William Ware Surprised Me One Day in Utopia

For the past decade I have been researching the early history of Montgomery County, Texas for a book I intend to finish (sometime) in the next few years.  In doing the research for the book, much of the newly discovered history in the book focuses on a community in Stephen F. Austin's Second Colony that preceded the founding of the town of Montgomery, Texas.  This community, forgotten by historians for more than 100 years, was known as the Lake Creek Settlement.  A number of the primary documents I have relied upon in my research mention an early Texian named Captain William Ware who recruited volunteers for the Texas Revolution from the Lake Creek Settlement.

In July, my wife and I were vacationing in the Texas Hill Country.  We both recently read and thoroughly enjoyed David L.Cook's wonderful book, Golf's Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia.  It is a wonderful book to read, even if you do not golf.  The book has been made into a movie starring Academy Award winner, Robert Duvall, and Lucas Black.  The movie, Seven Days in Utopia will open in theatres on September 2, 2011.

Just for fun, we decided to take a detour and visit the town of Utopia as well as the golf course and the cemetery which are sites central to the story in the book. We ate breakfast at the Lost Maples Cafe and then headed out to the golf course.  On the way out, we passed a Texas State Historical Marker on the side of FM 187.  As we passed the sign, I glanced at it as I so often do. I immediately asked my wife, "Did that marker say WILLIAM WARE!"  She said she thought that it did, so we turned around to read the marker and here on the other side of Texas, hundreds of miles from the site of my research, was a marker dedicated to a figure important to my early history of Montgomery County, Texas as well as the early history of the Republic of Texas.

When we got to the Waresville Cemetery which is located next to the Utopia Golf course, we found another Texas State Historical marker and the graves of many of members of the Ware family.

Before we left, my wife and I decided to hit a bucket of balls on the driving range just for fun.  We mentioned in the pro shop that the reason we had come out to Utopia was because of David L. Cook's book.  As we finished hitting our bucket of balls, we got one more big surprise.  David L. Cook, who had come out to the golf course while we were practicing our driving, came out to say hello! 

Lots of useful history for my research and the opportunity to meet the author of a book my wife and I had both enjoyed very much all on just one day in Utopia.