Morton Luther Montgomery (1846–1933) was a native of Pennsylvania and a lawyer who became a military and public historian and author of more than a dozen books, lecture-related content, and other materials documenting the history of Pennsylvania from its earliest days through the early part of the 20th century.
Early life and education Montgomery was born on November 10, 1846, in Reading, Pennsylvania, and christened three days later at that city’s Trinity Lutheran Church. His parents were Reading resident Catharina (Rush) Montgomery (1809–1865) and Johan Leonard Montgomery (1812–1880), a native of Northumberland County who became the proprietor of a hardware business after relocating to Reading in 1841."Montgomery, Morton Luther," in "Pennsylvania Births and Christenings, 1709-1950" database (Trinity Lutheran Church, Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, November 13, 1846; FHL microfilm 22,038). Salt Lake City: Family History Library and FamilySearch.Montgomery, Morton Luther. Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County, Pennsylvania: Embracing a Concise History of the County and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families, Vol. I, pp. 402–404. Chicago, Illinois: J.H. Beers & Co., 1909.
His maternal grandfather, Phillip J. Rush (1784–1872), was a Reading native and weaver who had served in the Pennsylvania Militia as a Fife Major with Brigadier-General John Addams’ 1st Regiment, 2nd Brigade during the War of 1812.”The Veterans of the War of 1812.” Reading, Pennsylvania: Reading Times, March 22, 1866. His maternal grandmother, Barbara (Spohn) Rush (1876–1853), was a daughter of American Revolutionary War Patriot Captain John Spohn, whose troops fought in the Battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776.Montgomery, Morton L. Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County, p. 402.
Montgomery grew up in Reading with five siblings: Jonas A. (1844–1903), who later served as a bugler for the 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery during the American Civil War and wed Mary Renninger; Mary Elizabeth, Sarah, and John. He experienced tragedy early in life when his two youngest siblings died sometime before 1850. That year, a federal census taker noted that the family resided in Reading’s Northeast Ward, and included only Leonard and Catharine Montgomery and three children: Jonas, Morton, and Mary.Montgomery, Leonard, Catharine, Morton and Mary, in U.S. Census (Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, Northeast Ward). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Montgomery was educated in his community's common elementary school from childhood through 1860, and then at a Reading high school until 1863, and showed an aptitude for drafting and mathematics.
Career Early career
Following graduation, he apprenticed for eight months with Reading city engineer and Berks County surveyor Daniel S. Zacharias before accepting a position with Pottsville coal mining engineer Daniel Hoffman, a job he held for two years. Returning to Reading sometime around 1866, he took his first steps along the path toward becoming a practicing attorney, studying for three years under Jacob S. Livingood, Esq. According to Montgomery’s later recollections, in addition to his studies, he assisted “in the preparation of cases, arguments, proceedings in partition, conveyancing, etc.”Montgomery, Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County, p. 402.
During the fall of 1869, he took a brief break from his studies to broaden his horizons, traveling throughout America’s eastern and middle states.
Attorney By 1870, he was a 23-year-old law student at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.”Montgomery, Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County, p. 402. When not on the Harvard campus, according to the federal census that year, he resided at the home of his father, Leonard, in Reading’s 8th Ward. Also living there was his 21-year-old sister, Mary Montgomery.Montgomery, Leonard, Morton and Mary, in U.S. Census (Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. After completing two years of study at Harvard in 1871, he returned to Reading, where he finished his required third year of study in practicum with attorney Samuel L. Young, Esq. Admitted to the State Bar of Pennsylvania on August 28, 1871, Montgomery then practiced law professionally.Montgomery, Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County, pp. 402-403.
It was also during this decade that he wed and began a family. After marrying Florence Baugh in Chester County in 1875,"Montgomery, Morton L." and "Florence B.," in U.S. Census (Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, Ward 3, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. he and his wife greeted the arrival of daughter Florence Baugh Montgomery (1878–1960) on November 22, 1878. She was christened on June 8, 1878 at the same church – Trinity Lutheran in Reading – where Morton Montgomery had been baptized thirty-two years earlier."Florence Baugh Montgomery," in Baptismal Records. Reading, Pennsylvania: Trinity Lutheran Church, June 8, 1878.
As he advanced professionally as an attorney, Montgomery quickly began to appreciate the historical importance of the data he was uncovering while conducting research for a wider and wider range of clients, particularly as it "relat[ed] to the early settlements and formation of the townships … and all the districts of [Berks] county." This realization inspired him to pen a series of articles about the county’s history for local newspapers and his Political Hand-Book of Berks County, Pennsylvania (1883), and also became the impetus for his landmark History of Berks County in Pennsylvania. A culmination of a decade’s worth of research and writing, the latter was published in 1886.Montgomery, Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County, p. 403.Montgomery, Morton L. History of Berks County in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Everts, Peck & Richards, 1886.
