History Lost & Found

On 21 March, we interviewed Donald Duncan, a former mayor of Montgomery. Following is the transcript of the interview.

L & J: How long have you lived in Montgomery?

DD: 64 years

 

L&J: Is your family from Montgomery?

DD:  My father moved to Montgomery in 1913 and my mother moved here in 1915.

 

L&J: What is your favorite historical landmark?

DD: The old courthouse, a public place since 1841.

 

L&J: What do you think Montgomery will be like in 100 years?

DD: Just like Houston, I don’t think there will be any open land to live on.

 

L&J: What years and how long were you mayor?

DD: I was mayor from 1984 to 1988, so 4 years.

 

L&J: What led you to become mayor?

DD: I was the editor of my high school newspaper and one of the reporters interviewed me and asked me what I would like to do with my future. I responded that I wanted to become the mayor of Montgomery because I wanted to give back to the community.

 

L&J: How was it being the mayor?

DD: It was enjoyable. There were good times and bad times, but overall I really enjoyed it.

 

L&J: Would you want to be mayor today?

DD: No because there is a lot to be done and I feel that I would like for one of my grandsons to serve in that role.

 

 

L&J: What were some of your biggest achievements as mayor?

DD: Applying for the grants for the work that was needing to be done on the sewers and water lines, and working to improve and upgrade Montgomery as much as I could. We also renewed a number of houses in Montgomery.

 

L&J: Who was your favorite Montgomery legend?

DD: It was T.W. Smith. He came to Montgomery in 1845 at the age of 15. He was a Texas Ranger and a patriot and a conservative. There is an interesting book written about him that I would recommend that you read which is called Diamond Six. He was the Montgomery version of Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie.

 

L&J: IF there were two versions of Montgomery, the old version and the new version, which would you choose?

DD: The old version because there was no traffic and there was a lot of land to live off of. And I could go out into my back yard and listen to the birds and insects.

 

L&J: What advice would you give us for our future?

DD: Stay in school, go to college, and get a good education. Today if I had the chance I would go back to college because I could earn double what I do now.

 

 

 

 

 

Jacob McDermott & Logan Harris

1910 Cattle Drive

Magnolia, TX 77354

 

March 21, 2015

 

Mr. Donald Duncan

626 Worsham

Montgomery, TX 77316

 

Dear Mr. Duncan:

 

Thank your for taking the time to speak to us about your experiences of living in Montgomery. We learned a great deal about you as well as the history of Montgomery which we have included in our school project.

 

We both plan on reading the book Diamond 6 as you suggested to learn more about T.W. Smith. It sounds like a great book.

Thanks again for sharing your stories about Montgomery with us.

 

Warmly,

 

Jacob McDermott & Logan Harris

 

 

 

 

 

 

Logan Harris

1910 Cattle Drive

Magnolia, TX 77354

 

March 21, 2015

 

Mrs. McDermott

2111 E. Blue Lake Drive

Montgomery, TX 77354

 

Dear Mrs. McDermott:

 

Thank you for helping me with my history project. I learned how to research topics, how to edit my work and break up the project into smaller pieces with your help. You made sure that I worked on my project so that it would be turned in on time. You were very patient with me and Jacob when we wanted to goof off instead of working on the project.

 

Sincerely,

 

Logan Harris

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jacob McDermott

2111 E. Blue Lake

Magnolia, TX 77354

 

March 21, 2015

 

Mr. Harris

1910 Cattle Drive

Montgomery, TX 77354

 

Dear Mr. Harris:

 

It was a big help to me for your efforts on supporting me on my history project. The time you took to help research information and teaching Logan and I on how to build a website was cool. Even though it was challenging to teach Logan and I how to build a website, it was appreciated. I will be able to use this in the future.

 

Regards,

 

Jacob McDermott