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Individual Page


Family
Marriage: Children:
  1. William Harper Montgomery: Birth: 29 DEC 1819 in Madison Township, Geauga County, OH. Death: 15 MAR 1889

  2. Rebecca Montgomery: Birth: ABT 1823 in Madison Township, Geauga County, OH.

  3. John Nelson Montgomery: Birth: 30 MAY 1827 in Conneaut Township, Crawford County, PA. Death: 19 SEP 1908 in Siloam Springs, AR

  4. Almina Montgomery: Birth: ABT 1828 in Crawford County, PA.

  5. Charles Thomas Montgomery: Birth: 1830 in Crawford County, PA.

  6. Benjamin F Montgomery: Birth: 1833 in Crawford County, PA.

  7. Eliza O Montgomery: Birth: 1835 in Crawford County, PA.


Notes
a. Note:   "Moved early in life to Western Pennsylvania (Crawford County)", or so said J. Ivor Montgomery when he wrote a family history for the publication, "History of LaSalle County, Illinois, 1883". John Harper Montgomery is listed as a Private in the War of 1812, in Captain John Reed's Company, Ashtabula County, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Regiment, 4th Division, from the Official "Roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War of 1812", Vol.1, Pages 57-58, Vol. 1. Captain John Reed's Company served from August 23 to November 30, 1812, and from January to September, 1813. Company Commander was Brigadier General Simon Perkins, Third Brigade, Fourth Division (Trumbull and Ashtabula Counties).
  On April 16, 1816, John H. Montgomery was one of 44 people who obtained a parcel of property from Abraham and Elisabeth Tappan (Two sons of Abraham and Elisabeth Tappan would later move to Illinois and found the town of Woodstock) at the center of the Village of Madison to be used as common space (now Village Park) which also included "a part of said common not exceeding 4 rods width and on the east side, may be occupied and improved as a burying ground." See "Copy of Deed to Madison Public Square" (Taken from an old Madison Township Record Book). There were no burials in this location. This location was later (1817) deemed to be unacceptable as a burying ground and an exchange of property was arranged, basically a trade, locating the burial ground kitty-corner to the NW corner of West Main and Eagle Streets, with a name of Centreville Cemetery. The graves subsequently placed therein were moved in 1854 to a better resting place (Fairview Cemetery?) and this cemetery lot abandoned. Did those moved graves include the graves of Thomas and Rebecca Montgomery, John H.'s parents? Were some of the Centreville Cemetery graves overlooked in the move of 1854? The graves of Thomas and Rebecca are yet to be discovered.
  John H. married Malinda Platt, April 29, 1819, in the Township of Denmark, Ashtabula County, Ohio, according to Probate Court records found at the County Seat / Archeological Archives of Ashtabula County, Jefferson, OH, officiated by John Dibell, Jr., Justice Of The Peace for Denmark Township, OH. In 1819, the area of Denmark Township included the areas presently occupied by Denmark Township and Dorset Township which is immediately to the south of, and equal in size to, Denmark Township - 6 miles E-W and 12 miles N-S. It is in this area the home / church / location of their wedding was located. In later years, Malinda's brother, Hezekiah, was a successful farmer in Wayne Township, Ashtabula County.
  His father, Thomas, may have not owned, but rented (and paid the taxes before 1820 on) the 100 acres in Geauga / Lake County as that 100 acre parcel was sold after 1820 (1827) to an Oscar Smead, not by Thomas / John Harper Montgomery but by the ORIGINAL Land Owner / Speculator, Tutus Street, who obtained the land (and about 24,000 other acres) in about 1797 from the Connecticut Land Company (Western Reserve) as part of the original sale of lands of the Reserve. Had Thomas or John Harper Montgomery owned the land, the sale to Smead would reflect on the record the names Montgomery to Smead, not Titus Street to Oscar Smead.
  John H. co-owned another parcel of property in Madison Township, Geauga (Lake) County, OH, in 1825, very near to the 100 acres described above. From the Chardon (OH) Land Records Office, July 31, 2002 (Courtesy of the Ashtabula County Historical Society): On November 10, 1825, John H. and Malinda Montgomery and Ashley and Dyantha Montgomery Follett (sister and brother-in-law of John H.), for $1,000.00, sold 113 "rods" of land (about 70% of 1 acre), containing two springs of water and one distillery, located at the following location:
