The Evolutionof theMontgomery Trading Post MythAn Exposé(From: The Early History of Montgomery County, Texas)by: Kameron Searle Note:This web page is under construction. There is a lot of information here about the Evolution of the Montgomery Trading Post myth, but this page will be considerably longer when finished. Please return to read additional information. I have been asked on several occasion why I have put so much time and effort into exposing the Montgomery Trading Post Myth. There are three reasons why I have researched, studied and exposed the Montgomery Trading Post Myth in so much detail.
I have done over a decade's worth of research into the early history of the Montgomery County. In collecting and gathering the evidence of that history, I am no longer satisfied in just relating the corrected history of the town and county of Montgomery. As so much information was found to be wrong in the previously written histories, I am now compelled to write the history of those histories to show what happened, i.e. how the early history of the town and county got so far off the tracks. The goal here is to show when and how the errors either crept in or were forcibly and intentionally shoved into the history. In this section we will look at the origin of the Montgomery Trading Post myth and its evolution over time. First, we will look at a brief synopsis of the true details of the actual Indian trading post that preceded the founding of the town of Montgomery, Texas. We will then look at the first documents that began to fictionalize the history of the trading post by substituting erroneous details for the true facts. Beginning with the oldest documents that mention the trading post, we will watch the trading post's ownership, location, date of founding and other details evolve over about an eighty year period (1925-2008). There was in fact an Indian trading post that preceded the town of Montgomery, Texas. Founded in 1835, it was located about a half mile north of the present town of Montgomery under the hill on the creek that later became known as Town Creek. Click here to read the detailed history of the Indian trading post that became the town of Montgomery, Texas. In reality the name I have given the Montgomery Trading Post Myth is a misnomer. There is not just one Montgomery Trading Post Myth. There are as many different versions of the Montgomery Trading Post Myth as there are authors who previously wrote histories about the Indian trading post that preceded the town of Montgomery, Texas. As we will see, each historian changed the story a little. Some of these historians changed the story a lot. In reading their histories of the Indian trading post they call the Montgomery Trading Post, it becomes eminently clear that each of these historians either:
As these historians did not look at primary sources with regard to the trading post, they were not confined by the actual facts and could freely speculate as creatively as they pleased.
The Montgomery Trading Post Myth Definition of myth (noun) - a fictitious narrative presented as historical but without any basis of fact. Over the last 80 years or so, numerous theories have been postulated regarding the early history of the Town and County of Montgomery, Texas. Speculation as to the origin of the name of the Town and County of Montgomery, Texas has often been included in these theories. These theories have evolved and culminated into what this author denominates the "Montgomery Trading Post Myth." According to the Montgomery Trading Post Myth, a trading post known as Montgomery Trading Post was owned and operated by one or more of the following people: Jacob Shannon, Owen Shannon and/or Margaret [Montgomery] Shannon or Andrew Montgomery. According to the myth, the Montgomery Trading Post was located a half mile north or northeast of the present town of Montgomery on the Owen Shannon League near what is now known as Town Creek OR the Montgomery Trading Post was located a couple of miles west of the present town of Montgomery at the intersection of two roads identified as the Loma del Toro and the Lower Coushatti Trace. [Note the various historians cannot even agree on details such as ownership, location and years of operation.] The "Montgomery Trading Post Myth" further alleges that the lands around the Montgomery Trading Post were known as Montgomery Prairie or Montgomery Settlement and that the Town of Montgomery derived its name from this place and subsequently the County of Montgomery derived its name from the town. Additionally, there are as many variations in the other details regarding the Montgomery Trading Post myth as there are historians who have written about it. This article will prove the Montgomery Trading Post myth is not true. All the recent histories of Montgomery County, Texas are wrong. The Town of Montgomery and Montgomery County, Texas were NOT named after Jacob Shannon, Owen Shannon, Margaret [Montgomery] Shannon, William Montgomery or Andrew Montgomery! Furthermore, the town and county of Montgomery were not named after any place known as Montgomery Trading Post. The Montgomery Trading Post never existed! The evidence will also show that no one named Montgomery or Shannon had anything to do with the founding of the Indian trading post or the town of Montgomery, Texas. The evidence will also show the founder of the town of Montgomery had no reason to name the town after anyone named Shannon or Montgomery. In the Timeline below we will start with the true story of the Indian trading post and work our way forward to the evolution of the myth.
