Commemorative biographical record of Hartford County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Pt 1, Part 63

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1336


USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Commemorative biographical record of Hartford County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Pt 1 > Part 63


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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Ephraim Terry, great-great-great-grandfather of our subject, was born in Enfield Oct. 24, 1701, and died there Oct. 14. 1783. He was a tanner in Enfield, and a major in the militia. He married Sept. 13, 1722-23, Ann (daughter of Rev. Na- thaniel and Alice (Adams) Collins), who was born Dec. 20, 1702, and died Sept. 10, 1778. She was the great-great-granddaughter of Gov. Will- iam Bradford, of Plymouth Colony, who came from England in the "Mayflower." Their children, all born in Enfield: (1) Mary, born Jan. 1, 1723-24, married Nov. 29, 1739, Ebenezer Pease. (2) Sam- uel. sketch of whom follows. (3) Ephraim, born May 3. 1728, died Dec. 20, 1807, married Dec. 30, 1756, Martha Olmstead; he was a farmer in En- field. (4) Nathaniel, born June 3, 1730, died Feb. 20. 1792, married Abiah Dwight. He was a cap- tain in the militia, and on the day following the news of the battle of Lexington he set out for Bos- ton with fifty-nine men: he was afterward pro- moted to Colonel; his home was in Enfield. (5) Anne, born Aug. 17, 1732, died in Westfield, Mass., Oct. 5. 1764, married in 1750 John Kellogg, and lived in Westfield. (6) Lucy, born June 22, 1734. died Dec. 16, 1811, is said to have married, about 1759. Daniel Dwight, a physician and surgeon. (7) Elijah, born Aug. 4, 1736, died Nov. 7, 1707, mar- ried Feb. 19, 1762, Sarah Parsons : they made their home in Enfield. (8) Alice, born Aug. 23, 1738, died Sept. 10, 1743. (9) Sybil, born Aug. 8. 1740, died June 26, 1775, married Dec. 10, 1761. Nathaniel Chapin ; they lived in Enfield. (10) Eliphalet, born Dec. 24, 1742, died Nov. 2, 1812, married Dec. 3. 1765. Mary Hall; he was a lawyer in Enfield, a deacon in the Congregational Church, and held various town offices. Of these,


Samuel Terry, great-great-grandfather of our subject, was born Oct. 18, 1725, in Enfield, Conn .. and died there May 8. 1798. He was an innkeeper in Enfield. He married in Westfield, Mass., April 21, 1748, Mary, daughter of Samuel and Rachel (Ashley) Kellogg, who was born Oct. 24. 1730, and died Feb. IT, 1801. Their children, all born in Enfield, were as follows: (1) Samuel, sketch of whom follows. (2) Alice, born June 26. 1752, died March 22, 1830, was married Dec. 23. 1773, to Lemuel Kingsbury, of Tolland, Conn. (3) Mary, born April 7. 1754, died Jan. 4. 1808. married Aug. 15. 1774. David Shaw, of East Windsor, Conn. (4) Asaph. born Nov. 15, 1756, died May 10, 1839, mar- ried (first) July 21, 1778, Penelope McGregory,


who was born about the year 1758, and died March 30, 1818. He married ( second) March 25, 1822, Nancy Atwell, of Montville, Conn., born May 22. 1793, died June 8, 1875. Asaph Terry was a farmer by occupation, a colonel in the militia, and served in the Revolutionary war. (5) Rhoda Aun, born May II, 1759, died Dec. 12, 1783, was married May II, 1778, to Thaddeus Billings, Jr., of Longmeadow, Mass., where he was a lieutenant in the militia. (6) Levi, born March 30, 1761, died in New London, March 27, 1779, was a soldier in the Federal army. (7) Solomon, born Oct. 31, 1763, died May 25, 1839, married (first) Aug. 31, 1788, Hannah Pease, who was born Nov. 29, 1770, and died March 5, 1808; he married ( second) Sept. 6, 1810, Margaret l'ease, who was born July 2, 1776, and died Sept. 7. 1851 : he lived in Enfield. (8) Sybil, born May 23, 1769, died in May, 1844, was married (first) March 23, 1785, to Nathaniel Billings; she later married Simeon Pease, who was born Feb. 7, 1758, and died in 1847; they lived in Enfield. (9) Ezekiel, born March 1, 1775, died in Monson, Mass., April 7, 1829, married, in 1795, Mary Griswold; he was a Baptist minister, hymn writer and printer. They made their home in Monson, Mass. Of these,


