Brig. Gen. William Montgomery served in the United States Civil War. Enlisted: 1861 Side: USA Regiment(s): 1st New Jersey Volunteers
William was a son of James Montgomery and Ellen Reading. He was born in 1801 in New Jersey. He married Hannah B. Wood in 1838 in New York. They had three children, William, Henry, and William. In 1850 they lived in Bristol, Bucks, Pennsylvania. William wrote his will on 7 January 1871. He died in 1871 and was buried in Saint James Episcopal Church Cemetery.
Military
Montgomery, William R. brigadier-general, was born in Monmouth county, N. J., July 10, 1801. He was graduated at the United States military academy in 1825 and served on the Canadian border during the disturbances of 1838-46, in the Florida war of 1840-42, and in the military occupation of Texas. In the Mexican war, which he entered as captain, he fought at Resaca de la Palma, where he was wounded and brevetted major, at Molino del Rey, where he was again wounded, and he commanded his regiment at Chapultepec and the capture of the Mexican capital. For services at Molino del Rey he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, and in Dec., 1852, he was promoted major. He was stationed at Fort Riley, Kan., during the troubles in that territory, and while there incurred the displeasure of the authorities and was dismissed from the service, Dec. 8, 1855. At the beginning of the Civil war he organized the 1st N. J. volunteers, of which he became colonel, May 31, 1861, and he was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers, to date May 17, and appointed military governor of Alexandria, Va. He subsequently held a similar office in Annapolis, Md., and then in Philadelphia, Pa., until 1863, after which he served on a military commission in Memphis, Tenn. He resigned on account of failing health, April 4, 1864, and after a brief period in Philadelphia retired to his home in Bristol, Pa., where he died May 31, 1871.[1]
Obituary
Philadelphia Inquirer
Philadephia, Pennsylvania
1 June 1871, page 5
MONTGOMERY, - At his late residence, in Bristol, Pa., on the 31st ult., WILLIAM R. MONTGOMERY, late Brigadier-General United States Volunteers, in the 71st year of his age.
The relatives and friends of the family are respectfully invited to attend his funeral, on Saturday, June 3, at St. James' Church, Bristol, at 3:30 o'clock P. M
Mary Alice Hunter Bull, Record of Hunter of Hunterston, Ayrshire, Scotland. (Washington, District of Columbia: Mary Alice Hunter Bull, 1902); page 75
The Union Army, A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal States 1861-1865; Volume 8 Biographic (Federal Publishing Company, Madison, Wisconsin 1908).
1850 United States Federal Census, Household of Henry B. Dowance, enumerated 16 September 1850. Bucks County, Pennsylvania - the Borough of Bristol. Series M432, Roll 759, page 30A. Washington, District of Columbia, National Archives and Records Administration.
1860 United States Federal Census, Household of Wm R. Montgomery, Gentleman, enumerated 1 June 1860. Bucks County, Pennsylvania - Bristol Borough. Series M653 Roll 1084, page 5 (67). Washington, District of Columbia, National Archives and Records Administration. "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXP4-4JC : 30 December 2015), Wm R Montgomery, 1860.
1870 United States Federal Census, Household of William R. Montgomery, Gentleman, enumerated 10 August 1870. Bucks County, Pennsylvania - Bristol Borough. Series M593, Roll 1313, page 83 (128A). Washington, District of Columbia, National Archives and Records Administration.
Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Register of Wills. File 12907
Thomas Harrison Montgomery, compiler, A Genealogical History of the Family of Montgomery: Including the Montgomery Pedigree (H. B. Ashmead, printer)
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with William by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA.
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thanks ~mary