The Truth The Store of W. W. Shepperd on Lake Creek
Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence. John Adams Timeline of Actual Facts
January 1, 1831 - William C. Clark purchased 600 acres of land from John Corner. - September 15, 1835 - W. W. Shepperd bought 200 acres of land from William C. Clark out of the 600 acres Clark purchased from John Corner. These 200 acres of land were located in the northwestern-most corner of the John Corner League. - 1835 - W. W. Shepperd Founded the Store/Indian Trading Post on the creek. - 1836 - Citizens of Washington County east of the Brazos petitioned the Congress of the Republic of Texas to create a new county to be called "Travis County." Travis County bill did not pass. - July 1837 - Town of Montgomery founded by W. W. Shepperd in association with J. W. Moody. This was the "Old Town" of Montgomery "under the hill." Shepperd and Moody named the town Montgomery after Montgomery County, Alabama where Moody had lived for many years and been the County Clerk before coming to Texas. - 1837 - Citizens of Washington County east of the Brazos Petition the Congress of the Republic of Texas for the Creation of a New County with "No Name." Republic of Texas Congress names new county Montgomery after the Town of Montgomery. - December 14, 1837 - President Sam Houston signs Act into law and Montgomery County is Created Town of Montgomery "under the hill" becomes County Seat of Montgomery County. - February 26, 1837 - Shepperd Buys 212 Acres from John Corner This Land is on a Hill just South of the Town of Montgomery - March 1, 1838 - First Montgomery County Commissioners' Court Moves the Site of the Town of Montgomery to 200 of the 212 Acres Purchased by Shepperd on February 26, 1837 This Location will be Known as the "New Town" of Montgomery on the Hill - 1839 - Major John Wyatt Moody Dies in Houston - 1849 - W. W. Shepperd Dies in Montgomery - 1885 - C. B. Stewart Dies in Montgomery
Conclusion of Timeline W. W. Shepperd founded the Indian trading post. W. W. Shepperd in partnership with J. W. Moody founded the "old town of Montgomery. W. W. Shepperd through his agent, C. B. Stewart induced the Montgomery County Commissioners' Court to moved the site of the Town of Montgomery. These three men (Shepperd, Moody and Stewart) who were the only three men intimate with the details of the founding of the trading post and the town had all died by 1885. Those who did not know the details of the genesis of the trading post, the town and its name, began to speculate and guess. Erroneous details began to slip into the history as people began to make up details to fill in the blanks. And the Montgomery Trading Post myth was born.
In Between the Truth and the Montgomery Trading Post Myth General Montgomery The Montgomery Trading Post myth was not the first attempt by historians to explain how Montgomery County, Texas got its name. Between the time of the actual history (1830's) and the introduction of the Montgomery Trading Post myth (1925), other explanations were introduced to explain the source of the name of Montgomery County, Texas. For instance, in 1879, Homer S. Thrall published A Pictorial History of Texas (1879, St. Louis, N. D. Thompson & Co.), p. 685. This may be the earliest example of an historian trying to explain the source of the name of Montgomery, County. In the section regarding "County Sketches" on page 685, Thrall wrote:
Thrall does not provide a given name for General Montgomery. The next two sources attempt to provide a given name for General Montgomery but they do not agree. It is interesting to note that C. B. Stewart would still have been alive when Thrall published A Pictorial History of Texas in 1879. Stewart did not die until 1885. The Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide 1911 published by (The Galveston-Dallas News/A. H. Belo & Co., 1911) provided the following: Montgomery
Here The Texas Almanac provides a given name for General Montgomery but, just who General James Montgomery may have been is left to speculation. The oft-cited Z. T. Fulmore provided more details regarding General Montgomery in his book The History and Geography of Texas as Told in County Names (Austin, Texas, E. L. Steck, 1915). Also see 1935 edition of The History and Geography of Texas as Told in County Names (Austin, Texas, The Steck Company, 1935). On page 64 of the 1935 edition, Fulmore provides the following information regarding the naming of Montgomery County, Texas:
Decades later, Fulmore attempts to fill in some of the blanks regarding the "General Montgomery" that Thrall introduced in 1879. Sadly, Fulmore, like Thrall and the Texas Almanac, provides no sources (primary or secondary) for his information about the naming of Montgomery County.
Evolution of the Montgomery Trading Post Myth
The Myth The Montgomery Trading Post
The Montgomery Trading Post was an invention of Mary Davis. Outside of her imagination and later the imagination of others, it never existed.
Confirmation Bias is defined as a tendency for people to prefer information that confirms their preconceptions or hypotheses, independently of whether they are true.
History does not repeat itself. The historians repeat one another.
1925 - Anna Landrum Davis Local History Essay "Old Montgomery" The Montgomery Trading Post myth made its first appearance in 1925. In 1925, Anna Landrum Davis submitted an essay, Old Montgomery, for a Statewide local history contest called the Caldwell Prize. Influenced by her aunt, Mary Davis, Anna Landrum Davis, a senior high school student, would be the first to submit a version of the Montgomery Trading Post Myth.
Anna Davis Weisinger May 1, 1907 - April 30, 2005 The headstone of Anna Landrum Davis Weisinger in the New Cemetery in Montgomery provides a birth date of May 1, 1907. However, her death date has never been inscribed on the headstone. The Social Security record for Anna D. Weisinger of Montgomery, Texas, SSN: 449-28-6928, reflects a birth date of May 1, 1907 and a death date of April 30, 2005. She was just a few days shy of her 98th birthday. As a Senior in the high school in Montgomery, Texas in 1925, Anna Landrum Davis entered a history essay in a statewide local history contest called the Caldwell Local History Prize. The essay Anna Landrum Davis entered won 5th Prize in the Caldwell Prize contest. The paper Anna Landrum Davis submitted was titled Old Montgomery. Click here to see the complete essay Old Montgomery. Also see the December 3, 1925 edition of the Dallas Morning news which printed the entire essay in Part Two on page nineteen. This 1925 essay Old Montgomery is extremely significant in that it introduced the world to the idea that the town of Montgomery, Texas was named after some local family named Montgomery. Below are excerpts from the 1925 essay Old Montgomery regarding the trading post and the origin of the name of the town and county. It is interesting to note that the 1925 essay Old Montgomery does not actually refer to the trading post as the Montgomery Trading Post. That addition will come later. In fact Old Montgomery does not refer to the trading post as "Indian Trading Post" either. In reading these excerpts, the reader is reminded that this is a high school essay paper and most of what is highlighted below in this quote is not true. Do not rely on these excerpts as valid history.