Samuel Terry, great-grandfather of our sub- ject, was born July 29, 1750, in Enfield, Conn., and died in South Windsor, Conn., Nov. 11, 1838. He was a farmer and tanner in East Windsor (now South Windsor). He married (first) Dec. 16, 1771, Huldah, daughter of Silas and Hannah ( Mor- ton) Burnham, who was born April 30. 1752, and died May 18, 1809; he married ( second) Dorcas Buckland, who was born in 1759, and died Aug. 4. 1834. A brief record of his children, all born in South Windsor, is as follows: (1) Eli, born April 13, 1772, died in Terryville, Conn., Feb. 24, 1852, married (first) March 12, 1795. Eunice, daughter of James and Eunice (Dutton) Warner. of Plymouth, Conn., born May 31, 1773, died in Plymouth Dec. 15. 1839. He married (second) in Oct. 1840, Mrs. Harriet Ann Peck, daughter of Philip and Anna (Adams) Pond, of Torrington. Conn., and widow of Ozias Peck, of Plymouth. She was born May 10, 1804, and died in Torring- ton Aug. 22, 1851. Eli was a clockmaker by trade. and the first in this country to make clocks in large quantities. For a time he lived in Plymouth, Conn .. his later years being passed in the village of Terry- ville, which was named after him. (2) Samuel, a sketch of whom follows. (3) Silas, born Dec. 15. 1775, died Nov. 21, 1811, married Chloe, daughter of Oliver and Mary C. (Foster) Grant, born in Wapping, Conn., May 15, 1786. died in Hartford in March, 1874: he was a farmer in South Windsor. (4) Huldah, born in South Windsor May 4. 1778. chied in Enfield, Sept. 11, 1831, married Lemuch Kingsbury, Jr. ; he was a farmer in Enfield. (5) Lucy, born Sept. 26, 1780, died in West Hartford Dec. 6, 1861, married Dyer, son of Joseph. Jr., and Sybil (Stoughton) Newberry ; he was a farmer in


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South Windsor. (6) Anne, born Feb. 7, 1783, died Dec. 26, 1784. (7) Naomi, born Sept. 21, 1787, died in Hartford, Dec. 1, 1869, was married in May, 1813, to William, son of John and Lydia ( Sumner ) Strong, born July 24, 1785, died Nov. 10, 1841 ; he was a leather merchant in Hartford. (8) Horace, born Nov. 9, 1789, died in Plymouth Aug. 1, 1840, married Sally Ward, born in 1795, died Aug. 4, 1870; he was a clock maker in Plymouth. (9) Clar- issa, born Oct. 15, 1793, died in Westfield, Mass., May 6, 1873, married Oct. 27. 1818, Elisha Galpin, son of Amzi and Rosetta ( Warner) Talmadge, born in Plymouth Feb. 16, 1794, died July 28, 1835. He was a maker of and dealer in saddlery goods in Westfield. (10) Joseph, born in South Windsor, Oct. 3, 1797, died in Hartford Oct. 25, 1875, mar- ried in South Windsor Oct. 8. 1821, Mary Mather, daughter of John Field and Mary ( Mather) Fitch; she was born in South Windsor Sept. 3, 1802. Joseph was formerly in the leather busi- ness, was quite an architect, but in his later life was a farmer. He lived in Hartford. Of these,


Samuel Terry, grandfather of our subject, was born Jan. 24, 1774, in South Windsor, Conn., whence he removed to Bristol, and established the Terry Clock factory, which he conducted for a great many years, his son Theodore and a Mr. An- drews, under the firm name of Terry & Andrews, then taking hold of the business. Samuel Terry after this change commenced the manufacture of large tower clocks, one of which is to be seen in the tower of the Congregational church of Bristol. In this line of business he continued until his death May 4, 1853. He was formerly in the clock busi- ness with his brother Eli, at Terryville, and then came to Bristol, as above related.


