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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Johnson County, Arkansas published by Southern Publishing Company in 1891.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Dr. William O. Montgomery. The name of this gentleman is one of the most respected in this community, and during a residence of over thirty years in Johnson County, Ark., he has enjoyed a large practice among the best families, and is kept very busy; while with the medical fraternity his reputation is by no means local, and he is well known for his remarkable cures throughout this section of the country. He was born in Sumner County, Tenn., April 29, 1831, to Jeff T. and Polly (Jouett) Montgomery, the latter a native of North Carolina, and the former of Sumner County, Tenn., where he was reared and spent his life, dying April 29, 1879, at the age of seventy-five years. He was a son of William and Jane (McMillan) Montgomery, who were born, reared and married in the Keystone State. They removed to Tennessee at a very early day, it being said of Mr. Montgomery that he drove the first wagon that came down Drake’s Creek in Sumner County, Tenn. At the early age of fourteen years he acted as drum major in the Revolutionary War. Jeff T. Montgomery and his wife, Polly, both died on the old homestead in Tennessee, which is still in possession of the family, the death of the latter occurring July 16, 1861, at the age of fifty-seven years. They had five sons and one daughter born to them: William C., John T., Robert A., D. B. C, Patsey J. and James. All lived to be grown and married except Robert A., who was a member of the Second Mississippi Regiment, being drum major, and died about 1863 in a hospital in Virginia, after the battle of Manassas. James became a lawyer, and D. B. C. and John T. gave farming their attention. Daniel died in December, 1884, and John T. is residing in Dyer County, Tenn., he and Dr. William C. being the only members of the family that are living. The latter came to Roseville, Ark., in 1854, and at that place commenced reading medicine with Dr. William Wasson, and at the end of eighteen months entered the University of Nashville, Tenn., from which institution he graduated in the spring of 1857, after which he went to La Fayette County, Ark., where he was engaged in the practice one year. In January, 1859, he located at Spadra, Ark., where he continued his practice, also building a cotton-gin and grist-mill. He sold his mill, after operating it four or five years, and purchased 150 acres of woodland, of which he now has 100 acres under cultivation, situated on Arkansas River, three miles southwest of Spadra. The Doctor was married May 6, 1863, to Miss Martha A. Maddox, a daughter of John G. Maddox. She was born in Georgia, and has borne her husband two children: Martha J. (born February 22, 1864), and John J. (born February 16, 1871), the latter being now a student in the Cumberland University of Lebanon, Tenn., from which he expects to graduate. Dr. Montgomery is the oldest practicing physician of this county, and, as above stated, has been very successful. He was with the Federal recruits three months, stationed at Dardanelle during the year 1864, under Col. Fuller, as a recruit. The Montgomerys are of Scotch descent, and their old homestead, in Sumner County, Tenn., is now in possession of the Doctor. The house is a two-story brick, with a cellar underneath, 25x60 feet, and was built in 1804. It is said that Aaron Burr staid one night with Grandfather Montgomery in that house soon after it was built, and the old clock which the latter purchased in 1797 is still in the house and is a good time keeper.

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This family biography is one of 65 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Johnson County, Arkansas published in 1891.  For the complete description, click here: Johnson County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Johnson County, Arkansas family biographies here: Johnson County, Arkansas

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