Old Montgomery by Anna Landrum Davis
Note that in 1925, the essay Old Montgomery clearly states that it is "local tradition" that "says this little settlement took its name from James Montgomery and his wife, Margaret Montgomery, and that the county was afterwards named for the town." This one element regarding the source of the name of the town and the county will evolve several times over the next 50 years. According to the essay Old Montgomery, the Indian trading post was established by Jacob Shannon. This element will also evolve drastically over the next 50 years. It is also very important to note that in this first telling of the story in Anna Landrum Davis' essay that "local tradition says this little settlement took its name from James Montgomery and his wife, Margaret Montgomery, and that the county was afterwards named after the town." The essay also provides that "Jacob Shannon...established trading post here." The trading post being named or called Montgomery is not present here in the Anna Landrum Davis essay. The settlement gets its name from Margaret Montgomery according to the Anna Landrum Davis essay, not the trading post. The idea that the trading post was called Montgomery will be a later innovation to the story. Again, there is no Montgomery Trading Post in the Anna Landrum Davis essay! The Anna Landrum Davis' essay lays the foundation for the future invention of the so-called Montgomery Trading Post. The writer of Old Montgomery was honest enough to use the qualifying language "local tradition says..." Most of the early historians of the town of Montgomery and Montgomery County will be careful to use such qualifying language when trying to expalin the source of the name of the town and county. However more recent histories have omitted such qualifying language even when citing these earlier histories as their source for their information. Instead of stating them as theories, modern histories state the source of the name of the town and county and the ownership of the trading post as given facts. This is something even the early historians of Montgomery County were unwilling to do. Below is an equation which explains a problem found in many histories. Folklore X Decades of Repetition = Fact Just who James Montgomery was supposed to have been is confusing. Stephen F. Austin, did not give a grant of land to anyone named James Montgomery in the Lake Creek Settlement. Perhaps this James Montgomery was borrowed from The Texas Almanac. See General James Montgomery mentioned by The Texas Almanac above. James Montgomery will become a moot point however, when "local tradition says" something different in the next retelling of the history of the town of Montgomery in 1938. Though much of the true early history of the town and county were omitted from Old Montgomery and Old Montgomery introduces new erroneous elements to the early history of the town and the county, the essay does include some references to some true facts surrounding the founding of the town. For the true history based on primary sources, see the Lake Creek Settlement and the Indian Trading Post. True History About the only thing Old Montgomery preserves of the true history of the store or trading post is its location. The location is correct: about a half mile north of the present site of Montgomery on the creek. this was the correct location of W. W. Shepperd’s store or trading post. Note: In the essay Old Montgomery, no mention is made of anyone named Owen Shannon, Margaret Montgomery Shannon, William Montgomery or Andrew Montgomery with regard to the naming of the town and county or a trading post. These will all be later additions as the Montgomery Trading Post Myth evolves over time.
Changes in Montgomery Trading Post myth:
An Amazing Revelation Note: This is extremely important!!! In a series of interviews between April 1994 and March 1995 with Lloyd A Biskamp for his book Old Montgomery, Anna [Landrum Davis] Weisinger provided some extremely important information about her relationship with Mary Davis and the source of her 1925 essay. See Biskamp's Old Montgomery, Chapter Two, pages 6-14. On page 11, we find the following important information:
Anna Landrum Davis was raised by her aunt, Mary Davis, from the age of seven. Almost 70 years after writing her 1925 essay, Anna Landrum Davis Weisinger admits that her aunt, Mary Davis, "did much of the research and real work" and Mary Davis gave her niece Anna Landrum Davis "the credit for it." The Montgomery Trading Post was an invention of Mary Davis. Outside of her imagination and later the imagination of others, it never existed. Accordingly, it is important to note that in 1925 Mary Davis believed the town received its name from someone named James Montgomery and his wife Margaret Montgomery. Years of research have failed to uncover any record of anyone named James Montgomery ever living in western Montgomery County or in the area of the present town prior to the founding of the town in 1837. Who the mysterious James Montgomery may have been would become moot. By 1938, Mary Davis would change the source of the name of the town of Montgomery to someone else.
Magnolia in Montgomery , Texas In 1925, Anna Landrum Davis lived here with her aunt, Mary Davis. We can trace the origin of the Montgomery Trading Post myth to this very house. It is ironic that the mythical story of the crude log Montgomery Trading Post traces its origins within the walls of such a stately house. Magnolia Historical Marker MAGNOLIA BUILT 1854 FOR PETER J. WILLIS AND WIFE, CAROLINE WOMACK. NAMED FOR THEIR DAUGHTER, FIRST CHILD BORN HERE (LATER MRS. GEO. SEALY, GALVESTON; MAGNOLIA PETROLEUM COMPANY WAS ALSO NAMED FOR HER).
ILAI AND MELISSA DAVIS BOUGHT HOUSE FURNISHED IN 1868. OCCUPIED CONTINUOUSLY BY THEIR DESCENDANTS WHO HAVE PRESERVED MUCH OF THE ORIGINAL FURNITURE BROUGHT HERE BY BOAT AND WAGON FROM NEW YORK.
ANNA D. WEISINGER, PRESENT OWNER, WAS ONLY OTHER CHILD BORN HERE.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966
1930 - E. L. Blair Early History of Grimes County In 1930, E. L. Blair published his University of Texas thesis paper as a book titled, Early History of Grimes County. The book covers many details of the early history of Montgomery County before Grimes County was created out of its territory. It is important to note that E. L. Blair made no mention of any Montgomery Trading Post or of a Montgomery Settlement anywhere in his book.