  " . . . situated in Township number eleven in the sixth range of townships in the Connecticut Western Reserve in the State of Ohio, and which is also the County of Geauga, and is known by being the southeast corner of lot number nine in said township, and is bounded as follows, to wit: beginning a few rods west of the widow Hannah Hills now dwelling house, at a stake and stones on the bank of the gully on the south east side of the road that runs to Emerson's Mills, thence across the gully aforesaid and along the road eleven rods (181.5 feet) to a stake and stones on the bank of the river; thence from the place of beginning in a right angle from said road twelve and a half rods (206.25') to a stake and stones on the bank of said River, and from thence along said bank of the river to the third mentioned stake and stones, supposed to contain one hundred and thirteen rods of land, be the same, more or less. And also a privilege of using and conducting a quantity of water sufficient for all the purposes of a distillery from two springs of water situated on tract number nine on the northwest side of said road to the distillery which is lately erected on the premises by Noble Olmstead, be the same, more or less . . . unto them the said Elisha Sperry & Simon Gajer, Jr. . . ."
  His sister, Mary "Polly", married the said Elisha Sperry on Feb 26, 1826.
  His sister, Dyantha and her husband Ashley Follett, grew a family and remained in Madison, OH, until about 1830 (see Dyantha's notes).
  Between 1825 and 1826, John H. must have moved to the Richmond Township, Ashtabula County, OH / Conneaut Township, Crawford County, PA area, closer to Malinda’s Platt family connections, as one of his sons, John Nelson Montgomery, was born in Crawford County, PA, 1826/1827.
  On Richmond Township, OH: "Once a part of Jefferson, Denmark and Pierpont Townships, a final separation resulted in the organization of Richmond Township, in 1828. At the organizational meeting, the following were chosen to serve the residents: John H. Montgomery, Levi Brown and David Prindle, Trustees; . . ."
  Where he and Malinda were living in Richmond Township in 1828 can probably be found by examining property records for the names Montgomery and / or Platt. The Platt name was prominent and plentiful across the state line around the village of PennLine, PA, and along both sides of the state line north and south for about 12 miles.
  As noted in the 1830 Federal Census, sometime between 1828 and 1830 he had moved to Wayne Township, Ashtabula County, OH. Shown in the 1830 Census as "J. H. Montgomery" living in Wayne Township, as noted on page 113 of the Census Report.
  His children have varying birth places on US Censuses, in Pennsylvania or Ohio, and not necessarily in the order of birth. This might be attributed to having family (Platts) on both sides of the PA / OH State Line and the possibility of having moved across the state line to live (rent?) in the years between 1830 and 1840. It is also possible he and Malinda may have lived with some of their Platt relatives, at some time, in PA and / or in OH.
  Sometime between 1830 and 1840 they moved to Crawford County, PA. The US Census of 1840 shows John H. Montgomery living in North Shenango Township, Crawford County, PA. The “profile” of his family matches the Census. (1840 Census: Montgomery was spelled “Mongomey” on the Census page and recently incorrectly transcribed as “Mongonesy” to Ancestry.com website). The 1840 Census also recorded two individuals in the John H household as working in a trade other than agriculture. This working trade could have been saddle & harness manufacturing as record of such a business was recorded in the township on 16 May 1835 to a "Montgomery, J". (Crawford County Historical Society)
