John Nelson Montgomery

MONTGOMERY, WARD, SPRINGSTEAD, STRIDER, WELLS, GIBBS, STEWART, STUART, PLATT

Posted By: WIlliam Montgomery (email)
Date: 3/30/2013 at 14:28:40

Moved to Illinois from Crawford County, PA, in 1845, at the age of 22, bringing his wife Luceva Ward.

John N.'s first wife was Luceva Ward died on 9 June 1850, and she was counted in the 1850 Federal Census which was enumerated later, in November, 1850.

John N., married his second wife, the widow Amanda Harriet (Springstead) Strider, in Ottawa, LaSalle County, IL., June 24, 1851, with Amanda being 8 months pregnant with a son from her recently dead husband John Strider. They had seven children together. In the 1900 Iowa Census, they are shown to have had 10 children between them, 8 of whom were still living in 1900. Perhaps two children died at young ages(?). (Two of those living 10 children were from John Nelson's first marriage; James Ivor and William Harper.)

Amanda had been married before to a John Strider of LaSalle County. John Strider died in 1851, in Serena Twp, LaSalle County, IL, leaving Amanda a widow with a daughter and one child on the way. John Strider's Will (date?) shows his property being willed to a Mary Jane Montgomery who was married later to a John Milton Montgomery of Iroquois County, IL. Mary J. and John M. Montgomery's names appear later, in 1869 and 1872, on land sale documents selling this land to a Wallace Dondanville. The 1876 Serena Township Landowner Plat Map shows "W. Dondanville" as owner of the 80 acres, about one mile west of Somonauk Road, two miles south of Springstead Road, 1/4-mile east of E22nd Road on 40th Road. John N. and Amanda also sold land bordering Mary's parcels to Dondanville about the same time frame. Mary Jane was Amanda's daughter with John Strider.

A piece of property found to be possibly owned / purchased by John Nelson Montgomery in Illinois was in Earlville, IL: a parcel of 5 acres on the east side of the town, according to documents located at LaSalle County Courthouse, Ottawa, IL, purchased in 1850, but the name on the documents does not differentiate between John N or John H Montgomery, nor do documents for the 80 acres John N's father owned in Dayton Township.

After the birth of their eighth child, Anna Elva, John N. and Amanda H., and family, moved to Iowa in 1870.

The US Census of 1870 has them all living in Iowa Township, Hampton Post Office, Franklin County, Iowa; John N. 43, Amanda H. 43, Luceva 14, Florilla (Ursula) 12, William (Manley?) 10, Minnie 5, (Allen) Lee 3, and (Anna) Elva 1yr. Also on the 1870 Census (with the above family) is a C(harles) Montgomery, age 40, a younger brother of John N.

An 1875 Plat Map of Franklin County, IA, shows "J. N. Montgomery" located in Lee Township, Franklin County, IA, Section 22, with a cemetery on the 160 acres, and a Blacksmith Shop across the road to the west, (160 acres) at T90, R21, S22, SW (1/2) SE (1/4).

Documents dated 1872, found in the LaSalle County Courthouse, Ottawa, IL, indicating the transfer / sale of property in LaSalle County, Illinois, show John N. and Amanda living in Franklin County, Iowa, at the time. Surely the Strider-Montgomery farm property they left when they moved to Iowa, was sold in a joint transaction with Amanda's oldest (Strider) daughter, Mary Jane and husband John Milton Montgomery, of Fountain Creek, Iroquois County, IL. Mary Jane had had interest in the farm somehow as being an heir to its original owner, her father, John Strider, who died in 1851.

The US Census of 1880 finds the family in Lee Township, Franklin County, IA, thusly:

* John N., Amanda H., Minnie, Lee, and Annie E., and a laborer named Charles Thomas, living together.

* Daughter Luceva A., living with her husband Joseph M. Wells and their children John J., 3, and Bessie, 10 months.

* Daughter Florilla E. 22, living with her husband Edward L. Gibbs 27, and their child William A., 11 months.

In the "History of Franklin and Cerro Gordo Counties, Iowa 1883, Ch. XXIV, Lee Township, Pgs 458-459, Union Publishing Company, Spingfield, IL 1883", a Biography for John N. states:
"J. N. Montgomery was born in Pennsylvania in 1827, and was there married to Luceva Ward. In 1845 they moved to Illinois, where his wife died. He subsequently married Mrs. Amanda Strider. He is member of Masonic Fraternity. In politics he is a greenbacker and has held local offices."

The 1885 Iowa Census has John N and Amanda, Allen Lee and Anna Elva, living on a farm located at: Franklin County, Twp 90 (Lee), Range 21, Section 22, SW SE (160 acres), which is due east of Popejoy and due north of Iowa Falls. Also living on this farm are John N and Amanda's daughter Florilla Ursula Gibbs age 26 and her husband Thomas Gibbs age 30, and their children, William Allen Gibbs 4, Lewis Gibbs 2, and Edward Gibbs, infant.

In 1889, John N. purchased 78.64 acres for $2,000 on the west side of Iowa Falls, with a mill site on it. In 1892, John N. purchased 28 acres and 5 acres, respectively, on the west side of Iowa Falls, for $623, total.

The 1892 Hardin County, IA, Plat Book indicates "J. Montgomery" owned a total of 150 acres, west of Iowa Falls, IA, with a Mill Site or Brick Yard on it. A draft of John N.'s will (not probated) dated October, 1883, indicates ownership of property in the amount of approximately 150 acres just to the west of Iowa Falls, above the river.

In 1883 (John N's Draft Will) and in 1900 (US Census) they were living in Hardin County, Iowa.

In the US Census of 1900, John Nelson and Amanda are found to be living with their daughter, Minnie M. Montgomery Stewart (Stuart), age 34, along with Minnie's husband, Edmund W., age 39, and children, Ethel, 14, Myrtle C., 11, and Raymond, 9. Amanda died January 28, 1901, in Iowa Falls, IA.

According to documents located in 1991, in the Hardin County Courthouse in Eldora, IA, John N. began selling property in the Spring of 1901:
8 acres to Willie Mitchell, March 12, 1901;
8 acres to Henry Rush, May 17, 1901;
64 acres to J. Kennedy, July 3, 1901.

John N. died at Siloam Springs, Arkansas, September 19, 1908, after moving to Arkansas, in January, 1907, with his son, Allan Lee Montgomery, due to health (asthma / hay fever) concerns.

The graves of John N. and Amanda H. were found in the Union Cemetery in Iowa Falls, IA, in 1991, by William J. Montgomery (RIN 1 - g-g-grandson) at locations, 4.A. L10 s8 and s7.

John Nelson Montgomery's Mother, Malinda Platt Montgomery, may be buried in the cemetery next to the Lee Twp, Franklin County farm of John Nelson's (1870 Iowa Census, 160 acres) at T90, R21, S22, SW (1/2) SE (1/4)), since she died "at the home of her son, in Iowa Falls in 1874", and "is buried in Iowa Falls", according to her printed obituary. There was a cemetery designated with a cross on the 1875 Plat Map, located just north of the homesite location, also marked on the farm property. This property today is vacant, tilled farm land, as seen from satellite photography.

Source: The Family of William J Montgomery

A Montgomery Family Genealogy
 

Franklin Biographies maintained by Rose Rouse.
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