EARLY AUSTIN COUNTY, TEXAS, FAMILIES
By Mrs. Chas. C. Cartwright
(Continued from March, 1966)
MONTGOMERY FAMILY
The following two letters from Mrs. Woodson Francis Tottenham
of Brenham, Texas, were written in 1939:
Brenham, Texas
Aug. 25th, 1939
Dear Miss Hotchkiss:
My husband received your letter some time ago and asked me
to answer it. He isn't much interested in all these things but
I enjoy knowing and hearing of folk. (Note: Mrs. Tottenham was
a Reese and her mother was a Montgomery.)
I am going to underscore the names that have been more or
less familiar to me through the years and add a few that really
have a place on your list as they were among the pioneers of
Austin Co. and that seems to be your territory. I would add to
this list that of Reese--James Fleming Reese and family of 13
moved from Ala. in 1849 and settled in Austin County (Texas).
Sent two sons to the Confederate Army in 1860. He was my paternal
grandfather. McGrady Montgomery came to Texas from Indiana in
time to help win the Battle of San Jacinto--then in 1852 brought
his family out and they mean a lot in this section. He was my
maternal grandfather. With hem when he moved out was his father
who was a participant in the Battle of Tipacanoe or how ever it
is spelled.
Then my husband's great grandfather was Joel Lakey who came
out with Austin's Colony in 1827 and his grandfather was Captain
Miller Francis who also fought at San Jacinto.
The name Crump should be on your list. If you will write to
Wm. M. Crump, Chapel Hill, Tex., R. F. D. #1, you will perhaps find
a lot of information about quite a list of these names. He enjoys
digging the records. The Brown family came out from South Carolina
in the early days and helped make Austin County. Write to Dr. W. T.
Brown, Wallis, Texas, and he will give you quite a bit of information,
for he was born in a tent, on the same spot where the same
Wm. Crump lives, whom I mentioned a while ago.
I hope you get a lot of pleasure and knowledge out of digging
the records. Of course, I want the name of Tottenham added to
your list for they are a line of M. D.'s who have helped through
the years.
My husband's father withstood the yellow fever epedemic in
N. 0. (New Orleans) and again in Chapel Hill, Texas in '57, and
had a lot to do with the saving of many lives. He was born in Miss.
in 1836. He was Dr. J. W. Tottenham. He has a son and two grandsons
who are physicians. My boy now in Galveston making a Dr.
Good luck and best wishes for you in your work.
Mrs. W. F. Tottenham."
