George Hanson “Hans” Montgomery; Part 2
I’ve told you the story of how I got my first leads on determining who the parents of my third great-grandfather, George Montgomery, were. You can read about it here.
After I attached Robert Montgomery (b. abt 1807) to my family tree within Ancestry.com and waited for ThruLines to do its calculations, I was rewarded to find a suggested name of Robert's wife (Mary Peebles), as well as 12 DNA cousin matches.
The next thing that I did was look at the Hints provided for Robert Montgomery. Specifically, I looked at the suggested "Ancestry Members Trees" hint. The top tree listed was for a researcher that I will call "G.A." for this blog post. He had nine sources attached to his family tree in Ancestry. By far, at the time, this was more than any other researcher had for Robert Montgomery.
Profile for Robert Montgomery within G.A.’s family tree on ancestry.com.
I was still a newbie genealogist and what I found so interesting was that his sources were things that he had attached himself. At this point in my journey, my sources all consisted of records that I found indexed on Ancestry and "saved" or "attached" to a profile within my family tree or a photograph that I saved. Sure, he had census records attached, but he also listed sources that he created such as the "Montgomery Family Bible" and "Loose Family Notes". What in the world were these things?
Source Citation for “Montgomery Family Bible Records” found on the profile for Robert Montgomery in G.A.’s family tree on ancestry.com.
Source Citation for “Family Data, loose Notes found in Montgomery Bible” found on the profile for Robert Montgomery in G.A.’s family tree on ancestry.com.
Of course, I emailed G.A. immediately. I refreshed my screen a few times, but his reply back was not to be received within mere moments after my initial contact. Hrumph.
In the meantime, I was continuing to research George and Sallie Harris Montgomery. As I mentioned in my previous post about George Montgomery, he was listed on the 1880 census in Miller County, Georgia. I was finding tax lists with the name "Sallie Montgomery" listed next to "G Hans Montgomery." And searches within Miller County, Georgia during this timeframe for the surname "Montgomery" were only netting me information about a Hans Montgomery. But the name "Hans" was German. I have no German ethnicity. Were George Montgomery and Hans Montgomery the same person? It seemed unlikely, but on the other hand, he was listed next to Sallie Montgomery on the tax list. No other Montgomery men were living in Miller County, Georgia at this time.
Ancestry.com. Georgia, U.S., Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Georgia Tax Digests [1890]. 140 volumes. Morrow, Georgia: Georgia Archives. Militia District Number: 13; Post Office: Colquitt; Year: 1890
I kept researching and looking for documents, hoping to pull the right thread.
But then it all came together. G.A. emailed me back. I remember that I got the message while riding in the car on our way to take my kiddos to Universal Studios. G.A. was my cousin and he emailed me scanned copies of the "Montgomery Family Bible" and "Loose Family Papers" and "Email Conversation with Montgomery Cousin".
Robert Montgomery and Mary Peebles had eleven children, including a son named George Hanson Montgomery b. February 7, 1851, who married Sarah Harris (see my post about Sarah Ann "Sallie" Harris here).
Robert Montgomery Family Bible "Montgomery Family Bible Records, ca. 1807-1913" microfilm no. 329972, FHL, Salt Lake City, Utah. Received copy from G. A. who received his copy from Lee Montgomery who received his copy from Ray Avirett.
“G. H. Montgomery & Sarah E. C. Harris was joined in the Holy State of Matri- mony on the 22nd Day of October <illegible> 1873 in S<illegible>”. Robert Montgomery Family Bible "Montgomery Family Bible Records, ca. 1807-1913" microfilm no. 329972, FHL, Salt Lake City, Utah. Received copy from G. A. who received his copy from Lee Montgomery who received his copy from Ray Avirett.
There was even a page in the Bible that listed some Hans Montgomery's children's names and dates of birth! This was primary source proof that pulled everything together!
Names and dates of birth of the three oldest children of G.H. Montgomery. Robert Montgomery Family Bible "Montgomery Family Bible Records, ca. 1807-1913" microfilm no. 329972, FHL, Salt Lake City, Utah. Received copy from G. A. who received his copy from Lee Montgomery who received his copy from Ray Avirett.
The Hans Montgomery in Miller County, George was not German! It was pronounced "Hance", short for "Hanson"! And I knew that one of Hans' grandchildren was my great-great Uncle Charlie Hance Montgomery. "Charlie" after his maternal grandfather, Charles Lane, and now I knew that his middle name, "Hance", was after his paternal grandfather, George Hanson "Hans" Montgomery! So many pieces of the puzzle fell together at once at that moment!
