W. J. A. MONTGOMERY, Editor of the Clay Center Democrat, is one of the prominent and well known journalists of Kansas. A native of New York State, he was born in Westfield, Chautauqua County, August 12, 1853, and is the son of James L. and Amelia H. (West) Montgomery, who were natives respectively of New York and Pennsylvania, the father born on the same farm as his son, the subject of this sketch.
The paternal grandfather of Mr. Montgomery, also named James, was born in Huntingdon County, Pa., and later in life became one of the very first pioneers of Chautauqua County, N. Y., where he settled in 1805. He was widely known throughout that region as "Deacon" Montgomery, owing to his prominence in the Presbyterian Church in which he took an active part. He came by this trait naturally, the family being of the old Scotch Covenanter stock and lineal descendants from the younger brother of Neil Montgomery, Earl of Lainshaw of the Scottish peerage. Beyond him the family trace their ancestry to Count Roger de Montgomery, a noble of Brittany, who accompanied Duke William the Conqueror, to England at the time of the Conquest, he holding the rank of General in William's army.
For several generations anterior to that time the Montgomerys had held high rank in their native land, being noted as warriors�a trait still possessed by many of their descendants. In the division of the lands of the conquered kingdom, Roger de Montgomery received an estate in Scotland. In the seventeenth century, during the persecution of the Covenanters, to which sect many of the Montgomerys adhered, the ancestor of this branch of the family escaped to the North of Ireland. The first of the name of whom record is made after coining to America was William Montgomery, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. He came about the year 1700, sojourning briefly in Huntingdon County, Pa., then settling on the border. He was contemporary and intimately acquainted with Gen. Richard Montgomery, the hero of Quebec, who, however, was not of the same family or was at best but a very distant relative.
Deacon James Montgomery purchased a farm of 100 acres on the shores of Lake Erie from the Holland Laud Company. He cut logs, burned them and leached the ashes to make potash, which he hauled to Buffalo and across to Canada on the ice in order to obtain money to pay for his land. He became prominent in the new settlement and was one of the principal figures in the early history of Chautauqua County in which he wielded a great influence, and was beloved and respected by all who knew him. His was the first marriage solemnized in the new country�Miss Victoria McPherson becoming his wife. She was a native of Scotland and had come to this country with her parents. Both lived to the age of seventy-two years and died not far apart, being nearly of an age, the wife passing away in March and the husband in October. 1863.
To James and Victoria Montgomery there were born eleven children, of whom the following named survive: Sarah is the widow of Francis Johnston and lives with her children in Henry, South Dakota; William is an Attorney at Hayes City, this State; Joseph is retired from business and a resident of Chicago, Ill.; Hugh is connected with the Home for Disabled Soldiers near Leavenworth. One son, William, was drowned when about nineteen years old; another son, Hamilton, met death in a similar manner, while in active service in the Union Army and building a pontoon bridge across the Duck River in Tennessee. Alexander, a minister of the Presbyterian Church, died in 1861 at Beloit, Wis.; Victoria, Eleanor, and Julia were all married.
James L. Montgomery, the father of W. J. A., was born August 19, 1826. He attended the academy at Westfield, in Chautauqua County, N. Y., and at an early age developed great love for athletic sports in which he became very proficient, and while not quite up to the usual stature of the Montgomery family who were rarely under six feet in height, he became the champion wrestler of Western New York. While engaged in a friendly bout he broke his right leg and it being improperly set was shortened, which occasioned him to walk with a slight limp, but otherwise caused him no special inconvenience, excepting his rejection on two occasions when he endeavored to enter the Union Army. When a young, unmarried man he went to Wisconsin where he engaged in lumbering and remained until 1853. Then returning to the old homestead he took charge of it and extended his filial care to his parents in their declining years. Remaining there until 1865 he then removed to Fulton, Ill., where he re-engaged in the lumber business. Two years later he was seized with the Kansas fever and emigrated to Douglas County where he engaged in farming until his death, which took place February 3, 1873.