Samuel Terry married Esther Gillett, who was born Feb. 7, 1775, and died in Bristol. Their chil- dren, all born in South Windsor, Conn .. were as follows: (1) Samuel Steele, sketch of whom fol- lows. (2) William, born June 13, 1800, died in Dec., 1822, married Dec. 24, 1821, Nancy Harris. (3) Esther G., born Sept. 19, 1801. (4) Ralph Ensign, born March 4, 1804, married Oct. 9, 1844, Ruth Lewis, daughter of William and Julia A. ( Bots- ford) Hubbell, born April 14. 1820, died May 12, 1872; he was a clock maker in Bristol. (5) John Burnham, born May 7, 1806, died in Brooklyn, N. Y., March 14. 1870, married (first) June 16, 1828. Amanda Joanna, daughter of David and Lois ( Sut- liff) Warner, and (second) Mrs. Hannah ( Clapp) Burnham, widow of Leander Burnham; he was a dentist in Hartford, Conn., afterward in Brooklyn, N. Y. (6) Theodore, born Aug. 5, 1808, died in New Haven, June 18, 1881, married Juliette, daugh- ter of Philo and Sarah (or Sally) Pierce. He was a clockmaker in Bristol and Ansonia, Conn., later engaging in the oil business in Pennsylvania; for a time he made his home in Hartford, but his last days were spent in New Haven. (7) Hannah Mor- ton, born April 12, 1810, died May 20, 1841, was


married to Samuel B. Smith. (8) Edward, born March 4, 1812, died Aug. 22, 1866, married March 25, 1833, Anne Lewis. (9) Milo, born March 9, 1814, married ( first ) Oct. 22, 1834, Cynthia Mose- ly, of Westfield, Mass., and ( second) Mrs. Abigail Murphy, a widow. (10) Franklin Kellogg, born Nov. 15, 1815, died Dec. 10, 1855, married Mary Jane, daughter of Joseph D. Huntington, of West- field, Mass. For a time he was a lawyer in Albany, N. Y., but finally removed to the West. Of these,


Samuel Steele Terry, father of our subject, was born May 29, 1798, in South Windsor, Conn., and died April 10, 1867, in Ansonia. He was a con- tractor in the wheel and pinion department of the clock shops of Terry & Andrews, in Bristol, which concern had been started by Samuel Terry. a brother of Eli Terry, after whom the village of Terryville was named. Samuel S. Terry removed to Ansonia, where the clock shop was also removed in 1850, and the factory, after one or two changes, finally merged into what is now known as the Ansonia Clock Co.


On Nov. 28, 1827, Samuel S. Terry was mar- ried to Mary S. Stoughton, who was born Oct. 6, 1801, in East Windsor, Conn., a daughter of Shem Stoughton, and died in Bristol Nov. 15, 1842. He married (second) May 8, 1844, Mrs. Mary Mer- riam, daughter of Amandeus Botsford, and widow of Anson Merriam. There were no children by this marriage. Children by first marriage, all born in Bristol, were as follows: (1) William Almeron, sketch of whom follows. (2) Charles Bryant, born Feb. 13, 1830, died in Bristol in Sept. 1849. (3) Samuel Hart, born June 19. 1834, married Jan. 8, 1858, Elizabeth Amanda Smith, and now lives in New Haven. (4) Albert Taylor, born Aug. 15, 1836, died in Bristol May 26, 1839. (5) Mary Eliza- beth, born April 21, 1839. (6) Edgar Stoughton, born Oct. 24, 1842. The parents of this family were both members of the Congregational Church, and in politics the father was first a Whig, later a Republican. They are buried in Compounce cemetery.