May 1, 1938 - Mary Davis Early History of Montgomery Written by Mary Davis at the request of the Senior History Class In 1938, Mary Davis wrote a paper "for the Senior History Class." Just which Senior History Class is not clear from the paper itself. In the bibliography of his master's thesis, William Harley Gandy identifies the paper as "an unpublished paper written for the Conroe High School History class." See page 210 of Gandy's thesis. Gandy does not say where he got this information. As the paper is primarily a history of the town of Montgomery, it is far more likely that Mary Davis wrote the paper for the Montgomery High School Senior Class than the Conroe High School Senior Class. The Mary Davis paper was destined to become the most influential document with regard to the "history" of the so-called Montgomery Trading Post. This document would drastically influence Bessie Price Owen, W. N. Martin, William Harley Gandy, the Souvenir Guide of the 1949 Montgomery County Historicade, the booklet publicized by The Montgomery Historical Society The Choir Invisible, Robin Montgomery 1975 book The History of Montgomery County and almost every other Montgomery County historian to follow. We will focus closely on this paper and what it had to say about a Montgomery Trading Post. We will then learn the shocking truth about this paper that no other historian has ever seemed to uncover. If they discovered it, they did not seem to realize its importance. According to the copy transcribed in Lloyd A. Biskamp's book Old Montgomery, the Mary Davis paper was dated May 1, 1938. Mary Davis would have been about 70 in 1938 when she wrote the paper. With regard to the trading post, Mary Davis wrote: From Early History of Montgomery Written by Mary Davis at the request of the Senior History Class May 1, 1938
See Old Montogmery - History and Genealogy of Montgomery County edited by Lloyd A Biskamp, 1998, pages 1 & 2. Note in this version of the Montgomery Trading Post story, Jacob Shannon is still the owner of the Indian trading post just as he was in the Anna Landrum Davis essay Old Montgomery. Several changes have occurred since the Anna Landrum Davis essay. In the Anna Landrum Davis essay, Jacob Shannon is operating the trading post, but the settlement and the town are named after James Montgomery and his wife, Margaret Montogmery. In Mary Davis' 1938 re-telling of the story, James Montgomery has disappeared altogether and will never return. Like the dinosaur, he was unable to adapt to the ever changing environment of the Montgomey Trading Post Myth, and he became extinct. Do to the erasure of James Montgomery from the story, another major change occurred. In the original telling of the story in the Anna Landrum Davis essay, the settlement was named after James Montgomery and his wife Margaret Montgomery. Jacob Shannon was operating a trading post in the settlement in Anna Landrum Davis' essay, but it was not called Montgomery. Further in the Anna Landrum Davis essay the Jacob Shannon trading post did not lend its name to the settlement, community or town. Now Mary Davis writes that the trading post owned by Jacob Shannon "was given the name of Montgomery for the family name of Jacob Shannon's mother, Margaret Montgomery." This is a completely new innovation to the story. Now, according to Mary Davis, the Indian trading post is named Montgomery! And the settlement, the town and the county will all derive their name from an Indian trading post named Montgomery. No explantion is given as to why Jacob Shannon's trading post post is named after his mother or why he would be operating it on the John Corner League and not the Owen Shannon League. Not to worry as later writers will make those details up and fill in the blanks. Mary Davis wrote, "The trading-post became a meeting place for everyone, a kind of community center." This is another innovation Mary Davis makes. According to Mary Davis, the Indian trading post owned by Jacob Shannon and named Montgomery was a "kind of community center" and "became a meeting place for everyone." Mary Davis is the first to make an Indian trading post named Montgomery the center of activity for the settlement. Reality Check: As busy as Mary Davis and later writers wll say the Indian trading post named Montgomery was supposed to have been, no primary historical document have ever been located mentioning a store or trading post named Montgomery. The only records located to date, and there are many of them, are for "the store of W. W. Shepperd on Lake Creek." Deeds, bonds, contracts, business records, marriage records, etc. were executed at the store of W. W. Shepperd on Lake Creek. The store of W. W. Shepperd on Lake Creek was also located exactly where the 1938 Mary Davis paper and 1925 Ann Landrum Davis essay said the Indian trading post, that pre-dated the town, was supposed to have been. Shepperd's store was located under the hill on the creek that later became known as Town Creek. This was the 200 acres of land that Shepperd had purchased from William C. Clark in 1835 and that Clark had purchased from John Corner in 1831. Town Creek runs through these two hundred acres of the the John Corner League and does not through the Owen Shannon League.