Author In 1896, he researched and wrote a history of the Berks County Militia unit known as the Reading Artillerists, and then delivered a lecture based on that work for the Artillerists' 102nd anniversary celebration at Metropolitan Hall in Reading on May 25, 1896.Montgomery, Morton L. Historical Sketch of Reading Artillerists: Read Upon the Occasion of Their 102d Anniversary in Metropolitan Hall, May 25, 1896. Chicago, Illinois: J.E. Norton & Company, 1897.
He followed with School History of Berks County in Pennsylvania in 1899, "the first book of the kind published in the United States," according to Montgomery.Montgomery, Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County, p. 403.Montgomery, Morton L. School History of Berks County in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: J.B. Rodgers Printing Co., 1889. As his written works became more widely known, he was invited to speak to interested audiences at historical societies, libraries, teacher in-service days, and special civic events across the county and statewide. Early lecture titles included "Conrad Weiser, the First Representative Man of Berks County" and "Revolutionary Heroes of Berks County."Montgomery, Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County, p. 403. The next year, during his city's Fourth of July celebrations in 1890, he delivered an oration "on the objects, influence and success of the "Patriotic Order Sons of America.""Friday July 4, 1890 The P.O.S. of A. Demonstration." Reading, Pennsylvania: Reading Times, July 5, 1890.
Still practicing law after the turn of the century while continuing to work on his historical research and writing, he and his wife and daughter, Florence, were documented by federal census takers as residents of a home at 1104 Perkiomen Avenue in Reading in 1900."Montgomery, Morton L.," U.S. Census (1900).
In April 1909, local newspapers announced that his daughter, Florence, "one of the most popular of Reading’s young society women," was engaged to Joshua Brooke Lessig, president of Lessig Iron Works and of Pottstown's Citizens National Bank. The same announcement described Morton Montgomery as a "leading lawyer and local historian...social favorite and accomplished musician."Engagement Announced" (Florence Baugh Montgomery). Reading, Pennsylvania: Reading Times, April 19, 1909.
He also released a revised version of his History of Berks County. Expanded with enough additional content to fill a two-volume set of books, the 1909 edition was published by Chicago's J.H. Beers & Co. as Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County, Pennsylvania: Embracing a Concise History of the County and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.Montgomery, Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County, p. 403.
In 1914, he was widowed suddenly when his wife collapsed and died on the evening of Friday, November 20. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that she "was found dead on the floor of her home here [in Reading] today from heart failure, brought on by exhaustion following her return from a visit to her daughter, Mrs. Joseph Brooke Lessig, at Pottstown," and also described Morton Montgomery as "a prominent local lawyer and historian.""Mrs. Morton L. Montgomery," in "Reading News Items," in "News Gathered Here and There in Pennsylvania." Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 22, 1914."Mrs. Montgomery Historian’s Wife Dead in Parlor: Calls Doctor and Expires Alone in the House Before He Arrives: Police Break Door." Reading, Pennsylvania: Reading Times, November 21, 1914.
Sometime after his wife's death, Montgomery relocated to Allentown, Pennsylvania, and was documented as an Allentown resident in both the 1920 and 1930 U.S. federal census ledgers, the latter of which confirmed that he was a widower residing at the Sixth Street home of Martin and Mary Bontz in Allentown."Montgomery, Morton" and "Montgomery, Morton L.," in U.S. Census (Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1920 and 1930). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Death and legacy Montgomery died in Allentown in 1933."Morton L. Montgomery," in "Death Certificates." Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, 1933.
Citation of Montgomery's work by other historians Montgomery's published works continue to be cited by historians, journal article submissions, and other publications.Walker, Joseph E. Hopewell Village: A Social and Economic History of an Iron-Making Community. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1966, p. 487.McCord, Carey P., M.D. "Wares Manufactured in the American Colonies (1600-1775)," in Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Vol. 15, No. 12, December 1973, pp. 975–982. Elk Grove Village, Illinois: American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM)."Montgomery, Morton L.," in "Notes," in "The Ewing Papers – Part One," in The American Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 1, Spring-Summer 1987, p. 53. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Clements Library, University of Michigan, 1987 (retrieved online August 3, 2018).Nash, Gary B. and Jean R. Soderlund. Freedom by Degrees: Emancipation in Pennsylvania and Its Aftermath. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 1991, p. 208.Krebs, Daniel. "Useful Enemies: The Treatment of German Prisoners of War During the American War of Independence," in Journal of Military History, Vol. 77, No. 1, January 2013, pp. 9–39. Lexington, Virginia: Society for Military History, Virginia Military Institute. An abridged list of 20th and 21st-century academic, military and public historians who have cited Montgomery's work includes: