George Hanson “Hans” Montgomery, Part 3
Today we will be continuing on our adventure into the life and antics of my 3rd great-grandfather, Hans Montgomery. You can read about how I determined who his parents were here and how I discovered his father's family bible record here. But I wanted to flesh out who George Hanson "Hans" Montgomery was.
After learning that his middle name was Hanson from the bible record, I now knew that any references to "Hans Montgomery" in the Miller County and Early County, Georgia records were also my guy. That took me back to an excerpt that I had read in the "Collections of Early County Historical Society 1979 Volume 2" published and copyrighted in 1980.
The book had reprinted an article from a local newspaper, the Early County News, originally printed in the October 24, 1907 edition.
Early County news. (Blakely, Ga.) 1859-current, October 24, 1907, Image 1. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn85034007/1907-10-24/ed-1/seq-1/
I have since found the original article and you can see it above. The article notes, "It was in this building that Bill Brown, the barber, was shot while attempting to slash Mr. Robt. T. Butler with a razor, and of which shooting he accused Mr. Hans Montgomery. Mr. Montgomery was tried for the shooting and was acquitted."
This prompted me to do a Google search. Now y'all, this was years ago and at the time, I didn't realize how much I would fall in love with this grandpa of mine or that I would be writing blog posts about him. I have tried to recreate that search to find the same information to share with you today, but I have had no such luck. I've even attempted to cheat by doing a specific Google search on terms that match exactly what I know that I found. And still no luck. Maybe the website no longer exists. I really can't answer that right now.
What I do know is that I found a reference to a Sheriff Montgomery on a website that cited stories about various lynchings in the state of Georgia. It was a website published by a college or university.
What I now had were two newspaper articles being referenced about a man that was most likely my 3rd great-grandfather, Hans Montgomery. I HAD to find these articles. And y'all, I doubt that I even had a newspapers.com account back at this time. I was just learning as I went. But the journey was completely worth it. I discovered the Georgia Historic Newspapers website and my life as a family history researcher has never been the same.
I've already shared the original article that I found that matches the one published in the book on the History of Early County, but here is the one that matches the article quoted on the university website regarding the lynching:
The morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, November 02, 1889, Page 6, Image 6. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn86063034/1889-11-02/ed-1/seq-6/
They interviewed Sheriff Montgomery and even though he isn't directly quoted, you can get a flavor of his personality from the following as stated in the published article "For some reason the trial could not be had that day, and nightfall found Sheriff Montgomery with the prisoner on hand and a mob assembling to take that prisoner's life. Sheriff Montgomery was as determined to protect his prisoner as the mob to lynch him. With four guards, and the prisoner, the sheriff took refuge in the swamp of Spring Creek under the cover of darkness, where he successfully dodged until day, a mob of seventy-five or a hundred armed men. The sheriff stated that during the night he had to cross the creek several times with his prisoner, and that on one occasion they and the mob were but a few yards apart. At the break of day the mob gave up the hunt and dispersed, and Sheriff Montgomery appeared at court with his prisoner ready for trial."
You really get a feel for his flair for the dramatic. And believe me, the more I learned of this man, the more this was confirmed! Hans Montgomery is quite the character. He was a rogue and he must have been quite charming. It has been joked that the Montgomerys "have one in every generation" amongst the cousins. And what we mean by that is that there is always one male in our family in each generation that thinks he is the most handsome and smartest of the group. My cousins say it is their brother Charlie in their family unit. We all agree it was our Uncle Howell in my grandfather's generation. In my family line, it is my Uncle Vernon and my brother Clint. And I'm here to tell you that they must have all come by it honestly because they all descend from Hans Montgomery.
I have been to Miller County, Georgia and I have visited the courthouse and the archived records. Unfortunately, almost all of the records from the 1800s were destroyed in a fire. Any records pertaining to the trial of Hans Montgomery for the shooting death of Mr. Brown, the barber, appear to no longer exist. And I combed through those files at the courthouse.
And even though I still haven't found any additional newspaper articles about the trial either, I was able to find lots of other interesting tidbits about Hans Montgomery.
In 1882, Hans Montgomery borrowed a horse and buggy from a Mr. Chipstead and it was stolen while he was at the turpentine farm in Fort Gaines, Georgia.
Early County news. (Blakely, Ga.) 1859-current, April 20, 1882, Image 3. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn85034007/1882-04-20/ed-1/seq-3/
In September of 1888, he was in hot pursuit of a rapist whom he had spotted while on a visit to Randolph County, Georgia. The chase took two weeks, but he finally captured the fellow in Alabama.
The Bainbridge democrat. (Bainbridge, Ga.) 18??-????, September 06, 1888, Image 3. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn88054079/1888-09-06/ed-1/seq-3/
By April of 1889, he is reported as the sheriff of Miller County, Georgia.
The Bainbridge democrat. (Bainbridge, Ga.) 18??-????, April 25, 1889, Image 3. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn88054079/1889-04-25/ed-1/seq-3/
In March of 1890, he is now being referred to as "Captain" Montgomery and appears to be well-liked as the sheriff of Miller County.
The Bainbridge democrat. (Bainbridge, Ga.) 18??-????, March 13, 1890, Image 3. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn88054079/1890-03-13/ed-1/seq-3/
But by mid-1891, Hans Montgomery's star was falling. Per the article above, he lost re-election as sheriff in January of 1891 and by July of 1891 he had run off to Texas with $1200 in money he had not returned to the county after losing the election.
The morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, July 21, 1891, Page 6, Image 6. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn86063034/1891-07-21/ed-1/seq-6/
Later that week he writes an impassioned letter to the folks of Miller County declaring his innocence. Truthfully, it sounds like a lot of smoke and mirrors to me! Interestingly, he states that he dropped the last name of Montgomery and went by George Hanson while staying and working in Texas, just as he had done some 8 years prior.
The Bainbridge democrat. (Bainbridge, Ga.) 18??-????, July 30, 1891, Image 3. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn88054079/1891-07-30/ed-1/seq-3/
An additional article that I found in the Texas newspapers states that he was going by an alias "George Harris" while living near Fort Worth. Harris was his wife's maiden name. But it got me thinking because I had never been able to find Hans Montgomery in the 1870 census. But he states that he had been living in Texas around that time and also using an alias. I searched and I found the following 1870 Census Record.
George Hanson, aged 20, living in Collin, Texas with the Naylor family. Year: 1870; Census Place: Precinct 2, Collin, Texas; Roll: M593_1579; Page: 378B. Township: Precinct 2. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data:1 870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.
I found three George Hansons living in Texas on the 1870 Federal Census. Two of them were listed as married with wives and/or children. This is the only one that could possibly fit. The age is close, but it does say that he was born in Texas, not Georgia. I may never know for sure, but I'm thinking this might be his missing 1870 census record!
Stay tuned for more of Hans Montgomery's antics in future posts!