Mary Davis Daughter of I.C. & Melissa Landrum Davis 1868-1944
According to the headstone on her grave in the Old Methodist Cemetery (Hwy 105 W. & Pond Street) in Montgomery, Texas, Mary Davis was born in 1868 and died in 1944. Mary Davis was born about 33 years after W. W. Shepperd founded his store about a half mile north of town below the hill on the creek that later became known as Town Creek. Mary Davis was born about 31 years after the company of W. W. Shepperd and J. W. Moody founded the Town of Montgomery, Texas ("the old town of Montgomery") in July of 1837. She was born about 31 years after Montgomery County was created in December of 1837. Mary Davis was born about 30 years after the site of "the new town of Montgomery" was selected at Montgomery County's first Commissioners Court meeting on March 1, 1838. Mary Davis could not have had personal first hand knowledge of any of the events she wrote about in her paper that became titled "Early History of Montgomery County." She was born many years after all these events happened. So, where did Mary Davis get her information for her very influential 1938 paper? We will see the surprising answer to that question shortly, but first let's look at what she wrote about the so-called Montgomery Trading Post. The paper is dated May 1, 1938 by Lloyd A. Biskamp in his book, Old Montgomery - history and Genealogy of Montgomery County. See page 1. Mary Davis was about 70 years old (1938-1868 = 70) when she wrote the paper. The title of the paper is Early History of Montgomery, and the paper indicates that it was "Written at the request of the Senior History Class, May 1, 1938." This would have been about 103 years after the founding of W. W. Shepperd's store, about 101 years after the founding of "the old town of Montgomery" below the hill and about 100 years after the selection of the site for "the new town of Montgomery" on the hill. I have avoided calling the paper written by Mary Davis a history or history paper for reasons which will become apparent shortly. There is a "book" (its really a ring binder) of materials transcribed by Lloyd A. Biskamp in 1998. The Montgomery Historical Society sold these books as a fund raiser back in 1998. Biskamp had gotten together with Bessie Price Owen and Anna Landrum Davis Weisinger and they let him transcribe many of their "histories" and other documents they had collected over the years regarding Montgomery County history. These documents included papers and articles written by Mary Davis. [Scan Excerpt from Early History of Montgomery here] On page 1 of the book is the "Early History of Montgomery" written by Mary Davis at the request of the Senior History Class," May 1, 1938. On page 5, the copy of the Mary Davis paper that was given to Lloyd A. Biskamp had a note written by Mary Davis to Bessie Price Owen that is incredible. Now keep in mind the 1938 Mary Davis history paper will be quoted and relied upon by just about every historian that follows Mary Davis for almost 80 years including W. N. Martin, William Harley Gandy, Robin Montgomery, Harry G. Daves, Jr., Bessie Price Owen, etc. as well as a number of compiled county histories. Most of her statements about the trading post will be accepted as fact and later evolve into the many different versions of Montgomery Trading Post myths we have today. At the end of the Mary Davis paper, Early History of Montgomery, transcribed by Lloyd A. Biskamp in his 1998 book, Old Montgomery we find this very amazing note from Mary Davis to Bessie Price Owen on page 5:
___________________ An Amazing Revelation Note: This is extremely important!!! This note may prove to be the single most important document to the correction of the early history of Montgomery County. The author of one of the single most influential histories in Montgomery County history especially with regard to the historiography of the Montgomery Trading Post, wrote Bessie Price Owen a note at the end of the paper and specifically advised her that "it is not a history" and that she "didn't pretend to write a history." Mary Davis then goes on to make it very clear to Bessie Price Owen that she just "strung along my memories of what my mother and others had told me." Combined with the references to the Charles Jones Academy and Old Dan Tucker, it is obvious that she did no primary research. The whole thing is based on pure hearsay. And in my research on the Indian trading post, the "old town" of Montgomery and the "new town" of Montgomery, I never ran across Mary Davis' mother, Melissa Landrum, as one of those having anything to do with the organization of the trading post or the town. In fact it appears that Melissa Landrum was born in 1834. She was about 1 when the trading post was founded by W. W. Shepperd in 1835. Melissa Landrum was about 3 when "the old town of Montgomery" was founded in 1837 and she was about 4 when the "new town of Montgomery" was founded in 1838. When W. W. Shepperd sold his interest in the town of Montgomery to James McCown in 1839, Melissa Landrum was about 5. The most influential historian of her time (Mary Davis), admitted in no uncertain terms to one of the most influential historians of her time (Bessie Price Owen) that her history paper was not a history. She admitted it had errors and was based entirely on hearsay. She put together a bunch of stories that she thought would interest a class of teenagers. Instead, she influenced every historian and history that came after her. Mary Davis died in 1944. The pen is mightier than the sword. Look at all the trouble Early History of Montgomery has caused. In 1938, Mary Davis did not have a clue as to the effect her paper would have on future historians. She just thought she was trying to get some teenagers excited about the town's early history. Anna Landrum Davis had relied on her aunt, this same Mary Davis, when she wrote her essay in 1925. In 1949, the Montgomery County Historicade will rely on this 1938 Mary Davis paper almost word for word. In 1950, W. N. Martin will rely on this 1938 Mary Davis paper in his master's thesis. In 1952, William Harley Gandy will rely on this 1938 Mary Davis paper in his master's thesis. Following the founding of the Montgomery Historical Society in 1955, the booklet, The Choir Invisible, will be published and will not only rely on the 1938 Mary Davis paper, but will quote it word for word in many places throughout the booklet. And, as we have seen here in this note from Mary Davis to Bessie Price Owen, Mary Davis herself did not even consider the 1938 paper a history: "It is not a history." "I didn't pretend it was a history..." "I just strung along my memories of what my mother and others told me." We are also left to wonder who the "others" were. The Mary Davis paper did not provide footnotes or endnotes. The Mary Davis paper does not cite a single primary historical source.
