Yolo County CA Archives Biographies.....Montgomery, Alexander 1822 - 1884 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 22, 2006, 11:43 pm Author: Tom Gregory (1913) ALEXANDER MONTGOMERY The history of the world contains the record of few migrations more vast in volume or more sweeping in results than that of the accession to California's population during the years of 1849 and 1850. During that era the Montgomery family began an identification with the state which has continued up to the present and has proved profitable and pleasant for the several generations of the name resident herein. A father, William, with his three stalwart sons, Alexander, William W. and Hugh (all of whom have passed from earth), were the founders of the name in northern California, for in January of 1851, after a brief experience in mining, they came to Yolo county and took up land on Putah creek. Returning east by water in 1853, the father visited former friends and then came across the plains accompanied by his wife, who was born in West Virginia, but had removed to Missouri in girlhood. Kentucky was his native commonwealth, but before coming west he had engaged in farming in Balls, Marion and Shelby counties, Mo., successively. After coming to the west he gave his attention to the developing of land and the raising of farm products. When seventy-four years of age he passed away; his wife lived to be eighty-one. Among the sons of this honored pioneer was Alexander, himself a settler of 1850 and a man of forceful traits. Born in Kentucky March 7, 1822, he grew to manhood in Missouri, where May 4, 1845, he married Miss Susan Martin, daughter of Andrew and Katherine (Harrison) Martin, natives of Virginia, the latter of Scotch extraction. Mr. Martin, who was of Irish descent and the son of a Revolutionary soldier, removed to Missouri about 1832 and settled in Marion county, where he engaged in farming until advancing years rendered retirement advisable. He lived to be ninety-four and his wife was eighty at the time of death. Both were members of the Missionary Baptist Church. The eldest of their nine children, Susan, was born in Fairfax county, Va., January 8, 1828, and grew to womanhood in Missouri, where she married Mr. Montgomery at the age of seventeen years. Three of their children were born in Missouri and the others are natives of California. The eldest son in the family, William S., was born in Marion county, Mo., on Christmas day of 1848, and crossed the plains at the age of five years in company with his parents. From 1872 until 1876 he had charge of the old homestead. For a year he engaged in business at Willows, Glenn county, where he built the first house in the village. For seven years he lived on a claim in the Big valley, Lassen county, and thence came to Yolo county, settling on a farm. By his first wife he had four children, one of whom died at two years and another, Ida M., when thirty-three; Etta married J. Johnson, a rancher near the old homestead, where she died; and Elmer settled at Bed Bluff. The second wife of William S. Montgomery was Magdalena Glockler, a native of California, and who died in 1902, when thirty-six years of age. Six children were born of that union, one of whom, Frank, died at the age of three years. The others, Gertrude, Caroline, William, Marie and Oleta, remain with their father. In the family of Alexander Montgomery there were, besides the son, William S., before named, fourteen children, three of whom died in childhood. The eldest daughter, Rebecca M., married William King, of Davis; Susan J. married John A. Johnson, of Woodland; Sarah E., Mrs. Enoch Johnson, lives at Lincoln, this state; Dora A., Mrs. L. L. Balls, a widow, makes her home at Woodland; Minnie Jeff Davis married Eli Snider, of Yolo county; Lee Jackson Stewart, who owns forty-six acres of the old homestead, married Kate Glockler, and they have three children; Orlena is the wife of A. E. Glockler, a rancher of Yolo county; Andrew, of Sacramento, married Louisa Glockler, and they have one daughter; James Carey and John Pelham, who each inherited forty-six acres of the estate, have since purchased in partnership one hundred and twenty-eight acres from their mother, but more recently their partnership has been dissolved. John Pelham married Letta Tamm and they have one daughter living, Mercedes Madge. Upon the death of Alexander Montgomery his widow inherited the family residence at Woodland, as well as one-half of the home farm of six hundred and forty acres, the other one-half being given to the children. After a useful and successful career as a farmer and promoter of local upbuilding, the father died April 2, 1884, at the age of sixty-two years and twenty-three days. His last resting place is marked by an attractive monument in the Davis cemetery. Additional Comments: Extracted from HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY CALIFORNIA WITH Biographical Sketches OF The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth and Development From the Early Days to the Present HISTORY BY TOM GREGORY AND OTHER WELL KNOWN WRITERS ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA [1913] File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/yolo/bios/montgome674bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/cafiles/ File size: 5.6 Kb