The Montgomery Connection

As preparations to publish the Callin Family History revision continue, we have a new branch to consider. The evidence I outlined in Echoes & Rhymes that connects Elizabeth Callin to the James Callin named in the CFH appears to be at least as strong as the evidence that connects James and his brother John to James "1st" Callin; so in that spirit, I'm going to include her descendants in our family tree while I search for more concrete proof. My hope is to find a descendant of Elizabeth and Caleb Montgomery with DNA that matches mine.

To that end, I have begun researching their descendants.

Elizabeth Callin (1798-1834) was born in Pennsylvania, and if she was the daughter of James and Mary Callin, moved with her family from Westmoreland County, PA, to Richland County, Ohio, when she was twelve years old. On 13 August 1822, she married Caleb Montgomery (1799–1872) in Richland County.

According to the Fulton County, Indiana Handbook, published by Tombaugh House, Caleb was born 23 June 1799 in Virginia to Benjamin and Nancy Montgomery, the family who originally settled in Milton Township and established the town of Olivesburg, in Weller Township, which was named for Caleb's sister, Olive Montgomery. The History of Richland County says that Benjamin built the first grist-mill in the township on the Whetstone, at Olivesburg, in 1817. That book also describes the town in 1821:

"The village of Olivesburg was laid out by Benjamin Montgomery in the year 1816, and called Olivesburg in honor of his oldest daughter, Olive. In 1821, the village contained one tavern, kept by Benjamin Montgomery; one blacksmith-shop, by Abel Montgomery; one tailor-shop, by John Grum; one cabinet-shop, by Thomas Beach; one tannery, by Joseph Burget; one horse-mill and water-mill, by Jonathan Montgomery; one wheelwright-shop, by William Lee, or James Hall, and about the usual per cent of loafers."

Caleb and Elizabeth had five children in Olivesburg between their marriage and 1829. When Elizabeth died on 5 November 1834, she was buried in the Olivesburg Cemetery on land deeded to the town by the Montgomery family.

With five young children to care for, Caleb quickly remarried; he and his second wife,
Sarah Mercer (1812–1877), had ten children; the first, Levi, being born in 1835. In 1837, Caleb moved his family to Fulton County, Indiana, where Levi would grow up to become sheriff.

The five children of Caleb and Elizabeth are as follows:

     1. Mary Montgomery married a James Ferrell on 23 March 1843, according to Fulton County, Indiana, marriage records. I have not found any records to indicate when either of them died, but there is a Sarah Ferrell in the household of Mary's sister and brother-in-law in 1850 and 1860.

     2. Sarah Montgomery (1824–1918) was born 27 December 1824 in Olivesburg. She and Henry Davidson (1818–1894) were married on 22 April 1841 in Fulton County, Indiana. They had six children; three sons and three daughters. Henry and Sarah took their family west on the Oregon trail in 1852.

     3. Theodore Montgomery (1826–1904) was born 12 September 1826 in Richland County, Ohio. He enlisted and served a year in the Mexican American War. He later returned to Fulton County, Indiana, and married Margaret Wilson (1831–1916) on 11 March 1849. They had four sons and a daughter.

     4. Porter Montgomery (abt. 1828) died in Vicksburg, presumably during the Civil War, but records have not been found to support that.

     5. Callin "Cal" Montgomery (1829–1912) was born in October 1829 and headed for California to become a gold miner. He lived in El Dorado County for many years and died in Napa in 1912. As far as I can tell, he left no family behind.

In coming weeks, we'll look at the descendants of Mary, Sarah, and Theodore.

As always, if you're a descendant of any of these folks, I'd love to hear from you. You can reach me at callintad (@gmail.com), post a comment below, or ask to join the Callin Family History group on Facebook.