Lulu Shannon Feb. 23, 1891 - July 12, 1961 IN MEMORY OF A DEVOTED AUNT Lulu Shannon's gravesite is located in the Jacob Shannon Evergreen Cemetery near Dobbin, Texas. She was born February 23, 1891 and died July 21, 1961. As seen in the quote above, Lulu Shannon clearly influenced Mary Davis in the writing of her 1938 paper. Mary Davis wrote, "The Shannons say that it was given the name of Montgomery for the family name of Jacob Shannon's mother, Margaret Montgomery." The only living member of the Shannon family mentioned by name in the 1938 Mary Davis paper, as providing information, was Lulu Shannon. As with Mary Davis and Anna Landrum Davis, Lulu Shannon was born many decades after the events alleged and could not have possibly had any actual personal knowledge of the events. Here again, Folklore X Decades of Repetition = Fact. According to her headstone, Lulu Shannon was born on February 23, 1891. Lulu Shannon was born about 45 years after W. W. Shepperd bought the land from William C. Clark upon which Shepperd established the store/trading post in 1835. Lulu Shannon was born about 43 years after the town was founded and the county was created in 1837. The birthdates of the so-called "oldtimers," Anna Landrum Davis, Mary Davis and Lulu Shannon, prove that none of them had any personal firsthand knowledge of the "history" or events they began reducing to writing in the early 20th century. Nothing written by these ladies can be considered a primary source and much of what they have written clearly conflicts drastically with actual primary documents dating from the 1830's, 1840's, 1850's and even the 1870's.
1949 - Anna Weisinger Historicade Souvenir Program
Photograph of the Souvenir Program from the First Annual Montgomery County Historicade held in 1949. See "Montgomery County Historical Commission" vertical file in Genealogy Library of the Montgomery County Memorial Library in Conroe, Texas. Mary Davis' niece, Anna Landrum Davis, who submitted the essay Old Montgomery in 1925 (see above) went to college briefly and later married a man by the name of Weisinger. Following her 5th Prize win in the Caldwell Prize Contest and the death of her aunt, Mary Davis, in 1944, Anna Landrum Davis Weisinger appears to have become "the authority" on Montgomery County history. In 1949, for the Montgomery County Historicade, the Historicade Committee turned to her for the history to be presented in the official Souvenir Program. We have already seen above that when Anna Landrum Davis wrote her history essay, Old Montgomery, in 1925 her aunt, Mary Davis, did much the real work and gave her niece, Anna, the credit for it. Rather than do any new or original research in 1949, Anna Landrum Davis Weisinger, merely provided the Historicade Committee with the 1938 paper Early History of Montgomery written by her aunt, Mary Davis. Instead of giving her aunt, Mary Davis, credit, Anna signs the paper as its author. Anna also changed the title of the paper to the same title she used in her 1925 essay, Old Montgomery. Again, Mary Davis did all the work and Anna Landrum Davis Weisinger took all the credit. [Scan of historicade article with Anna singing as author]
1950 - W. N. Martin Master's Thesis Sam Houston State Teachers College Master's Thesis
1952 - William Harley Gandy Master's Thesis University of Houston Master's Thesis Note: William Harley Gandy's master's thesis is often quoted by later historians trying to establish the source of the name of Montgomery County. By his own admission, his master's thesis does not provide an answer. To his credit, William Harley Gandy made the following statement in Chapter IX, Summary and Conclusions, on page 255 of his 1952 master's thesis:
Later historians never repeat this part of Gandy's thesis when citing what Gandy wrote regarding the source of Montgomery County's name. Gandy made it clear that his thesis did not answer the question regarding how Montgomery County got its name. Instead he provides three different theories. However, on page 45 of his thesis, Gandy states unequivocally that "The County of Montgomery took its name from the town of the same name, because the town was named before the county was created." Know one can argue with the fact that the town of Montgomery pre-dated the creation of the county. The town of Montgomery had been founded by W. W. Shepperd in partnership with J. W. Moody by July 8, 1837. The county would not be created more than 5 months later on December 14, 1837. Gandy's logic was correct when he wrote that the County of Montgomery took its name from the town of the same name. What Gandy had not been able to establish then was how the town got its name. On pages 46-49, Gandy sets out three theories for the source of the name. On page 46, he begins this section with the following important statement:
Theory #1 - General Richard Montgomery "Some citizens and historians contend..."
Theory #2 - Margaret Montgomery Shannon "It is a more popular belief by the citizens and old timers...
Theory #3 - William Montgomery Another local story has it...
Note that as Gandy was never able to determine the ultimate source for the name of Montgomery County, i.e. the source of the name of the town of Montgomery, each of the theories above included qualifying language to introduce it: Theory #1 - "Some citizens and historians contend...", Theory #2 - "It is a more popular belief by citizens and old timers...", and Theory #3 - Another local story has it.... It is important to note that in later histories that quote Gandy, Gandy's qualifying language was left out altogether and these theories were presented as though they were well researched and properly supported FACTS. Gandy knew better and was academically honest enough to say so. Many of those who cited him did not bother to state that Gandy considered them hypotheses at best. This is a good example of how dangerous it is to cite secondary sources. Later historical writers will quote one of Gandy's theory and report it in their work as though it were an evidence supported fact and unless the reader goes back to Gandy's thesis as was done here, the reader has no idea that what he read as a fact actually had no real evidence to back it up in the first place. This is how one person's hypothesis becomes a later writer fact. "Well, its got a footnote, it must be true."
