Addison-Gandy House

Early Beginnings

This cottage-type house was built in 1892 for John Britton Addison and his wife, Martha Bowe Davis Addison. Davis Addison was the oldest daughter of one of Montgomery’s most famous residents, Judge Nathaniel Hart Davis, and his wife Sarah White Davis.  Davis was a judge for the surrounding community and also served as the town of Montgomery’s first Mayor, being elected in 1848. For a number of years the Davis family first lived in the small cottage, now the N. H. Davis Museum, at 104 Prairie in downtown Montgomery—often called the “Davis Cottage,” also owned by the Society.  The Davis family outgrew the cottage and moved into “The Oaks,” a large and stately home that exists on Prairie Street, now owned by Montgomery Consignment & Antiques, the southernmost neighbor of the Addison-Gandy House. The Davis Cottage was gifted to the Montgomery Historical Society in 1994.  After extensive renovation, the building was open, and is open for free tours, donations appreciated. Nathaniel Davis gave his oldest daughter land that was next door to The Oaks, so she’d be close by to look after mother, Sarah, after Davis’ passing, according to Nathaniel Davis’ great-granddaughter Martha Adams Gandy, a long- time Conroe resident and noted local historian.   Judge N.H. Davis passed away in 1893; his wife Sarah lived until 1904, passing away at age 77.  As it turned out, Sarah Davis would live out her final years right in the middle of family, since her other daughter, Amelia, lived directly in front of The Oaks in a house across the street.    

Addison-Gandy Home Construction

The Addison-Gandy home was built by two local carpenters, Robert and John Martin, from another founding family of Montgomery. It was built of selected pine and cypress lumber. The detailed “gingerbread” railing seen in older photos remains a part of the house today. An interesting part of the house is wood-graining on the doors and mantles. It’s been said an old German painter, “Mr. Pratch” or “Mr. Patch” did this work. He left his mark on the work by leaving a portrait of himself on one door. The only other home in Montgomery known to have the same signature is the Davis Cottage which was the original Davis family home. Both the Davis Cottage and Addison-Gandy House featured hearthstones for the two fireplaces that were cut from native sandstone by Uncle Pat Dean who lived west of Montgomery.    

From House to hotel

Martha Gandy provided much of the following facts, stories and details about this historic home and the Addison and Gandy families.  John Britton Addison, born in Louisiana, died at age 48 in 1905, leaving Martha Bowe Davis Addison a widow and single mother of three young children.  Mrs. Gandy explained her grandmother needed a way to support the three children, so she opened the home as a rooming house for local train travelers. “She moved her bed and the children’s bed into one room and rented out the other three,” Gandy said. Martha Davis Addison also had people working with her who helped with the cooking and cleaning, as she served breakfast, lunch and dinner to travel-weary passengers.  “She did well. She was able to educate the kids with two going to college and the other becoming a cowboy,” Gandy said.

The Miracle in Montgomery

The story of John Bowe Addison is a favorite of Montgomery historians and has been studied by many seventh-grade Texas history students in the Montgomery ISD—so many that we are now seeing second and third generations of Montgomery students work on the months-long Historical Scavenger Hunt.  This great Texas history project won a state award several years ago, and this story of survival is interesting to students and parents accompanying their children as they work on this project.   Many versions of this story have developed over the years, but Gandy set truth to some of the varied versions.  Mrs. Gandy said Addison was 16 and had gone rabbit and bird hunting on family land with a friend (which is now where the C.B. Stewart Library is located).  Addison had stuck a pistol in his belt and while crawling through a fence, it went off, shooting him in the abdomen. “He really was in terrible shape,” Gandy said.  “His friend ran back to the house to get my grandmother.” They brought him back to the house and laid him on a long table (which is still in Gandy’s possession). Martha Bowe Davis Addison, was a widow at the time, so she had a shotgun that she’d shoot in the air in the front yard when she was having a problem!  “People came running to see what the problem was,” Martha Gandy stated. The doctor was summoned, and he gave Davis Addison family instructions to clean out the parlor room, take down the drapes and mop and clean the room as best she could to prepare for surgery. The teen was placed on the table and his mother, along with others would keep the water boiling for surgical instruments and bandages, and others would hold lamps so the doctor could see as he made incisions throughout the night.  As the doctor worked, he would take some of the teen’s intestines and place them on a large meat platter. Surprisingly, young Bowe Addison lived through the night, Gandy said.  He eventually was totally healed and lived to serve his country as a private in the U.S. Army.  He died in Montgomery at 84 years old. The story of his recovery has become known as one of Montgomery’s miracles. He is buried in the New Montgomery Cemetery, founded in 1868. Martha Gandy still has the meat platter, lamps and table used after the accident.  When the home is used in the annual Christmas Home Tour in Montgomery, she sometimes would bring the items to the house for display and tell the story about the “miracle” of Montgomery. For several years, as long as she was physically able to do so, Narcissa Willis Martin Boulware, loved by all and known as “Miss Cissy,” would be seen during our yearly Historical Home Tour, sitting in the dimly-lit kitchen here, animatedly retelling the story of how this country doctor, with help from the women, worked tirelessly cleaning Bowe’s insides, ultimately saving his life when such “gut” injuries in the 1800’s could not be overcome. When Gandy Lived in the House Martha Gandy’s parents, Thomas Jefferson Adams and Lu Delle Addison Adams, were both teachers living near Dallas around the time of the Great Depression.  She said they didn’t have enough money to pay the teachers, so her family left there and came to the then-thriving Montgomery to live with her grandmother in the Addison house.  Martha Gandy attended third grade in Montgomery schools, but then her family moved to Conroe where she still resides. Another of Mrs. Gandy’s memories is the large oak tree in front of the house that was there as she grew up.  In later years, died, fortunately not hitting the house.  She noted that she was an adult with a family of her own when the tree that occurred.  That tree is prominently pictured in an 1899 photo of the Addison family home.

Renovating the House

Martha Gandy’s mother, Lu Delle, and her two brothers gave the Addison House to Martha and her husband, William Harley Gandy, also a noted local historian and former Sam Houston State University history professor. When the house was given to the Gandy’s, it was in serious need of repairs, as it had not been lived in for about 15 years, according to Gandy.  At that time, it was described to be “on the ground.”  The home was raised, leveled and filled in under the floors. The Gandy’s worked with their children, Susan and Bill, during the renovation as well as a Gandy nephew. Martha Gandy said her husband, Harley, who passed away in 2011, taught the younger family members how to level a house using a water hose during the project. They also learned to cook on the wood-burning stove and how to do chores the way their ancestors might have done it. In years past, during the Christmas tour, the Gandy’s daughter, Susan and her friend, would play the antique high-backed Victorian organ at the house. Gandy said she always enjoyed opening up the home during the Christmas tour and she still does enjoy telling stories about the home that contains so many wonderful family memories. Following the renovation, the Gandys gave the home to the Montgomery Historical Society in 1997.  The furnishings still belong to Martha Gandy’s family.  The Gandy family has a good deal of historic documents and photos which will be set for digitizing in the near future, to preserve them for posterity and make them available online at Family Search. This house and any building owned by the Society can be opened for special tours, besides during the Christmas in Historic Montgomery event always the Second Saturday in December. –Check out our Events menu for details.