CONROE – Montgomery County Pct. 2 Constable Gene DeForest will leave behind a legacy including more than his accomplishments while carrying out his official duties.
DeForest said he noticed plaques in many public buildings listing a history of elected officials and realized no one had honored those who held his current office. He researched and tracked the office holders all the way back to 1881, before Texas won independence at the Battle of San Jacinto.
“Some were forgotten and some were not even known,” DeForest said.
Prior to 1970, DeForest said, there were eight precincts in Montgomery County. The area that is now Pct. 2 was Pct. 7 for nearly a century, and then the eight precincts were reduced to five. Twenty Constables have served the precinct, including DeForest, who was elected to his first term in 2001.
The large plaque DeForest commissioned is lasered walnut, with a brass plate, and three badges on top and hangs in the inner office area of the Pct. 2 building on N. Main St. in Conroe.
“I feel honored to be able to do this and present it to this office, honoring those who have gone before me and made this precinct what it is today,” he said.
The Pct. 2 plaque lists the following Constables:
R.C. Copeland
1881 – 1882
W.G. Wiggins
1888-1890
J.C. Bowers
1890-1892
James Sanders
1892-1894
L.A. Hudson
1894-1898
J.L. Hindson
1898-1900
J.T. Shiver
1900-1902
G.W. Templeton
1902-1914
1916-1936
J.M. Ball
1914-1916
W.C. Thomas
1936-1940
H.G. “Dumper” Rose
1940-1946
1948-1950
1956-1964
Wyatt Hilson
1946-1948
James G. Casper
1950-1952
B.M. Coleman
1952-1954
Harvey Cotton
1954-1956
Howard Fenley
1964-1981
Billy R. Colson
1981-1999
(died February 9, 1999)
Floyd Stewart
1999-2001
appointed by Commissioner’s Court
Gene DeForest
2001-