John Lee Montgomery September 7, 1888 - December 28, 1966 In an interview with William Harley Gandy in 1952, John Lee Montgomery advised Gandy that Montgomery County was named after William Montgomery, a surveyor and a widower. Gandy wrote:
See pages 48 and 49 of Gandy's thesis. Footnote 21 reads, "21 Personal interview of the author with J. L. Montgomery, Richards, Texas, July 20, 1951." Note: The bibliography of Gandy's thesis provides the date June 20, 1952 for the interview with J. L. Montgomery. As most of Gandy's interviews for his thesis were conducted in 1952, the 1952 date is probably the correct year for his interview with J. L. Montgomery. It is important to note here that John Lee Montgomery was the grandfather of Robin Montgomery. In 1975, Robin Montgomery will write the first history of Montgomery County ever to be published in book form. As we will see, the Montgomery family will reject its own family tradition as maintained by John Lee Montgomery in 1952 and replace it with another story altogether before the publication of Robin Montgomery's book, The History of Montgomery County in 1975. John Lee Montgomery will have been deceased about 9 years when his grandson, Robin Montgomery, publishes his book with the new version of the story. We will look at this in much more detail below. 1959 - Montgomery Historical Society Published The Choir Invisible
Cover of The Choir Invisible - An Early History of Montgomery County prepared by Montgomery Historical Society The cover scanned above is of a reprint of The Choir Invisible made years later. The Choir Invisible is a booklet about 30 pages long. We know The Choir Invisible was published after the founding of the Montgomery Historical Society. Lloyd Biskamp in his book Old Montgomery provides the date 1959 for the publication date of The Choir Invisible. The Choir Invisible borrows heavily from Mary Davis' 1938 Senior History Class Paper Early History of Montgomery. The first paragraph and the last paragraph of both documents are the same almost word for word. Mary Davis died in 1944 so she did not participate in the preparation of The Choir Invisible. Early History of Montgomery First Paragraph
The Choir Invisible First Paragraph
________ Early History of Montgomery Last Paragraph
The Choir Invisible Last Paragraph
Not only was much of the material in The Choir Invisible copied from the 1938 Mary Davis' paper that had been re-titled Early History of Montgomery, but The Choir Invisible even owes its title to the last paragraph of Early History of Montgomery. The Choir Invisible and the Indian Trading Post Below are the passages in The Choir Invisible that refer to an Indian trading post:
The Choir Invisible now maintains that Owen Shannon established the Indian trading post. The founder of the trading post is no longer Jacob Shannon. Jacob Shannon has been thrown overboard all together by the compilers of The Choir Invisible and does not appear anywhere in the booklet at all. If an Indian trading post established by Jacob Shannon was the true history, where has he gone? Who decided he was no longer true history and omitted him? Like the writers before them, the compilers of The Choir Invisible have added or removed details of the Montgomery Trading Post Myth as they desired. The Montgomery Trading Post is nothing more than folklore created to expalin the source of the name of the town and the county. And like most folklore, its writers have no problem changing details to suit themselves. Notice the qualifying language used here by the compilers of The Choir Invisible, "Old timers say and we like to believe, that it was named for Margaret Montgomery, wife of Owen Shannon who established the trading post." The compilers were very careful not to state the alleged source of the name Montgomery as a fact. They were careful to write, "Old timers say and we like to believe..." However, like much folklore found in many local histories, the folklore of the Montgomery Trading Post story will become "fact" over time with the retelling in future histories of the county.
1975 - Robin Montgomery Book The History of Montgomery County Published in 1975, The History of Montgomery County by Robin Montgomery was the first history of Montgomery County published in book form with "Montgomery County" as part of the title. E. L. Blair's 1939 book, Early History of Grimes County, was actually the first history of Montgomery County published in book form but did not mention Montgomery County in its title. In his book, E. L. Blair, focused much of the book's content on the early history of Montgomery County before Grimes County was created out of its territory in 1846. Up until the publication of Robin Montgomery's book, histories focusing specifically on the history of the Town of Montgomery or Montgomery County had been either in the form of a high school history papers, college theses, a souvenir program, or a booklet. It is clear that Robin Montgomery relied heavily on E. L. Blair's 1930 book, Early History of Grimes County, as a source for many details regarding the early history of Montgomery County that he related in his book. It is important to note that Andrew Montgomery who is the central figure in Robin Montgomery's book was only mentioned once (in a genealogical list in single footnote) in Blair's book and the Montgomery Trading Post, the Montgomery Settlement and the Montgomery Prairie appear nowhere in Blair's book. Robin Montgomery's book was also the first writing to introduce Andrew Montgomery as the source of the name of the Town of Montgomery and of Montgomery County. In The History of Montgomery County, Owen Shannon and Margaret Montgomery Shannon were dismissed as the source of the name of the town and the county and Andrew Montgomery was substituted in their place. From 1925 until 1975, no mention was ever made of a trading post owned or operated by anyone named Andrew Montgomery. An Andrew Montgomery Trading Post had not appeared in any of the preceding histories:
2001- Bessie Price Owen Texas State Historical Marker Application "Montgomery Trading Post" In 1991, Bessie Price Owen applied to the Texas Historical Commission for an historical marker for the so-called Montgomery Trading Post. This application was not granted. In a September 20, 1991 letter from the Texas Historical Commission placed the application on hold.
Headstone of Bessie Price Owen: September 27, 1913 - August 19, 2004 New Cemetery Montgomery, Texas
The headstone of Catherine Elizabeth "Bessie" Price Owen in the New Cemetery in Montgomery provides a birth date of September 27, 1913. She died August 19, 2004. Bessie Price Owen had a BS from Texas Women's University and a MA from Sam Houston State University. She was a founder of the Montgomery Historical Society. She taught school in Dobbin, Texas from 1934-1949. She taught school in Montgomery, Texas from 1949 to 1979. Mrs. Owen applied for Texas State Historical markers for many of the historical old homes in Montgomery. Many of these Texas State Historical markers were approved and the markers can be seen in front of houses around the town. In 1991, Mrs. Owen also tried to obtain a Texas State Historical marker for the so-called Montgomery Trading Post. Her marker application ran into difficulties immediately after the application was filed with the Texas Historical Commission (THC). The THC sent the following letter to Bessie Owen following their preliminary review of the Montgomery Trading Post marker application and advised her that the THC was placing the application on hold.