William A. Terry, the subject proper of these lines, received an education, in part at the Bristol common schools, in part at the academy in that place, leaving school at the age of fifteen. He then commenced his life work under his father in the clock shop, and remained there until the latter's removal to Ansonia along with the shop. Our sub- ject then went to Atkins & Ives Co., as a clock- maker, but at the end of a year left there and commenced work with Terry, Downs & Co. (the senior member of the firm being his uncle, Ralph Ensign Terry), and there remained some two years. His next experience was in the melodeon factory of Herrald J. Potter, as tuner of the instruments, in what is now known as the "saw shop," and there continued a number of years. Becoming interested in the new collodion process of photography, Mr. Terry hired John Churchill's gallery, and worked


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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


on ambrotypes and photographs as well as in the melodeon factory, for two years or more, after- ward moving to Sigourney's building, and giving his whole time to the business. Then, during other two years, he went to Ansonia three days each week, to tune the melodeons made by Page, Pot- ter & Co., now known as the Sterling Co., piano makers. In 1872 he erected the gallery and build- ing on the corner of Laurel and North Main streets, and soon afterward a greenhouse on West street, adding the florist's business to that of dealer in pictures, pianos, organs, and sewing machines. There he continued in the photographic art until about fifteen years ago, since when he has not been actively engaged in any line of business. For sev- cral years, until the art of photography began to improve, he had to make his own chemicals and paraphernalia.


On April 8, 1850, Mr. Terry married Miss Es- ther Amelia Ball, a daughter of Amzi and Hannah (Royce) Ball, of Bristol, Conn., and children have been born to them as follows: A daughter, born in 1851, died same year ; a son born in 1852, died same year : Elizabeth, born July 12, 1853, married Bur- dette A. Peck, of Bristol, and has three children; William Bryant, born Jan. 28, 1855, is a florist and dealer in musical implements, picture frames, etc. ; Carrie Louise, born July 2, 1856, married James G. Beckwith, of Bristol, an engineer in the Sessions foundry, and they have two children ; and Charles, born Sept. 5, 1867, married Cora Fenn, of Ply- mouth. Conn., and they live in Plymouth with their two children. Mr. and Mrs. Terry, the parents of tl;is family, attend the services of the Congrega- tional Church, and in politics he has always been a stanch Republican, though no aspirant for office.


Mr. Terry, during the time he was in the clock- making business, was the author of several inven- tions, and among them may be mentioned a cal- endar clock, which was manufactured by the An- sonia Clock Co. It could be set by moving the hands. while others had to be set by moving one day at a time. The model of it in the Patent Office, Washington, D. C., would calculate leap year cor- rectly for more than three thousand years, leaving out leap year at the end of every fourth century. Ile also invented several processes in photography ; moreover, he has spent some time in experimenting, with no inconsiderable success, in lenses. For the past fifteen years he has done considerable investi- gating as a naturalist, and microscopist, making a special study of ferns, alga, diatoms and desmids, of which he has a large collection, and has con- tributed several articles to the various microscop- ical and scientific journals.


He is well known to scientists of the world as an expert in collecting, preparing and mounting diatoms, of which he has a large collection, and also a discoverer of new and rare species, several of which have been given his name by leading scien- tists in honor of his discovery of them, and many


others he has himself named. He published a scries of articles in the "Am. Mic. Journal" on the "Diatoms of the Connecticut shore," and he has discovered and investigated eleven different fossil deposits of diatoms in Bristol. One of the new species he discovered in Bristol has never yet been found anywhere else, and another is found only in New Britain.


THOMAS DAVISON CROTHERS, M. D., president of Walnut Lodge Hospital, Hartford, former assistant superintendent and physician of the New York State Inebriate Asylum, and also former superintendent of Walnut Hill Asylum, Hartford, has given the greater part of his life to the study of inebriety, a specialty in which he has gained distinction throughout both this country and the Old World.


Dr. Crothers was born Sept. 12, 1842, in West Charlton, Saratoga Co., N. Y., son of Robert and Harriet E. (Smith) Crothers. Robert Crothers was a direct descendant of a noted family of sur- geons, who have been prominent in Edinburgh, Scotland, for over a century, as teachers in the University of that city; while Harriet E. (Smith) Crothers came from the Holmes family, of Stoning- ton, Conn., and the Smiths of Westchester, N. Y., both of which branches were prominently repre- sented in the French and Revolutionary wars.