  A deduction as to the location of residence in 1840 of John H. and Malinda Platt Montgomery: On the 1876 Atlas Map of North Shenango Township, Crawford County, PA, is the property denoted "B. Platt", which was purchased in 1846 by Hezekiah Platt from a Mr. Rockhill. Hezekiah was a brother of Malinda Platt Montgomery, wife of John Harper Montgomery. Stradling the road just north of Espyville is the "B. Platt" property, 118 acres. On either side (south to north) of the "B. Platt" property is "D. Lewis", south, and "H. Aken", north. To the south of "D. Lewis" is "J. Lewis", and then "Armstrong". These surnames are on the same 1840 Census page and in proximity to "John H Montgomery" on those pages.
  In 1876, If you traveled along the N-S road in a south to north direction, this surname pattern emerges (using the 1876 Map):
 . . . Armstrong, Lewis, Lewis, Platt (Montgomery), Ewing, Manning, Aken . . .
 On the 1840 Census, the names on the page run as follows:
 . . . Armstrong, Fick, Free, Lewis, Williamson, Marshall, Lewis, Lewis, Montgomery (Platt?), Cook, Manning, Akin (Aken), etc.
  Except for "Fick, Lewis, Williamson, and Marshall", the 1840 Census name / property sequence matches the 1876 Map sequence. For the "Fick, Lewis, Williamson, Marshall" households, the Censustaker may have been working a full day between Armstrong and Lewis in another area close by. And, being 36 years after the Census, names on the 1876 properties surely may have changed a bit, as did "B. Platt", which may account for "Cook" becoming "Ewing" from 1840 to 1876. But the name sequences look very close.
  Therefore, not yet verified but through deduction, it is believed the "B. Platt" property on the 1876 Map was once farmed by "B. Platt's" Aunt and Uncle, Malinda Platt Montgomery and John Harper Montgomery, between 1830 and 1845, surely in 1840.
  Hezekiah Platt (Malinda Platt Montgomery's brother) purchased the property from a Thomas C. Rockhill, Jr., in 1846. Mr. Rockhill appears to have obtained the property out of a land grant. In 1876, it was owned by a Betsey Platt (B. Platt) and she appears to have "purchased" it for $10.00 from Hezekiah Platt's heirs in 1870.
  Hezekiah Platt purchased this land in 1846, right after John and Malinda moved, lock, stock and barrel to Illinois, and Hezekiah later left it to his Platt heirs. It is surmized that John and Malinda farmed the land for Mr. Rockhill, recommending just prior to John and Malinda exiting to Illinois that Mr. Rockhill sell it to Malinda's brother, Hezekiah, or a similar arrangement of transfer. The sale to Hezekiah in 1846 may have simply waited from Autumn of 1845, the end of the farming season when John and Malinda left for Illinois, until Spring of 1846, just prior to the growing season.
  From “A Pioneer Outline History of Northwestern Pennsylvania”, by W. D. McKnight, M.D., 1905 regarding Crawford County:
  “STATISTICS OF 1840 - NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
  In 1840, there were in the northwest purchase but nine erected and complete counties, - to wit, Butler, Crawford, Jefferson, McKean, Mercer, Potter, Tioga, Venango, and Warren. Butler County had twenty-two thousand three hundred and seventy-one people, and the county contained fifteen towns, townships, and boroughs, - to wit, Buffalo, Clearfield, Donegal, Centre, Parker, Venango, Mercer, Middlesex, Cherry, Slippery Rock, Butler Borough, Butler, Muddy Creek, Conoquenessing, and Cranberry. In that year, Butler County had three charcoal furnaces, with an output of six hundred and twenty-five tons. The amount of coal mined in the county was one hundred and two thousand three hundred bushels; number of miners employed, thirty-one. Retail stores in the county, fifty-five, with a capital of $172,850. Value of hats and caps manufactured in the county: $3750. Number of tanneries: twenty-two. Number of men employed: thirty-one. Number of distilleries: thirteen. Number of breweries: two. Number of printing-offices: two. Number of oil-mills: four. Number of saw-mills: sixty-four. Number of gristmills: fifty-four.
  CRAWFORD COUNTY - 1840
