I’m now a card-carrying member of the Clan Montgomery Society!  Here’s how the Montgomery branch of my family tree looks (as corrected on August 6, 2017):

• My father was Kenneth Oliver Montgomery, born September 6, 1930 in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Dad died of small cell lung cancer in Hurst, Texas, on January 6, 1997, and we buried him in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Greenwood, Indiana, next to his father.
• Ken’s father was James Oliver Montgomery, my grandfather, born May 6, 1908 in Casey County, Kentucky.  Known as Oliver (or as “Grandpa,” in my case), he died October 14, 1978 in Indianapolis, Indiana, of some form of cancer.
• Oliver’s father was Charles Woodson Montgomery, my great-grandfather, born February 13, 1874, in Casey County, Kentucky.  Charley died October 11, 1951, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Charley’s father was Clayton Steven Montgomery, my second great-grandfather, born December 4, 1852, in Lincoln County, Kentucky.  He died January 8, 1927 in Lincoln County, Kentucky.
• Clayton Steven’s father was Woodson C. Montgomery, my third great-grandfather, born about 1817 in Lincoln County, Kentucky.  He died May 5, 1891 in McKinney, Lincoln County, Kentucky.
• Woodson’s father was Clayton C. Montgomery, my fourth great-grandfather, born about 1783 in Lincoln County, Kentucky.  He died sometime between 1860 and 1870 (he appears in the 1860 census with his family, but not thereafter).
• Clayton C.’s father was William Montgomery, my fifth great-grandfather, born between 1760 and 1770 in Amherst, Virginia, and his mother was Elizabeth Montgomery (more about her later).  He is listed in the 1830 census in Lincoln County, Kentucky as being between 60 and 70 years old.  Since his son Woodson was born in 1783, he was surely closer to having been born in 1760 than 1770.  William died November 22, 1832 in Lincoln County, Kentucky.
• Clayton C.’s mother, Elizabeth Montgomery, my fifth great-grandmother) was the wife of her first cousin, William Montgomery, and daughter of William Montgomery (how confusing would it be for your father and your husband to have exactly the same name?), born in 1764, probably in Amherst County, Virginia.
• William’s father was John Montgomery, my sixth great-grandfather.  I’m not sure when he was born, or where, but he died in 1784 in Amherst, Virginia.  I’ve recently visited the Amherst Historical Society and gathered documents about the family’s time in Amherst, Virginia, and will write separately about that.
• Elizabeth’s father was William Montgomery, also my sixth great-grandfather, was born in 1727 in Kerr Creek, Augusta county, Virginia. I’ll write a separate blog about this William, as he was quite the interesting character.  He was a Colonel during the Revolutionary War and then moved to Lincoln County, Kentucky, with Daniel Boone and Benjamin Logan.  He was killed in March 1780 by Indians in the doorway of the cabin he had built in Kentucky.
• John’s and his half-brother William’s father was Alexander Montgomery, my seventh great-grandfather.  I don’t know much about Alexander yet, but I saw a record in Amherst, Virginia, that he bought land in the Blue Ridge Mountains near there, in 1744, soon after the area was opened up to European settlers.  I’ll separately write about all that I discovered about my Montgomery family in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Before Alexander, I don’t know yet.  The Amherst, Virginia, records describe him and the others who came with him as Scots-Irishmen who settled together along the creek north of Amherst there in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  They established the first Presbyterian Church in that area.  This will be the impetus for further genealogical research into his connection with the Scots-Irish movement.  We know that members of the Montgomery clan were living in or near Ayrshire, Scotland, starting in about 1160.  A group of Montgomery’s moved to northern Ireland, near Ulster, in the 1600’s in search of religious freedom.  They together with others called “Scots-Irish” began to move in the early 1700’s to America.  Most moved to Pennsylvania first, and then later to Virginia.  I assume this is the path that our family followed, but I have no evidence of anything before Alexander purchased property in 1744 in Amherst, Virginia.

• Amherst Virginia