Dr. Crothers, our subject, prepared for college at Fort Edward (N. Y.) Seminary, and previous to his entrance taught school in both New York and New Jersey. In 1865 he was graduated from the Albany (N. Y.) Medical College, and a year later entered the Ira Harris ( United States) Military Hospital as a cadet. During the same year he took a post-graduate course at the Long Island Hospital and at Bellevue College, and then made his way to Galway, N. Y., where he began to practice his pro- fession in 1866. In 1870 he removed to Albany, N. Y., and from 1873 to 1875 he was clinical assist- ant and lecturer in the Albany (N. Y.) Medical College, while from 1872 to 1874 he was on the editorial staff of the "Medical and Surgical Report- er,"of Philadelphia. In 1875 he was appointed assist- ant superintendent and physician of the New York Inebriate Asylum, Binghamton, N. Y., and in 1878 was made superintendent of the Walnut Hill Asy- lum, at Hartford, Conn. In 1875 he was elected secretary of the American Association for the Study and Cure of Inebriates, which position he holds to the present time, and the ensuing year he was ap- pointed editor of the "Journal of Inebriety," a po- sition he also still continues to fill. On Nov. 21, 1900, Dr. Crothers was elected professor of dis- cases of the brain and nervous system in the New York School of Clinical Medicine.


In 1880 Dr. Crothers organized the Walnut Lodge Hospital, a private corporation for the medi- cal treatment of alcohol and opium inebriates, of which he has since been president. In 1890 he was


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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


elected secretary of the American Temperance As- sociation and editor of the "Bulletin" published by this society. Dr. Crothers is identified with many home and foreign organizations of prominence in the medical world, being a member of the British Medical Association; the French Society for Psy- chological Research; the English Psychical Society ; the Belgium Society of Mental Medicine; and an honorary member of the Russian Society of Mental Science; the American Association; and others.


In 1887 Dr. Crothers was one of the American delegates to the International Congress for the study of inebriety at London, England. The British Society tendered him a public dinner on that oc- casion, and he was honored with many other testi- monials of respect and appreciation. For many years the Doctor has been a voluminous writer and lecturer on different phases of inebriety, and his views have been the subject of much interest and controversy. In 1888 and 1889 he delivered a course of lectures before the students of the Al- bany (N. Y.) Medical College and the Vermont University, at Burlington, Vt., and in 1893 he edited the work on "Diseases of Inebriety," which was published by Treat & Co., of New York. Like all other pioneers Dr. Crothers has a large circle of ardent admirers among scientific men, as well as bitter detractors. His conduct of the "Journal of of Inebriety" has given it a national reputation among the scientific periodicals of the day, and his private hospital has attracted wide-spread attention and patients from all over the county. In 1899 he was made vice-president of the International Congress, an organization against the abuse of alcohol, held at Paris in April of that year. On June 16, 1900, he delivered the historical address of the medical study of the alcoholic question be- fore the World's Temperance Congress at London, England.


In 1875 Dr. Crothers married Mrs. S. B. Ryse- dorph, of Albany, New York.


EDGAR CLARENCE COWLES, M. D. The Cowles family is one of the oldest in this country, and the subject of this biography, a successful physician at Hartford, is of the seventh generation of actual residents within our borders. He traces his descent from John Cowles, an Englishman, who came to Massachusetts in 1636, and settled in Farm- ington, this county, in 1640.


(II) Isaac Cowles, son of the pioneer, was born in 1675, and died in 1756.


(III) James Cowles, born in 1723. died in 1789. (IV) Jeremiah Cowles was born in 1774, and died in 1834. He married Abigail Woodruff.


(V) James Woodruff Cowles was born in Farm- ington, and always lived in the old homestead. He died in 1868. In politics he was a Republican, and at one time served as town constable. He was also interested in religious work as a member of the Congregational Church. He married Amelia A.


Hills, daughter of Sylvester Hills, and they had six children : Edgar Phillip, our subject's father ; Frances Mary, deceased; Emily Dickinson, who married James W. Moore, of Cleveland, Ohio; Charlotte A., deceased; Gustavus; and Arthur, a resident of Des Moines, Iowa.