See "Shannon" Vertical File, Clayton Library, Center for Genealogical Research, Houston, Texas. The Texas Historical Commission found many of the same problems with the Montgomery Trading Post myth that have been illuminated in this article. Reasons given for placing the application on hold included:
These are some of the biggest problems with the Montgomery Trading Post myth. Outsiders with no emotional attachment to the story can see these problems easily and quickly. The Texas Historical Commission observed all these problems on their "preliminary review" of the marker application. The Montgomery Trading Post marker application was never approved. After working with Bessie Price Owen and Harry G. Daves, Jr. for about two years, the THC suggested that they focus their efforts on obtaining a Texas State Historical marker for the Lake Creek Settlement which neither of them ever pursued. Adherents to the Montgomery Trading Post Myth have obviously never studied the historiography of the Indian trading post from its first appearance in the essay of Anna Landrum Davis in 1925 to the present. If they had, they would clearly see that the Montgomery Trading Post Myth was not based in fact and evolved over time to suit the needs of various historians.
Argumentum ad Ignorantiam People have said, "Sure there are no primary documents to prove the Montgomery Trading Post existed. But that does not mean that it never existed. And you can't prove a negative!" Adherents to the Montgomery Trading Post story say its true, because it has never been proven false. This is what is known as an argument from ignorance. Searle says the Montgomery Trading Post is false, because it has never been proven true. This is also an argument from ignorance. However there is major difference. Searle has provided actual evidence from primary sources of what did in fact happen. See Early History of Historic Montgomery County. First it is well established that the burden of proof for a history is not on its reader. The burden is on the historian writing the history. See David Hackett Fischer Historians' Fallacies, 1970, p. 63. With regard to the so-called Montgomery Trading Post, none of the writers above who promulgated the Montgoemry Tradign Post story ever cited a single primary historical document to prove any of the their detailed assertions regarding a Montgomery Trading Post. Not only did they provide no proof, but their stories varied and changed in all the major details over time. In the study of the logic, the argument from ignorance also known as argumentum ad ignorantium or negative evidence is a logical fallacy in which it is claimed that a premise is true only because it has not been proven false, or is false only because it has never been proven true. Famed American logician, philosopher and author, Irving M. Copi wrote that:
However, Irving M. Copi adds an exception or qualification with regard to events that is very important to our study here:
This is precisely the situation we have here. An event has been alleged to have occurred. According to Montgomery County historians, an Indian trading post called Montgomery operated for years in the center of a community and settlement which was the very pivot point around which later Montgomery County was formed. As the story goes, the Montgomery trading post lent its name to the settlement, then to the town and finally to the county. As Copi's qualification assumes, there should be some records, (such as letters, deeds, bonds, marriages records, legal documents, etc.) evidencing the existence of such a trading post and the occurrence of the events surrounding it. But there is nothing! Since the Town of Montgomery was founded in 1837, no Montgomery County historian has ever cited the location of a single primary document dating to the period in question which mentions a trading post called Montgomery. The only trading post or store within the area of the Lake Creek Settlement prior to the founding of the town of Montgomery, Texas for which there is any evidence is the store of W. W. Shepperd for which there is a great deal of evidence. Yet, all these historians with their ever changing stories of the Indian trading post named Montgomery, provide us with a myriad of details regarding ownership and establsihment of the trading post, location of the trading post, years of founding of the trading post, it importance as a community center, etc.... And, they do not provide a single document to prove any of it. Famed American historian, David Hackett Fischer, advises us that these historians had the burden of proof. Fischer writes in Historians' Fallacies, 1970, Harper & Row, NewYork:
They not only provided no proof to support any of their assertions regarding a Montgomery Trading Post; but because they have not been bound by any facts, they have regularly tampered with the details so that no two historians relate the same version of the Montgomery Trading Post story twice. Adherents to the Montgomery Trading Post myth are not bothered by the different versions of the Montgomery Trading Post story. They pick a version they believe, usually the first version they hear, and then hang onto it. Using the qualification provided by Irving M. Copi, an event allegedly occurred: the existence of a Montgomery Trading Post. Evidence of it has not been discovered by qualified investigators in 172 years. Copi advises that in such circumstances it is perfectly reasonable to take the absence of proof of an event's occurrence despite searching, as positive evidence towards the events non-occurrence. Not only has no evidence been located and cited to prove the many statements made by Montgomery County historians about an alleged Montgomery Trading Post, but everyone has forgotten that many of the earlier historians were careful to qualify their writings with phrases like "local tradition says," " the Shannon's say," "old timers say, however, and we like to believe," etc. Recent historians have repeated the stories of these early historians as fact but without the qualifying language. And let us not forget what Mary Davis, the creator of the Montgomery Trading Post Myth wrote about her own 1938 paper, Early History of Montgomery, Written by Mary Davis at the Request of the Senior History Class:
No evidence has ever been produced for the existence of a Montgomery Trading Post by any of its historians. No evidence, just claims. In contrast, a great deal of evidence exists for a store or trading post owned and operated by W. W. Shepperd in the precise location the earliest historians, including Mary Davis, said the Indian trading post was supposed to have been. |