The father of our subject inherited from his sire those principles of rigid integrity and uprightness which had characterized the latter. In fact if there was any difference in their characters, it was in favor of the younger James. The unbending sternness of his father was softened in him, he being affable and pleasant and greatly beloved by all who knew him. He early connected himself with the church in which he was a lifelong member and for the last fifteen years of his life was a Ruling Elder therein. He took a warm interest in public matters, but always avoided office for which he had a distaste, his disposition being rather retiring than otherwise. He was an original Republican and was active in the formation of that party in his native State.
James L. Montgomery was married November 22, 1852, in Wisconsin, to Amelia H. West, who was born October 4, 1833, and emigrated from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin with her parents two or three years prior to her marriage. She is still living and a resident of Lawrence, Kan. She also was a member of the Presbyterian Church and a devout Christian woman. To her and her husband there were born six children, five of whom are now living, and the eldest of whom is the subject of this sketch. Charles and James are unmarried; Mary is the wife of John A. Lee, and all three are residents of Los Angeles, Cal.; Alexander is a farmer in Douglas County, this State; Helen, the second daughter, died at the age of eighteen years at Lawrence and her remains were interred beside those of her father.
William J. A. Montgomery spent the first twelve years of his life on the homestead in Westfield, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., making the most of the excellent educational ad vantages placed at his disposal, entering the Westfield Academy when a little more than eleven years old. Upon the removal of his parents to Illinois, in 1865, he followed up his early advantages in the excellent schools of Fulton, finishing his education at the age of fourteen, when he was graduated from the High School in that city. Shortly afterward his parents came to Kansas. Like other boys, he had a great desire to see the world and at the age of sixteen years went to the southwestern frontier of Kansas, where he spent a year, going thence to Texas, which State he thoroughly explored, both in its settled and unsettled portions, incidentally taking a trip of 200 miles into Old Mexico. This frontier experience was enlivened with several encounters with hostile Indians and Mr. Montgomery still bears the scars as mementoes of that time.
In 1872 Mr. Montgomery took charge of a herd of cattle near Austin, Texas, and drove them all the way to the western boundary of Wyoming Territory. Next, returning to Laramie City in the winter of 1872-73, he engaged in railroading and in an accident near Wyoming lost a part of his left hand. That satisfied his ambition in that direction, although he remained in the employ of the company for a time longer, but the death of his father called him home to assume the settlement of the estate. In the fall of 1874 he began teaching at Black Jack in Douglas County and was very successful, while at the same time he had abundant opportunity for the exercise of his literary tastes which he followed for eleven years, constantly gaining in reputation and improving in scholarship and finally receiving the highest grade of State certificate. In 1885 he established the Democrat at Stockton, Kan., which he disposed of the following year. Then removing to Clay County he established a paper of which he has since, with the exception of one year, been the editor. The paper is an exponent of Democratic doctrines, especially advocating the principles of low tariff and National currency. The editor is a close critic and as a consequence keeps a watchful eye upon the actions of his political opponents. Much attention is given to local affairs, no happening of importance being allowed to pass unnoticed. The paper is fairly well supported, its advertising patronage being on the increase and its circulation, especially among the farmers, is not confined to its political friends. The office is well equipped for job printing of which it does a good share.
On the 12th of August, 1877, while teaching in Douglas County, Mr. Montgomery was married to Miss Nellie S. Lind, who was born in Missouri, January 17, 1859. The six children born of this union are all under the parental roof and named respectively, Mabel M., Maude M., Mae M., Hugh H., William C, and Helen C. Mr. Montgomery's early training naturally inclined him to the Republican party, but his residence in the South changed his political ideas and he has, since his majority, acted with the Democratic party. In 1884 he was nominated for the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction on the Democratic State Ticket, but of course was not elected in Kansas. He takes an active interest in the affairs of the Democratic party in the State, county and city. Like his ancestors, he is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
A lithographic portrait of this worthy descendant of an ancient family will be found on another page of this volume.
