Elizabeth (Bishop) Montgomery (1830-1898)

BISHOP, BJORNSON, MONTGOMERY, SPRINGER, TITLER

Posted By: Eileen Reed (email)
Date: 2/10/2024 at 13:06:45

The Goldfield Chronicle
Eagle Grove, Iowa
Friday, July 15, 1898
Page 1, Column 5

Mrs. W. H. Montgomery.

Sunday the unwelcome news was circulated that Mrs. W. H. Montgomery was dead, the rumor being that she had died suddenly of heart disease. The report proved only too true. Mrs. Montgomery who had been in Goldfield and Eagle Grove but a day or two before, it seemed, passed away Sunday morning after a very brief illness caused by an affection of the heart to which she had been subject periodically for years. She was in appearance and activity a much younger woman than her years would indicate, but palpitation of the heart recurring at frequent intervals, had interfered with perfect health for years.

Elizabeth Bishop was born in Morrow county, Ohio, in 1830. She was one of a family of seventeen children, fourteen of whom grew to years of maturity. Emigrating to Iowa county this state in 1849, the parents settled permanently, and most of the children remained residents of Iowa.

June 6th, 1854, Elizabeth Bishop was united in marriage to W. H. Montgomery, and the newly married couple began life together, forty-four years ago, in what was then unbroken prairie, and almost an uninhabited country, Wright county. The house Mr. Montgomery built at that time was near the site of his present residence.

It seems nearly incredible that in the memory of present residents here, buffalo, elk and deer were roaming in herds on what are now waving fields of corn and grain but such is the case. Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery were the pioneer settlers in this section of country, enduring all the hardships and privations incident to life in a country left to nature’s voluptuous reign alone. It would seem that pioneering might leave a touch of harshness or some mark of the stern life engendered by such associations, but Mrs. Montgomery's disposition and character seemed but to strengthen in their native refinement in fulfilling the duties of pioneer wife and mother, in this new country. Five children came into the home, three of whom Cora, Mary and Herbert died in childhood.

Mrs. Amanda Bjornson, the surviving daughter, was the first child born in the county, 1855 being the year of her birth. John Montgomery, who has made his home upon the farm where he was born is the other surviving child.

By reason of her years of residence here, coupled with a genuine gift of winning friends, Mrs. Montgomery's decease is mourned by hundreds. It was remarked that no woman in Wright County was held higher in the estimation of the people than she.

The graces of generous kindness and gentle womanliness so prominent in her personality made the Montgomery home proverbial for its warm welcome and genuine hospitality. Old and young were included in the circle of friends privileged to know by experience the kindly interest taken in them. And children as well as the older ones were quick to respond to the genial influences of such a friendship. The funeral services Tuesday were attended by sympathizing friends from all over the county and else where Rev. Smith of Renwick and Rev. Kilborne conducted the services, closing with the burial service in Glenwood cemetery. In a beautiful location, exposed to the kindly rays of the southern sun and breeze, lie the mortal remains of this loving wife, mother, and friend, the memory of whose life, like the actuality, is a benediction to those who knew her. Two sisters, Mrs. Springer of Iowa City and Mrs. Titler of Marengo, and a brother, M. Bishop and Mrs, Bishop of Spencer, were present at the funeral.

The Goldfield Chronicle
Eagle Grove, Iowa
Friday, July 15, 1898
Page 1, Column 4

Ed Hartsock and Mr. and Mrs. Granville Hancock were over from Clarion Monday to attend the funeral of Mrs. Montgomery.

The Goldfield Chronicle
Eagle Grove, Iowa
Friday, July 22, 1898
Page 1, Column 6

In Memoriam.

Elizabeth Bishop was born on the I0th day of February 1830, in Richland County, Ohio, where she grew to womanhood.

On the 6th day of June 4, 1854, she was married to Hamilton W. Montgomery at the age of 24 years. In the same year she with her husband came to Iowa County, Iowa where they resided but a short time and in the fall of that year they came to Wright County arriving at their destination on the Boone river on the 10th day of September, 1854, where they resided till the day of her death which occurred on the 10th day of July, 1898. Though never a robust woman yet her health up to a day or two of her death had been as good as usual. She had been troubled with an affection of the heart for a good many years and she had long expected that from this cause she would die suddenly. On Friday before her death she was taken with neuralgia of the chest, from which she suffered severely till Sunday morning when the disease suddenly going to the heart, she died almost immediately. In the death of Mrs. Montgomery her husband has lost a most devoted and loving wife, and her children one of the best of mothers, and the community in which she resided has lost one of its most exemplary and honored members. The writer has known her on terms of intimate friendship for a period of forty years, and after this long acquaintance I can truthfully and honestly say, that never has it been my privilege to know a better or kinder woman. Coming to Wright county when it was a wilderness she has seen its prairies settle up and has made the acquaintance of a large share of the people, who have found homes along and near Boone river and also in other parts of this and adjoining counties, and I am sure that, hundreds of those settlers have been benefited by her deeds of kindness. Her home was ever an asylum for the weary and destitute. No worthy person ever went hungry from her door, or was turned out in the cold to suffer. It must be remembered too that she lived here when homes were scarce and poverty was the rule and, it cost a sacrifice in those days to feed and shelter the weary traveler. Her chief delight consisted in doing good to others and making them happy. Her genial and kindly ways won the hearts of all who approached her. To know her was to respect her. As a neighbor and friend she was all that could be desired in the world. —Kind true and obliging, she was a worthy example to all around her. No woman in Wright County had a wider circle of friends or would be more deeply mourned. The large concourse of people at her funeral bespeaks the universal esteem in which she was held. She was carried to her tomb by loving hands and quietly laid away in a beautiful flower lined grave in Glenwood Cemetery. Peace be to her ashes. She is now at rest. Her husband H. W. Montgomery and two children, Amanda Bjornson and John M. Montgomery survive her. The hearts of the entire community go out to them in this their great bereavement. May the kind father of us all guide and protect them and bind up their wounded and bleeding hearts.

J. M. OVERBAUGH

February 10, 1830 – July 10, 1898