19
17 S. T. Fulmore, History and Geography of Texas, As Told in County Names. (Austin: The Steck Company, 1935), p. 64
18 Letter of Col. Jacob Shannon to Messrs. Gray and Henderson, Treasurey and Secretary of the Texas Historical Society, October 13, 1870, in Addison Collection.
19 Personal interview of the author with Lulu Shannon, Dobbin, Texas, June 10, 1952.
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Owen did not live long to operate his Montgomery trading post, for it is known that he died in late 1833 or early part of 1834. Jacob Shannon became the executor of his father's will and estate, and for some time he continued running his father's trading post; but probably due to the expense of keeping two trading posts going, he abandoned the Montgomery post and kept his own at Shannon's Prairie.
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