The dedication ceremony for the Texas Historical Commission marker for the Lake Creek Settlement was held on Saturday, February 25, 2017, at 11:00 a.m. in Montgomery, Texas in front of the Nat Hart Davis Museum located on Liberty Street near the intersection of Texas 105 and Liberty Street (FM 149).
Kameron K. Searle was the marker historian for this marker and did more than a decades worth of research on the Lake Creek Settlement before applying for the marker with the Montgomery County Historical Commission and the Texas Historical Commission.
By the 1920s, the Lake Creek Settlement had been completely forgotten to Texas historians as well as local historians. Searle rediscovered the Lake Creek Settlement and its importance to Texas history, the Texas Revolution and Montgomery County history about 15 years ago.
Empresario Stephen F. Austin had gotten permission to settle 500 more families in Texas in his second contract with the State of Coahuila y Tejas in 1825 (Austin's Second Colony). Under this contract, he settled colonists between the west fork of the San Jacinto River and the stream called Lake Creek. By 1833, this settlement had become known as the Lake Creek Settlement. The Lake Creek Settlement was the earliest Anglo-American settlement in what became Montgomery County.
In 1835, W.W. Shepperd, a colonist originally from North Carolina, established a trading post/store near the intersection of the Coushatta Trace, the Grimes Road and the Contraband Trace in the center of the Lake Creek Settlement. Shepperd's store quickly became the community center of the Lake Creek Settlement.
A number of men from the Lake Creek Settlement fought in the Texas Revolution in the Battle of Concepcion, the Grass Fight, the Siege of Bexar and the Battle of San Jacinto. In the Battle of San Jacinto, men from the Lake Creek Settlement fought in the infantry, the cavalry, and one, John Marshall Wade, manned one of the famous Twin Sisters cannons during the battle.
In 1837, W.W. Shepperd founded the town of Montgomery at the site of his store, and about 5 months later, Montgomery County was created by an Act of the Congress of the Republic of Texas which was signed into law by President Sam Houston. Montgomery County was named after the town of Montgomery. The town of Montgomery became the first county seat of Montgomery County and served as such for several decades. To read the marker, click on the image above. For more information about the Lake Creek Settlement, click on the link below.
Below are some of the pictures from the Lake Creek Settlement marker dedication ceremony taken by Pat Spackey with the Judge Nathaniel Hart Davis Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and the Texas Heritage Society. She is also a descendant of the founder of Montgomery, Texas, W. W. Shepperd.
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| Lake Creek Settlement marker unveiled in front of the Nathaniel Hart Davis Museum and Pioneer Complex in Montgomery, Texas. |
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| Texas Army in Lake Creek Settlement |
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| Texas Army fires twenty-one gun salute in memory of the colonists and settlers who broke the frontier in the Lake Creek Settlement in Austin's Second Colony. |
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Marker sponsor and historian, Kameron Searle, gives a brief history of the Lake Creek Settlement in Austin's Second Colony, the role of the Lake Creek Settlement in the Texas Revolution and the founding of the town of Montgomery.
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| The Sons of the Republic of Texas present at the Lake Creek Settlement marker dedication ceremony. Left to right: Bart Dawson; Ben F. Warren IV, President General Bob Steakley, Jr. KSJ; Tom Green, KSJ; Tom Houston, KSJ; Phil Whitley; and Kameron K. Searle |
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| Marker sponsor and historian Kameron K. Searle together with Luine Hancock with State Senator Robert Nichols's office who read the Resolution passed by the Texas Senate on behalf of Senator Nichols for the Lake Creek Settlement, and C. K. "Ken" Stephenson, a bagpiper with the Capitol City Highlanders in Austin, Texas. |
Below are scans of the proclamations and resolutions commemorating the dedication of the Texas Historical Commission marker for the Lake Creek Settlement from the Governor, Lt. Governor, Texas House of Representatives and Texas State Senate.
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| Proclamation of Governor Gregg Abbott Commemorating the Texas Historical Commission Marker for the Lake Creek Settlement |
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| Resolution from Texas House of Representatives signed by Will Metcalf, State Representative, District 16, recognizing the efforts of those involved in securing the Lake Creek Settlement marker. |
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| Senate Resolution No. 228 celebrating the commemoration of the Texas Historical Commission marker for the Lake Creek Settlement signed by the President of the Senate, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and by Senator Nichols. |
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| Letter from Lt. Governor Dan Patrick recognizing the Lake Creek Settlement's place in Texas history. |
