| Notes |
- 9/18/01- This information was gathered and submitted by Caroline W. Chapman McGowan, CMS# 894, as Family Line Coordinator for this line. Her information sources are listed below. Additional information on his own line was added by J. David Montgomery, CMS# 1770.
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Submitted by Caroline W.Chapman McGowan, CMS 894, and others. Updated Oct. 2000.
!BIRTH: Estimated date of birth also estimated in "A MONTGOMERY AND COLE
RECORD--Some Descendants of Alexander Montgomery of Amherst County,Virginia
and Orange county, North Carolina" complied by Marian Carter Ledgerwood on
March 11, 1989, and from "The Montgomery Family..Out of the Past-A Look To the
Future" published by the Magoffin County Historical Society, Salyersville, KY.
!DEATH: Will written July 27, 1767, proved April 1768; Orange Co. NC, Vol.A, p.81:
To wife (not named) my plantation with all to her and my three youngest
children--the land--to be divided between my two sons Michael and James.--to
Aleck 170 acres at lower end.
!CONFLICT: Some sources say he was from Scotland, others from Ireland.
Information on Alexander and his descendants came from the following people:
For Alex's son James:
1. Caroline Chapman McGowan, CMS# 894
2. Alvis M. Daniel, 2208 Hilldale Road, Rock Hill, SC 29732-9420
3. Rev. Edwin Montgomery, CMS# 1440
4. Patricia Woltz Peitzsch, 110 Orchard Lane, Oak Ridge, TN 378230
5. Alvin Douglas Montgomery, Jr., CMS# 741
6. John Horn, 3801 Stonehaven Drive, Charlotte, NC 28215
For Alex's son Alexander, Jr.:
1. Ruby Elrod, CMS# 1922
2. Marion C. Ledgerwood, P.O. Box 8081, Hot Springs Village, AK 71909
3. Robert Montgomery, CMS# 790
4. Judy Davis, 116 Turkey Trot Lane, Jacksonville, AR 72076
For Alex's son Michael:
1. Shirley H. Corlew, CMS# 1033
2. Myrna Kay Greenway, CMS# 1088
For Alex's son John:
1. Isla Montgomery, CMS# 113
2. Capt. Jay R. Montgomery MC, USN, CMS# 973
3. Joan Vance, CMS# 1082
4. Beatrice Montgomery, CMS# 160
5. Myrtle Montgomery, CMS# 117
6. Capt. Stephen A. Ralls, DC, USN, 203-H 11th Street, NTC, Great
Lakes, IL 60088
7. Ruth Little, CMS# 174
8. Fran Qutermous, CMS# 748
9. H. Ronnie Montgomery, CMS# 121
10. Juanita Anderson, CMS# 1062
11. Raymond Croxdale, CMS# 1023
12. Pearl Montgomery, CMS# 841
13. Virginia and Gerald Russell Phillips, CMS# 1012
14. Max Eugene Ralls, 25 Shakespeare Dr., Bella Vista, Ar 72714
For Alex's son William:
1. Eloise Tittle Jacobsen, CMS# 1097
2. John R. and Ann Everingham, CMS# 1032
For Alex's daughter Mary:
1. Betty Cooper, 4219 Pine Ave. NE, Bremerton, WA 98310
2. Faith Bidwell Heath, 6586 Fields Ertel Road, Cincinnati, Oh45241-1367
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Submitted by C.Lane Graves, CMS 1778, dated 10/28/00. Entered 10/6/01
"A Montgomery and Cole Record: Some Descendants of Alexander Montgomery
of Amherst County, Virginia and Orange County, North Carolina" by Marian
Carter Ledgerwood, 1994.
.......................................................................................................................................
BIOGRAPHY: The Origin of "Old Alex" Montgomery
Assessing the Connections between Alexander Montgomery (died Orange Co., NC)
and William Montgomerie of Brigend, Scotland (and later Freehold, East Jersey)
By J. David Montgomery, CMS 1770.
It is my intention to document pieces of evidence that might suggest that the Alexander Montgomery (died Orange Co., NC 1767/8) was actually the youngest son of William Montgomerie of Brigend, Scotland and his wife Isabel Burnett. The one piece of definitive information has yet to surface but I think that the growing body of circumstantial evidence will speak for itself.
In the Genealogical History of the Family of Montgomery compiled by Thomas Harrison Montgomery in Philadelphia, PA 1863, he extensively documents the Montgomerys from Roger De Montgomerie up to others of the nineteenth century. Particularly he notes William Montgomerie of Brigend, Scotland, his wife Isabel Burnett and their seven children. Much detail is given for all the children with the exception of his youngest son Alexander. For Alex the only statement is, "Alexander, who is said to have died unmarried." This short unassuming statement really says more than at first glance. First, the author did not know where Alexander died or he would have so stated. He did not know what became of him after his early days in Freehold or it would have been stated. Lastly, he did not know if he was married. The author's words, "said to have" implies that the information was hearsay at best. I believe that the reason no one knew any more about Alex is because he left the vicinity and probably did not communicate with those who stayed in the Jersey/Pennsylvania area.
