It’s in the most rural areas you often find the richest stories of Texas history. One of those areas is Richards, an unincorporated community of about 300 people, 25 minutes due west of New Waverly, where Robin Montgomery, Ph.D., lives. It is in Dr. Montgomery’s home, a sprawling white house with a blue porch, that the history of Texas comes alive as he shares his own personal stories, as well as those of famous people who have shaped the Lone Star State.

A historian and retired professor of political science with five degrees, Dr. Montgomery is a prolific writer and author, whose passion for Texas and its people has spilled out into 14 books, numerous newspaper articles and events including the planned Celebrating Togetherness: “Texas Republic and the Cradle of Texas Road,” a Vision of Cultural Integration for the Nation by the Montgomery Historical Society. An accomplished musician, he not only talks and writes about Texas, but has written nine songs about it as well.

You are well known in Conroe and write for the newspaper there. How did you end up in Richards?

I was born and raised in Conroe, but I spent a lot of time in Richards growing up. This house used to be two houses – the original part was built in 1936 by my grandfather. My father retired as the principal of Conroe High School in 1978, and he built the second part of the house. When I retired from teaching at Southwestern Oklahoma State (University) in 1996, I came back here to take care of my mom, who was widowed. Now I am widowed – I lost my wife two years ago – and my daughter is building an Airbnb on the property. With Conroe and Bryan both growing so fast, we figure Richards will get some of that growth, too.

Tell me about growing up in Conroe. I understand you’ve had some pretty interesting experiences and have been connected to some well-known people there.

I was kind of a jock in high school, was president of my class, and had a band, so I was pretty well known. My dad was a basketball coach but after a while he started boxing, and his best friend was Henry Harris, the father of Roy Harris.

Roy is a miracle story. He was a boxer and went on to have a title fight against Floyd Patterson in 1958. But part of the story, which is unusual for a boxer of that title, is that he went on to get a law degree and he became a millionaire in real estate, and was the county clerk for 28 years.

I also went to school with Mary McCoy from K-STAR, one of the top deejays and entertainers in Texas. There was an article in Texas Monthly about her recently, and she may be the longest continuously running radio broadcaster in the nation. She started with KMCO when she was 12.

You were on the radio at a young age too, right? Share a little more about your band.

Well, there was another boxer named Campbell “Wildman” Woodman, and when I got to junior high, he taught me how to play a guitar, and we started a band together. It was called “Robin and the Wild Robineers,” and we had a 30-minute radio show on Saturday mornings. Buddy Moorhead, who the Conroe High School stadium is named after, was on my high school football team, and he ended up joining our band after our first drummer moved away. He was a natural!

Then, when I was in junior in high school in 1956, I was out one day with Henry Harris, Roy’s little brother, and we were on our way to their house. They had a cousin named Johnny who was a little crazy, and here comes this train, and I thought, ‘Oh no, he’s going to try and beat that train!’ So I was like ‘Go, Johnny, go!’ and I went back home that night and wrote a song called Go Johnny. So we made a tape of it and took it to the RCA place in Houston, and they sent it to New York.

The radio manager kept saying, “Robin, they’re messing with your song.” Then in 1958, Chuck Berry comes along with Go, Johnny Go (Johnny B. Goode). And I have an official copyright on it, and you can hear it on your phone. What they did was take my storyline – mine was a hot rodder and theirs was a guitar picker in Louisiana – but the chorus line is almost identical. If you Google Robin Montgomery and Go Johnny, it will come up, because we made a record in 1960. Of course, everybody thought I copied him (Chuck Berry), but I do have an official copyright and sang it for all the kids around town before then, so they know!

So when did you start writing books? How many have you written?

I’m in the middle of publishing my 14^th book right now, which is Cradle of the Texas Republic. My first book was History of Montgomery County, which I wrote in 1974. The most recent one is on Conroe.

A lot of your books are about Texas, Montgomery County, and the surrounding areas, which you call “the cradle of Texas.” Who is the most interesting person in this area that you’ve encountered in your historical research?

J.G.W. Pierson. He was my uncle by marriage. He came over to Pecan Point from Arkansas in 1818 and ended up marrying the sister of my direct ancestor, Andrew Montgomery. Pierson was many things. He was an Indian fighter and eventually sheriff in that area. Then he came down to Texas and his wife Elizabeth died, so he then married into the Cartwright family of Montgomery County. When the Robinson colony started out in Tennessee, Pierson had a commission to go up around the falls of the Brazos and establish what was intended to be the capital of Texas. In 1935, he served on the “Committee of Five,” which gave birth to the Texas Rangers, and he later formed the town of Independence and a community called High Point, near present-day Stoneham.

What do you think makes Montgomery County unique as a county?

It was the county seat of this whole region during the Republic (of Texas). It’s also unique as far as oil – we had the third-largest oilfield in the U.S. during the 1930s. And it’s unique in that it’s come back from the dead … a couple of times! They had two major fires, and then they had yellow fever, but people came back. They had a big fire in 1911, and I mean it was huge, almost wiped out everything. But there was a guy out there with a tent, and it had a flag with a phoenix on it, and it said “We will rise again!” And they came back. It’s got a history of coming back.

Conroe is the fastest growing city in the country, and Montgomery County is one of the fastest growing counties. It’s got a good school system, too. When my dad was principal of Conroe High School, it was the biggest high school in Texas. And then, of course, The Woodlands is a miracle – it just popped up out of nowhere!

So tell us about this Cradle of Texas Road event that is coming up in April.

Well, it’s going to be put on by the Montgomery Historical Society at the Old Montgomery Community Center and Fernland Park. Our goal is to create a historic trail, and I’ve written nine songs about our region. We’ve already set up a deal with a guy in Conroe to make an album, and I’ve already recorded the songs with him. It’s one of the things we’re going to put on the (phone) app. So when you’re on the tour, you’ll come to a spot where an event happened, and then you can listen to a song about it.

Saturday, April 9, 2022 at 3:00 PM

Celebrating Togetherness on the Cradle of Texas Road

Fernland Historical Park
facebook.com/CradleofTexasRoad