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Martha Gandy believes her great-grandfather, Nathaniel Hart Davis, must have been quite a sight in his day.

A native of Kentucky, Davis moved to Montgomery in 1840 and quickly began moving up in the political circles of the time.

“He was the county judge for several counties. He’d go from one place to another. When it came time for his court, he’d ride his horse or go in a buggy with the things he needed,” Gandy, a longtime Conroe resident, said.

Although she never knew him personally, from stories and photos passed down by relatives, Gandy said that everyone in the area knew her great-grandfather.

Courtesy Photo from Montgomery County Historical Commission
Judge Nathaniel Hart Davis circa 1860

“He was tall and slim with a long beard and long hair,” she said. She imagined that when he’d go through town on a horse going from one court to another, it was quite a spectacle.

About Nathaniel Hart Davis

Davis was the third son of Nathaniel Bowe and Martha D. Davis. He was born in Fayette County, Kentucky on Nov. 6, 1815, according to information from the Handbook of Texas Online in papers from Margaret Davis Cameron.

In 1817, his family moved to Alabama where he received his early education. Davis attended Transylvania University and later taught at Marion Military Academy.

He received his law license in Alabama in 1837 and in 1840, moved to Montgomery.

He served as county attorney, commissioner and chief justice of Montgomery County, and as judge of the 13th Judicial District from 1867 to 1870. As a member of the Somervell expedition he served under Col. Joseph L. Bennett, in whose home he had lived during his first years in Texas.

In 1851, Davis married Sarah Elizabeth White, a native of South Carolina; they had seven children. He died on Oct. 8, 1893, and was buried in Montgomery in the New Cemetery according to the Handbook of Texas online.

On Jan. 25, 1861, he was one of 208 citizens of Montgomery County to sign his name to an anti-war/secession petition, joining other residents such as Lemuel Clepper, P. J. Willis and Ruben Simonton. After that, he served in a judicial capacity as a Justice of the Peace and the 13th Judicial District Judge from 1867-1870, according to the Handbook of Texas Online.

“Judge Davis was no doubt the most respected frontier attorney and jurist in Montgomery County and certainly in Montgomery, Texas from 1845 until his death in 1893,” said Larry Foerster, chair of the Montgomery County Historical Commission, in a previous Courier article. “The fact that there are many papers on him when you Google his name speaks to his reputation and successful law practice.”

Davis Law Office

Courtesy Photo from Montgomery County Historical Commission
The Davis Law Office prior to its renovation by the
Montgomery Historical Society.

Built in 1845, the frame structure was first used for a law office and living quarters of Judge Davis.

In 1848, Davis was elected as the first mayor of Montgomery after the town was incorporated. He took office on Feb. 26, 1848. The Law Office became a convenient meeting place for Mayor Davis and the Montgomery City Council from 1848 to 1854.

The building was later used as a school and served as the town’s Post Office from 1923 to 1936.

The building was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1967.

Staff Photo by Sondra Herndandez
The restored Davis Law Office as it sits today on FM 149
in Montgomery

Now the restored building sits on FM 149 right next to the Nathaniel Hart Davis Cottage and is a part of the N. H. Davis Pioneer Complex.

A Texas State Historical Marker stands in front of the building to mark its significance to the city’s history.

Davis Cottage

Courtesy of Heritage Museum of Montgomery County
and Montgomery County Historical Commission
The Davis Cottage was the first home of Nathaniel Hart Davis’ family in Montgomery. The historic Davis Cottage had its beginnings as a log house owned and built in 1831 by Williams Sanders at another location in Montgomery. When Sanders died, the log home was given to Davis as payment for settling Sanders estate.

The historic Davis Cottage had its beginnings as a log house owned and built in 1831 by Williams Sanders at another location in Montgomery, according to notes on Montgomery history written by historian Anna Davis Weisinger who passed away in 2005 at the age of 97.

When Sanders died, Davis, a young lawyer who had just moved to the area, settled the estate and received the log house as a payment for his legal services.

Since Davis was single at the time, and had no need for a house, the house was not moved and rebuilt at the present site off FM 149 in historic downtown Montgomery until 1851, the same year he married his wife, Sarah.

At that time, Davis rebuilt the log house with an attic bedroom as his family’s first home. The kitchen was attached to the main house by an open walkway.

Seven children were born to his family in the house and the family lived there until 1876 when they built a new two-story home on Prairie Street in Montgomery called “The Oaks” according to Weisinger’s notes.

John Felix Davis, son of Nathaniel H. Davis, lived in the old Davis home with his family and made several changes over the years.

Of note, Davis bought boards from the county when the old courthouse was torn down in Montgomery and sealed the inside walls of the kitchen with them. The county seat moved to Conroe from Montgomery in 1889 after a controversial election.

In her notes, Weisinger said these boards are the same blue color they were when in the courthouse.

Four children of John F. Davis were born and raised in the house. After the deaths of John F. Davis and his wife in 1941, the house stood empty. Their daughter, Margaret Davis Cameron, began restoring the old home place in 1963 and used it again until Cameron’s death in 1979.

Weisinger noted that no one but the Davis family occupied the Davis Cottage from 1851 to 1984 when the Davis heirs, Cameron’s daughters, M. D. Cameron and E. C. Adams gave the home to the Montgomery Historical Society in 1984.

The home has since been restored and now serves as a museum for the N. H. Davis Pioneer Complex. It is also recognized as a Texas Historic Landmark and has a Texas State Historical Marker on the home.

Hours for the museum are listed as Thursday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The complex is located on FM 149 in historic downtown Montgomery just north of the Texas 105 intersection in Montgomery. The museum is also open during Montgomery’s annual Christmas celebration and Home Tour on the second weekend in December.

Information from the Handbook of Texas Online in papers from Davis’ daughter, Margaret Davis Cameron; notes from Montgomery historian Anna Davis Weisinger provided by Lonnie and Sonya Clover and information provided by Larry Foerster, chair of the Montgomery County Historical Commission.