Though I have not found the Will of William of Brigend, it was common practice for most, if not all inheritance to go to the oldest son. Being the youngest son, Alex had no pressing reason to stay in the area. According to T. H. Montgomery's accounts, William and Isabel crossed the ocean for America about 1701-2. Probably Alexander was born just prior to that time. The earliest date that we definitely document our "Old Alex" is April 25, 1745 in Albemarle Co., Virginia when he buys land from John Chiswell of St. Martin Parish, Hanover Co., Virginia. He continues to buy and sell land until he leaves for Orange Co., NC about 1757.
As the mystery of "Old Alex's" origins remains unresolved, some pieces of unrelated information may shed some new light on the subject. Much of this information has come my way quite by accident. The first piece was found in the "American Guthrie and Allied Families" book published by the Kerr Printing Co., Chambersburg, Pa., copyright 1933. It notes that the William Montgomery from Logan's Fort, Kentucky had a son, William Jr., who married Jane Dodd and later her sister, Maria Dodd. They lived in Shelby County, Kentucky. There were seven children by the first marriage and two by the second. One of the daughters from the first marriage was Martha Ann Montgomery. She became the second wife of Isaac Newton Guthrie... "He (Isaac Newton Guthrie) married secondly May 8, 1845, Martha Ann Montgomery, who was born Jan. 27, 1827; was a daughter of William Montgomery (Jr.), of Shelby County, Kentucky, who was descended from William Montgomery, of Brigend, Scotland, came to America about 1702." An interesting side note; William Jr.'s sister, Jane, would marry Gen. Casey of Kentucky, and was the Grandmother of Mark Twain.
But was the William Montgomery made famous by the Indian massacre near Logan's Fort in Kentucky in 1780 the same William that was the son of our Alexander? Some researchers are not in agreement on this point.
In "Westward into Kentucky, the Narrative of Daniel Trabue", 1981 University of Kentucky Press, Daniel Trabue writes that in November of 1780 he was at the Montgomery Settlement on the Green River (near Logan's Fort) on his way to Virginia. The attack would occur in December of the same year. In his 1827 written account, Daniel Trabue notes that one of William Montgomery's (of Logan's Fort) daughters, Elizabeth or Betty, married her cousin another William Montgomery, later known as Col. Will Montgomery. Then in a footnote added later by Daniel Trabue's son James in 1851, he states, " This William Montgomery, a first cousin of his wife, was a son of John Montgomery and Martha Miller of Amherst County, Virginia. John died in Marion County, Missouri, on November 22, 1832." (*Note 1) This John Montgomery we know to be a son of our "Old Alex." Thus the implication is that the Logan's Fort "William" and Old Alex's "William" are one and the same. I also speculate that the claim by this William's grand-daughter, Martha Ann Montgomery Guthrie, that she was a descendant of William of Brigend, Scotland is a plausible statement. As William (of Logan's Fort) was the oldest of Alexander's children, this could explain the likelihood that if any record of his father's family history would be passed down, it might come through one of the older children, like William, who could have actually known or was told about his father's parents.
In the History of Caswell County 1777-1977 by William S. Powell, 1977, he speaks of Arent Isaacszen Van Hoeck who left the Netherlands in 1648 for New Amsterdam. His son, not named, moved to Freehold, New Jersey. His son, Aaron Van Hook, came to North Carolina by way of Virginia in 1755. Interestingly, when I visited the old lands of Alexander in present-day Caswell County, NC in 1989, I talked to a Mr. Frank Weadon. He and his ancestors have been in the area since those early days. Among many things that he talked about, he mentioned that there was one wealthy planter that lived next to the Montgomerys. This man had a huge estate with slaves numbering in the hundreds. He was a Mr.Van Hook. This man's family was from the same township in New Jersey that William of Brigend lived. Could the Van Hooks have been friends or acquaintances of the Montgomerys from New Jersey?
(*Note 1) It is curious that James Trabue would add such an almost obscure footnote to his father's narrative in 1851.I believe it can be explained by the following known facts. Daniel Trabue had a sister, Magdalene, who married Edward Clay of Virginia. The Clays had a daughter, Martha that married a John Montgomery of Caswell County, NC. Martha Clay Montgomery was a first cousin to James Trabue. James Trabue likely knew of his cousin's in-laws and had known them for some time, with Martha and John's wedding occurring in 1810 in North Carolina. I believe that it was through this familiarity with these Caswell County Montgomerys that Martha's Cousin James Trabue would add the little known fact about John & Martha Miller Montgomery to his father's account of the 1780 massacre. This is explained by the fact that John Montgomery of Caswell County, NC was a son of James Montgomery, who was a brother to the William Montgomery that was killed by Indians in Kentucky in 1780. So the Caswell County John Montgomery was a first cousin to both the Elizabeth and William Montgomery that married each other as noted in the James Trabue's footnote. Otherwise how and why would James Trabue come about this "new" information. This theory further supports the notion that the Montgomery family of Caswell County, originally Orange County, NC were related to the Montgomery family killed by Indians in Kentucky, through the brothers: William (died KY.), John (died Missouri), and James (died NC.), as noted, all sons of "Old Alex".
John Montgomery and wife Martha Clay are 3GrGrandparents of J. David Montgomery.
Last updated May 3, 2002 by J. David Montgomery
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Substantiating data submitted via GEDCOM by Kenneth Malcolm Montgomery, CMS 2435, on 23 Oct 2004. However, Kenneth says the death date was 1767; source unknown.
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Abt 1705 - 1768 (63 years)
