Oaks of Montgomery County Antique Store
Montgomery, Texas
Season 2 - Episode 2 | 40 minutes | 2024
The stately two-story Greek revival classic has over the years been home to Montgomery’s first mayor who remained there with his family until their deaths, a World War II hero who tragically took his life in the front foyer and a couple who orchestrated a major renovation of the home, among others.
Today the home serves as a business — The Oaks of Montgomery Antiques and Consignments. From its construction as a family home in 1876 to its place in Montgomery’s business community today, the home has played an integral part in the town’s rich history. However, once the shop is closed and the lights go out, Col. Bates Griffith is said to still be roaming the halls along with many other ghosts and haunted objects causing paranormal investigators to question their very own sense.
The Oaks of Montgomery Antiques & Consignments
Once the home to the family of Judge Nathanial Hart Davis in 1876, this beautiful structure was built very carefully with excellent craftsmanship. He was a county attorney, commissioner, and chief justice of Montgomery County, and served as judge of the 13th Judicial District. Eventually, he became the mayor. With his wife and seven children he carefully picked out his pine planks one by one, he put his heart and soul into every nail. Even painters came from Paris, France to put the final touches on before declaring this humble abode his home.
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This home was certainly built from the heart so it's not surprising that Judge Davis resided there up until his death in 1893 followed by his wife's death in 1904. From then on, the Davis relatives kept it in their family until passing it on in 1957. It's not stated that Judge Davis passed away in his home nor is the same stated about Mrs Sarah Elizabeth Davis.
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The home was purchased by Col. James Bates Griffith, after his return from World War II. To all who knew him, he was a local celebrity and war hero in the small town of Montgomery. Griffith was even part of restoring The Burma Road during the war. He became friends with Chiang Kai-shek, also known as the leader of the Republic of China. As a result of this friendship, former owner Timmerman said The Oaks, which Griffith changed to Lazy Oaks, became ornately decorated with many Chinese artifacts all over.
Unfortunately, when Col. Bates Griffith was in World War II, he developed a series of terrible infections which later led to a tragic fate of cancer. In order to save his life, his larynx was completely removed and he talked with a voice box for a large portion of his life. He had learned to "burp" his words in order to communicate. Later this led to him becoming involved with local politics but it also came with mockery of his condition and how he "spoke". In 1984 he left a council meeting and took his own life in the foyer of what was then called the Lazy Oaks. What many did not know was that his cancer had returned. The home remained dormant soon after and then passed along to a Griffith relative.
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Later the home was sold to the Timmermans who did a complete home makeover in 2001 while keeping it's history very well preserved. Don Timmerman served as the Mayor of Montgomery as well. Soon it was bought by Miles Marks who has turned into a beautiful treasure trove of antiques that everyone should go and see.
Paranormal History
Mary Sue Timmerman said people would ask if the home was haunted. “I never said it was haunted, but there was definitely a spirit that lived there,” she said, noting a child had died in the house and the possibility of Col. Griffith’s spirit still inhabiting the property.
When the renovation was taking place, an oldtimer who was a part of the crew asked the Timmermans if they believed in spirits. “He said ‘I’ve worked on a lot of old houses, but I’ve lost my wrecking bar on several occasions and I’ve found it in places where I didn’t put it,’” Don Timmerman said.
There’s also the matter of a door they knew to be locked on the old house that would somehow be open again in the morning, an impression of a body on a bed that no one had slept in for a while, a mysterious large white dog that only appeared once, and other instances.
“One time, we were having some friends stay with us. It was early in the morning so we went to the front porch to have our coffee until they came down,” Mary Sue Timmerman said. “Then we heard this awful noise from upstairs like they were moving the furniture. The wife stuck her head out the window and said what was that? It sounded like horses just ran through downstairs. There was nothing that accounted for that noise. They told their friends ‘Welcome to The Oaks.’”
The current owner, Miles Marks, has had similar experiences. Marks was stepping out of the Carriage House on the property one November evening and he noticed a lamp was on in the upstairs bathroom of the old house.He went in, turned off the alarm, looked around to make sure there was no one in the house and went upstairs to turn off the lamp. He said he turned off the lamp, which was the twist type that you have to physically turn off, set the alarm and went home.
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The next night, as he was stepping out of the Carriage House at about the same time, he saw the lamp was on again in the upstairs bathroom. “How do you explain it getting turned back on?” Marks said. “I have no idea.”
Behind The Scenes
Anytime we have gone to visit this beautiful place in Montgomery Texas, we are usually met with the presence of a child. No one knows where the child came from but after using the Estes Method, it was clear that the spirits confirmed a child was indeed still there.
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While the cameras were rolling, we captured quite a bit of activity. We even had a clock that would start and stop ticking during our interviews for the show. The spirits here are not evil, dark or malevolent but they kept letting us know they were there keeping an eye on us. Even the owner Miles was able to witness many of the things we uncovered,
Podcast Recap
Did you enjoy the episode? There was so much more that happened in addition to what was shown in the episode. Join Angela and the Beauties as they discuss the behind-the-scenes experiences, share crazy stories, and talk about what happened off-camera!
MORE EPISODES
Season 2 Episode 1: Wunderlich Farm
Cursed land, hidden graveyards, and haunted saloons are only a little of what this town has to offer.
Season 2 Episode 3: Watson House
Elegant beauty meets spooky apparitions as the guests who checked in want to stay forever.