(VI) Edgar Phillip Cowles was born in Farm- ington July 17, 1840, and died in Hartford June . 3, 1891. During the Civil war he rendered valu- able aid in the mustering office at Hartford under Gen. Pease, and in the field as a member of Com- pany B, 22nd Conn. V. I. On June 6, 1866, he be- came treasurer of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co. At one time he was clerk in the "United States Hotel." Later he gave much attention to finance as a director of the First National Bank of Hart- ford, and for many years he managed the estate of Newton Case, of Hartford. He was married in Farmington, Conn., to Miss Eunice M. Slater, daughter of Norris Slater, a well-known citizen, and they had two children: Gertrude (who was born June 26, 1869, and died Sept. 27, 1869) and Edgar Clarence.


(VII) Dr. Edgar C. Cowles was born in Hart- ford Sept. 1. 1875, and his education was begun in the local schools. He attended the Connecticut Literary Institute, Suffield, for two years, and in 1894 entered the Medical Department of Boston University. His medical course was continued at the Cleveland University of Medicine and Surgery, where he was graduated March 22, 1897; at the New York Polyclinic Medical School and Hos- pital, where he did special work in operative sur- gery and gynecology in 1897-98; at the Lying-in- Hospital; and the Mothers and Babes Hospital, New York. From July, 1899, to February, 1900, he was in charge of the Hartford Dispensary, and his success points to a bright professional future. He is now medical examiner for Hartford Lodge, New England Order of Protection. The Doctor is a member of the Dunham Medical Society, the Con- necticut Homeopathic Medical Society, and the United Order of the Golden Cross, being medical examiner for the last named.


SILAS K. MONTGOMERY, postmaster of Bristol from the spring of 1885 until the spring of 1898, was born in Warren, Knox Co., Maine, Oct. 7, 1845. He attended the common school until fifteen years of age, then the Warren Academy for two years, after which he took a course in Bryant & Stratton's Business College, at Portland, Maine, from which he graduated in 1868. His first busi- ness engagement was as bookkeeper for Ellsworth & Bidwell, at Windsor, Conn., with whom he re- mained for three years; he next was employed for five years at Watertown, Conn., by Myron McNiel, dealer in general merchandise, drugs and medicines. He then built a drug store for himself, which he conducted five years, sold out to Edward Ensign, of Watertown, and came to Bristol in 1881, buying the


Edgar Clarence Cowles, M.D.


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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


William Reynolds drug store on North Main street, in the "Gridley House" block, which he sold a year and a half later to William C. Hillard.


Mr. Montgomery is a Democrat in politics. He served on the board of assessors of Bristol for three years, and at the same time conducted a real-estate business. At the end of that time he was appointed ( during a recess of Congress) postmaster by Presi- dent Cleveland, for one year, and when Congress re-convened, in March, 1886, he was appointed for four years, in 1890 receiving appointment to the saine office by President Harrison for another term of four years. In 1894, after the re-election of Grover Cleveland to the Presidency, he was by him re-appointed for four years, and served until April 1, 1898, since when he has passed consider- able time in travel.


The fact of Mr. Montgomery's retaining his position as postmaster for so many years is highly creditable in itself, but his management of the post office is still more so. When he was first appointed, the office was of the third class, but by the time of his retirement he had worked it up to second class, with three clerks paid by the Government, and a free delivery. In 1895, the location of the office was changed, and a larger office secured. He worked persistently to secure free delivery, and met with his triumph July 16, 1897. It has proven to be of vast benefit and convenience to the town's people, who have never ceased to appreciate Mr. Montgomery's enterprise and energy.


Mr. Montgomery has been very public-spirited ; has built quite a number of houses in the town, and was influential in causing the streets to be named and houses numbered. He was a director in the Turner Heater Co., which was started in Bristol in 1891, and was its secretary and treasurer from that date until 1894, when he resigned ; he was also instrumental in forming the Bristol Press Co., publishers of the journal bearing the same name, and was its secretary and a director for several years, but withdrew on account of pressure of other busi- ness.


Although nominally a Democrat, Mr. Mont- gomery is liberal in his political views, and not at all dogmatic or bigoted as to party doctrine or principle, basing his individual political action more upon effecting the election of good and competent men to public office than to the securing of a party victory. In 1897 he was elected on the Democratic ticket, borough assessor, and served one year. Fra- ternally he is a member of Pequabuck Chapter, No. 32, Royal Arch Masons, of Bristol, and of the Royal Arcanum, No. 753.




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