BIO: Alexander S. Montgomery, Cumberland County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Bookwalter Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/ ______________________________________________________________________ History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania. Containing History of the Counties, Their Townships, Towns, Villages, Schools, Churches, Industries, Etc.; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; Biographies; History of Pennsylvania; Statistical and Miscellaneous Matter, Etc., Etc. Illustrated. Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/beers/beers.htm ______________________________________________________________________ PART II. HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. CHAPTER LX. WEST PENNSBOROUGH TOWNSHIP. 584 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: ALEXANDER S. MONTGOMERY, farmer, P. O. Newville, is a grandson of James Montgomery, who was married, April 30, 1812, to Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander and Sarah Scroggs, who, at that date, owned all the land on both sides of the spring in the neighborhood where our subject resides. Alexander Scroggs, who, in an early day, always carried his trusty rifle on his back while plowing; one day discovered what he thought to be a painted savage following him while at work. The sharp crack of the rifle announced the shot that laid the marauder low, and after washing off the paint, Mr. Scroggs found that a white man instead of an Indian had attempted to murder him. On this farm bushels of arrow-heads have been unearthed, which were probably made and hidden by the Indians in an early day. Alexander Scroggs died in 1826, aged nearly seventy-seven years; his wife died in 1804. They reared a numerous family, the descendants of whom are all now deceased but our subject, who is also the last of the Montgomery family. James Montgomery and wife had two children: Robert and Sarah J. (married to A. L. Irvin in 1839). Robert was born September 12, 1814, and married, in 1847, Rachael Thompson, who was born in 1813, and to this union were born Elizabeth, Alexander S. and Jane. The eldest daughter is the wife of S. M. Skinner, with whom Jane resides. All were born in the ancestral Scroggs mansion, which, in an early day, was used as a fort in which the family were frequently sheltered from the Indians. Robert Montgomery, the father, died April 11, 1879, and his wife October 20, 1862. Alexander S., the only son of this couple, was born March 17, 1851; was married November 14, 1877, to Clara, daughter of John and Maria Elliott, residents at that time of Plainfield, this county. The union of this young couple was blessed with three children: Sarah J., Rachael M. and Clara E., all of whom were born on the homestead, where four generations of the family have been born, and of which Mr. Montgomery is sole heir, who, no doubt, will, in his turn, transmit it to his children. In 1872 Robert Montgomery was elected associate judge, serving out his term with distinction. As a man and jurist he occupied the highest place in the estimation of the public, for his official life was characterized by many acts of kindness and public spirit.