MONTGOMERY, John T.

MONTGOMERY

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/1/2021 at 00:54:10

John T. Montgomery
born Dec 1847, Canada

J. T. Montgomery, of the firm J. T. Montgomery & Co., druggists and stationers, of Battle Creek, Iowa, is a native of London, Ontario, Canada, born in December, 1847, and is the eldest of seven children. His parents are Alexander and Jane (Chapman) Montgomery of Toronto, Canada and were of Scotch and English ancestry. They were early settlers in New Jersey, but in the beginning of the American Revolution in 1776, this branch of the family remained loyal to the crown and removed to the British Province of New Brunswick, and in 1800 moved to Little York, now Toronto.
The subject of our sketch began the active business of life at the capacity of steward of the Algoma, a steamer of the Lake Superior & Lake Huron Steam Navigation Company Line, continuing for four years. In 1870 he came to Stuart, Iowa with his family and in December, 1874, lost his all by fire. Shortly after he moved to Cedar Rapids and was identified with the wholesale of Smith, Mullin, & Vorhees, as a traveling salesman. In November, 1885, he purchased the drug and stationery business in Battle Creek and began to give credit to the little city. Misfortunes beyond his power to avert, have twice come to Mr. Montgomery, with crushing force. On July 4, 1878, he lost his wife, who was Emily Plant, of Owen Sound, Canada, and two sons and his father, by drowning at the ford through Middle River, on the homestead, while returning from a celebration, himself without his family; and on October 15, 1892, he again lost two sons in a similar manner, one little fellow accidentally fell into the Maple River and the other lost his life trying to save him. The only surviving child, Fred Alexander, is now twenty-one years old. Mr. Montgomery’s present wife is Ethel B. Piper, daughter of John Piper, Esquire of Devonshire, England. Mr. Montgomery and family are Episcopalians. He is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the Grand Lodge of Masons of Iowa, 1892, and a member of Knights of Pythias. He is a Cleveland Democrat.
Source: Biographical History of Crawford, Ida, and Sac Counties, Iowa, 1893, p.649