My Genealogy Hound

John S. Montgomery, by virtue of his long residence in Arkansas County and his popular association with its affairs, deserves prominent mention in the present volume. Leroy Montgomery, his father, came to Arkansas in 1846, and settled in the wilds of Arkansas County at a time when there were but few settlers and when the woods echoed with the cries of bears, deer, wildcats, panthers, etc. He was a hard-working man, and cleared up a large farm. In 1853, in company with Col. Charles Belknap and Dr. J. A. Moorman, he was appointed a commissioner to locate and name the county seat of Arkansas County. After deciding on the present site of De Witt for the new seat of justice they decided to play “seven up” to see who should name it, and the lot falling to Mr. Montgomery, he called it DeWitt, in honor of ex-Gov. DeWitt Clinton, of New York. Mr. Montgomery died in 1865 and his wife in 1873. They were the parents of seven children, namely: Marion, L. D., A. J., J. S., R. L., L. and M. R., only two of whom are now living, R. L. and J. S. Montgomery. J. S. Montgomery married a Miss Martha A. Pryor, daughter of Isaac and Martha A. Pryor. They are the parents of three children, one son and two daughters. Mr. Montgomery has spent all his life on the farm that he still occupies, a part of which is the old place cleared up by his father, consisting of 520 acres, 160 acres of which are under cultivation. He also owns a cotton-gin and corn-mill (run by horse-power up to 1883, but since that time by steam-power). He is a Democrat in politics, and cast his first presidential vote for Horace Greeley in 1872. His eldest brother, Marion, was in the Confederate army, and in the last battle in Virginia, said, “I am going to send some of the blue home.” A few moments later he was killed. John S. Montgomery is now living in the house built by his father in 1847.