  In 1840, Crawford County had thirty-seven thousand seven hundred and twenty-four people, and the county contained twenty-seven towns, townships, and boroughs, - to wit, South Shenango, Greenwood, Venango, Fallowfield, Randolph, Woodcock, Vernon, Mead, Summerhill, Sadsbury, Meadville Borough, Sparta, Oil Creek, Richmond, Rome Cossawago, Beaver, Wayne, Bloomfield, Rockdale, Athens, Troy, Hayfield, Spring, Conneaut, Fairfield, and North Shenango. In that year Crawford County had two charcoal furnaces. The coal output was two thousand tons. Number of miners employed: six. Retail stores in the county, sixty-two, with a capital of $196,200. Value of hats and caps manufactured: four thousand. Number of tanneries: fourteen. Number of men employed twenty-six. Number of distilleries: fourteen. Number of breweries: one. Number of paper-mills: two. Number of printing offices: two. Number of grist-mills: thirty-nine. Number of saw-mills: one hundred and twenty-nine. Number of oil-mills: two. These were flax- seed mills, making linseed oil. These mills were quite numerous in Northwestern Pennsylvania, and an industry of importance and profit.”
  John Harper and son John Nelson Montgomery moved their families to Illinois in 1845, from Crawford County, PA. They settled at Buck Creek, in Dayton Township, LaSalle County, north of Ottawa, IL.
  According to documents located at LaSalle County Courthouse, Ottawa, IL, and in the Illinois State Archives, the first piece of property purchased by John Harper Montgomery in Illinois was 80 acres, in a Federal Transaction, for $1.25 an acre ($100.00), November 24, 1845, located 6 miles north of Ottawa, IL, in Dayton Township, about 1/8 mile west of current Illinois Route 23 along what is now Wedron Road, near a creek (Buck Creek): "The East 1/2 of the Southeast 1/4, Section 2, Township 34N (Dayton), Range 3 East, 3rd Principle Meridian."
  A Federal Land Patent for this parcel, Certificate No. 21.037, was issued to "John Montgomery, of Crawford County, Pennsylvania", on March 1, 1848, at the General Land Office, Dixon, IL.
  According to the Federal Census of 1850, the entry for John Harper Montgomery, and the rest of his family living together under one roof, was followed by the entry for a Brower family together with a man named Ashbel Beach, which had to have been directly across the road (the next stop for the census taker), as indicated on the Plat of the Township for the area for the given timeframe.
  According to the Federal Census of 1850 for LaSalle County, he was 56 years of age in 1850. John Harper was born in 1793, according to his age calculation from his obituary, making him 56 at the time of a summer Census, enumerated in November of 1850.
  The 1855 Illinois Census shows John H and Malinda living as a family unit on the farm at Buck Creek with a son, Benjamin F. Montgomery, as does the 1860 Census.
  August 4, 1863 - John and Malinda Montgomery sell their 80 acre farm to Ashbel E. Beach for $1,130.55.
  The 1865 Census shows John H and Malinda living with son John Nelson and wife Amanda Montgomery in Serena Township, LaSalle County, IL.
  John H died at the house of his son, John Nelson Montgomery, in Serena (Township), LaSalle County, IL, December 12, 1867, according to his printed obituary published January 11, 1868:
  "SERENA, NORTHVILLE Etc.
 DEATH - Died, at the residence of his son, in Serena, LaSalle County, Ill., on the 12th of December 1867. JOHN H. MONTGOMERY, aged 74 years, 9 months and 12 days. He had long suffered with the Liver Complaint, but had never been confined to the house withy sickness for any time, not even a day, after he was 7 years old, till the time of his death, and was then only confined to his bed 36 hours. He died of Liver Complaint combined with old age. He was one of the early settlers of this county having settled at Buck Creek in 1846. He died as he had lived - a good husband, king father, respected neioghbor and true Christian, esteemed by all who knew him, his character without constraint."
  He is believed to be buried in the Springstead Family Burial Ground (SFBG) about 300 feet south of the corner of N42ND Rd (Springstead Road) and E22ND Road in Serena Township, LaSalle County, IL, on the west side of E22ND Rd. This now unmarked family burial site is the subject of ongoing Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) data collection (by 4th-g-grandson William J. Montgomery) so as to identify locations of approximately 21 souls buried there. The burial ground is / was used by the Springstead family as early as 1849 and as late as 1903. A local farmer erased it as a burial ground in about 1959 by plowing it all under, tilling and planting it ever since. On May 15, 2010, a GPR study was initiated to locate graves, with some success. Session 2 of GPR was held April 28, 2018 with more success, virtually confirming the presence of graves.
  The 1870 Census shows the 80 acres originally purchased by John Harper Montgomery to be owned by someone with the last name of "Beach". Later (1876) Dayton Township Plats show the 80 acres of farm land being owned by someone with the last name of "Beach." (See August 4, 1863, above)
  March 26, 1883 - In his Personal Journal entry on March 26, 1883, J. Ivor Montgomery, John Harper's first grandson, writes that, from the (Lett) family farm south of Sandwich, IL, he " . . . drove to Ottawa via Bostwick's in Freedom; stopping at Ed. Temples in Serena + I. Browers (Irenus Browers, see 1850 census) + A.E. Beache's (Ashbel Beach - see 1850 census) in Dayton (Twp): I got tea and supper at Beache's. He had cut - today - a cottonwood tree by the front gate that Grandfather had planted; I counted 32 rings on it." Q: Was "Beach" a descendant of a Luman Beach who was in the same War of 1812 military unit/regiment as was John Harper? "Grandfather" would have been John Harper Montgomery and the tree would have been planted ca. 1850-1851, about the time James Stout signed a Quit Claim Deed to John N Montgomery for $1.00 for the 80 acres.
  Age of John Harper Montgomery, at key dates:
  Name Years Ages
 John H 1793 00 Born in Harpersfield, NY, March 1
 1799 6 Moved with family to Western Reserve, Conneaut Creek
 1804 11 Baptized into Cong. Church, Austinburg, OH, January
 1811 18 Moved to Madison Township with family
 1816 23 Among 44 on Madison, OH, Town Commons Land Deed
 1819 26 Married 29 April, in Denmark Township, OH
 1820 27 Son born in Madison Township, per 1820 US Census (?)
 1820 27 Date of Landowner Tax Map, Madison Twp
 1823 30 Daughter born, Rebecca, Madison Twp
 1825 32 Daughter born, Mary, Madison Twp
 1825/26? 33 Moved to Crawford County, Pennsylvania (?)
 1826 33 Son born, John N Montgomery, in PA
 1827 34 100 acres, Madison, Deeded: Titus Street to O. Smead
 1828 35 Trustee, Richmond Twp, Ashtabula County, OH
 1828 35 Daughter born, Almina, Richmond Twp, OH
 1830 37 US Census, Wayne Twp, Ashtabula County, OH
 1830 37 Son born, Charles, Wayne Twp
 1833 40 Son born, Benjamin F., Wayne Twp
 1835 42 Daughter, Eliza O., born in North Shenango, PA
 1840 47 US Census, North Shenango Twp, Crawford, PA
 1843 50 Son, John Nelson, marries Luceva Ward in North Shenango Twp, Crawford County, PA
 1845 52 Moves to Dayton Twp, LaSalle County, IL
 1847 54 Grandson, James Ivor, born to John N, 13 March
 1849 56 Grandson, William Harper, born to John N
 1850 57 Daughter-in-law, Luceva Ward Montgomery, dies in LaSalle County, IL
 1850 57 US Census, Dayton Twp, LaSalle County, IL
 1851 58 Son, John Nelson, marries 2nd wife, Amanda Springstead Strider
 1852 59 Grandson, George, born to John N
 1855 62 IL Census, Dayton Twp, LaSalle County, IL
 1856 63 Granddaughter, Luceva Amanda, born to John N
 1857 64 Granddaughter, Luevia, born to John N
 1858 65 Granddaughter, Florilla Ursula, born to John N
 1858 65 Attended first Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Ottawa, IL
 1860 67 Grandson, Manley William, born to son, John N
 1860 67 US Census, Dayton Twp, LaSalle County, IL
 1863 70 Retires from farming, sells farm to Ashbel Beach, moves in with son, John, near Serena.
 1865 72 IL Census, Dayton Twp, LaSalle County, IL
 1865 72 Granddaughter, “Minnie” Maria, born to John N, July
 1866 73 Grandson, Allen Lee, born to son, John N, June
 1867 74 Dies in Serena Twp, LaSalle Cty, IL, 12 December
  John Harper Montgomery lived through four of five Cholera Pandemics of the 1800's. These wide-spread disease outbreaks claimed thousands and thousands in cities and on the prairies, and took place over the following years, the second pandemic possibly claiming his son John's first wife, Luceva Ward Montgomery b 1824 d 1850:
 1st Cholera Pandemic - 1817-1823
 2nd Cholera Pandemic - 1829-1851
 (Luceva Ward Montgomery d June 9, 1850) (Son John Nelson's second wife's husband d April 12, 1851) 3rd Cholera Pandemic - 1852-1859 (Taking many children and adults - see SFBG)
 4th Cholera Pandemic - 1863-1879


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