Help Wanted - Town CreekOver the last 50 years or so, several histories of Montgomery, Texas and Montgomery County, Texas have been written. These histories take the form of theses and published history books. In recent research concerning the Lake Creek Settlement and the founding of the Town of Montgomery, Texas, much of the early history of Montgomery County, Texas as previously reported has been proven to be incorrect. This information has been misreported for so long many have accepted the misinformation as the absolute truth. I have dubbed much of this misinformation as the "Montgomery Myth." The Montgomery Myth is not a single misstated detail, but a whole series of incorrect details. This article is about one of those details. With the exception of recent research, every previous history in the last 50 years has mentioned a creek called Town Creek as though a creek by that name existed prior to the founding of the Town of Montgomery in July 1837. For instance, on page 24 of Montgomery County, Texas, Picture of a Dream Coming True, Simpson wrote, "It was here that Owen Shannon established a trading post on Town Creek around 1830." As proved in the Lake Creek Settlement article, Owen Shannon never established or operated a trading post and did not arrive until 1831. These obvious errors aside, Owen Shannon is portrayed as having done something on Town Creek in 1830. Rather than say that Owen Shannon did something in 1830 on the creek that would later be known as Town Creek, Simpson did what everyone else before her did and reported the history as though the creek was already named Town Creek in 1830. Yes, of course the creek was there before the settlers came and would later be called Town Creek. But when was it called Town Creek? What year did it first come to be known as "Town Creek?" This has never been an important detail to other Montgomery County historians and has resulted in yet more confusion regarding the early history of Montgomery, Texas. Because of this, more mythology has crept into the early history of the town and county. For instance, it has led many to incorrectly believe or surmise that there was a previous town or communtiy prior to the founding of the Town of Montgomery. Some have even mistakenly offered the name of the creek as evidence for a previous community, town or trading post while at the same time offering no primary documentary evidence whatsoever to support such a conclusion. My research reveals the following: 1. Prior to the founding of the Town of Montgomery in July 1836, the creek (that would later be known as Town Creek) was not known as Town Creek. 2. Prior to the founding of the Town of Montgomery in July 1836, there had been no town in existence anywhere in the Lake Creek Settlement. 3. Prior to the founding of the Town of Montgomery, there was no tradaing post operated by Andrew Montgomery, William Montgomery, Owen Shannon or Margaret Montgomery Shannonin (near the creek that would later be known as Town Creek) in the Lake Creek Settlement. 4. Prior to July 1836, the name Town Creek does not appear in letters, maps, newspapers, deeds, wills or any other primary historical documents. It appears to have been without any name prior to the founding of the Town of Montgomery. In 8 years of research, I have not seen a single primary historical document of any kind that refers to a creek by the name of Town Creek anywhere in the Lake Creek Settlement prior to the founding of the Town of Montgomery in 1837. I have already credited several people for the discovery of Lake Creek Settlement documents on this site. It has been wonderful hearing from people all over the United Sates who have kindly provided information. If you are aware of any evidence that disproves my conclusions, please let me know and I will give you credit for the discovery if I use it. Please don't tell me about such a document unless you have actually seen it and know where it is located.
Kameron Searle 908 Town & Country Blvd., Suite 120 Houston, Texas 77024 Telephone: 713-880-4529 |
