This post is part of an ongoing series, sharing the first draft of my Revised Callin Family History.
Owen Lee Montgomery is the 72nd person in a descendant report beginning with the earliest known ancestor of our Callin family, (1.) James Callin. This descendant report uses the Register Style of the New England Historic and Genealogical Society.
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Fifth Generation
72. Owen Lee Montgomery (Theodore-4, Elizabeth Callen-3, James "2nd"-2, James "1st"-1) was born on 30 Mar 1868 in Rochester, Fulton, Indiana, and was raised on the family farm.
Lee married his first wife, Attis Pendleton, on 16 Oct 1892 in Rochester. She was born on 12 Jan 1869 to Arthur Elliot Pendleton (1830–1913) and Mary Ann Richwine (1836–1878). Sadly, Attie, who was described by The Rochester Sentinel as "a lovable and popular young lady, one whose many graces fitted her for a long life of usefulness," died on 6 Apr 1893 from "consumption," most likely a form of tuberculosis.
Lee married again on 26 Jun 1895 in Winamac, Pulaski, Indiana. His second wife, Luella Edna Stahl, was the daughter of Jacob M. Stahl (1836–1903) and Rebecca Colwell (1839–1917), born in Rochester on 19 Jan 1875. The couple soon divorced, though we don't know exactly when. Records show Luella married Wilson Moore (1871-1941) in the spring of 1896, and they appeared in the 1900 Census in Aubbeenaubbee, Fulton County, Indiana. Lee appeared in the home of his parents in 1900, listed as "Divorced."
Luella remarried again in 1908, this time to Omer Brickel (1883-1960); they lived in Rochester and then in Cedar Rapids, Linn County, Iowa. In 1929 she married Theodore Teel (1871–1960) of Rochester, and died there on 9 Jan 1938. According to her obituary in The Rochester News-Sentinel, “The only survivors are nieces and nephews.”
Owen Lee Montgomery had the following child:
i. Frieda A Montgomery was born about 1898, according to the three census records she appears in. This raises the question of who her mother actually was, as Luella Stahl had re-married in 1896, and Lee did not remarry until 1901. Further, on the 1900 Census, which asked women both "how many children have you had" and "how many are living," Luella's record states "0" to answer both questions. Frieda herself does not appear on the 1900 Census.
Regardless, we know from newspaper accounts and the 1910, 1920, and 1930 Census that Frieda grew up with her father and brothers on Lee's farm. She was 18 in 1916 when her grandmother, Margaret, caught fire, and Frieda was the one who found the older lady after the accident. By 1920, Frieda was living in Washington, D.C., where she worked as a typist until entering the Army School of Nursing in 1926-27. In 1930 she was listed as a trained nurse working at the Walter Reed General Hospital in D.C. This was the last record in which she appeared, and as seen in her father's obituary, this was the last known address the Montgomery family seems to have had when they tried to reach her in 1945.
Lee married his third wife on 16 Nov 1901 in Rochester. She was Elizabeth A "Bessie" McCarter, the daughter of Silvaster McCarter (1846–1918) and Sarah Jane Heckathorn (1848–1926). Bess was born on 1 Jan 1876 in Rochester and grew up there.
Bessie died on 6 May 1908 from what The Rochester News-Sentinel called rheumatism, at only 32 years of age. The paper said the couple had "four children, who survive with the father to mourn their loss." This could be a simple misprint, as the 1910 Census shows only three children in Lee's household, along with a servant named Golda Eaton, and Lee's mother, Margaret (who died so tragically in 1916 on Lee's farm).
Owen Lee Montgomery and Elizabeth A "Bessie" McCarter had the following children:
ii. Harry Ray Montgomery was born about 1903 in Indiana. After that, Ray’s whereabouts are not known.
249 iii. Theodore Owen Montgomery, born 7 July 1905, Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana; married Henrietta Cohen, 1927, Washington, District of Columbia; married Thelma May Fearson, 4 Dec 1939, Culpeper County, Virginia; died 21 June 1983, Hollywood, Broward County, Florida.
Ten years after losing Bess, Lee married Jessie Marie (Rhodes) Clark on 1 Sep 1920. Jessie was the daughter of Daniel A Rhodes and Vida A Kamp, born on 4 Sep 1889 in Kosciusko County, Indiana. Jessie had been listed in the 1920 Census as Lee's housekeeper, and they were not married for very long, as she remarried Fred W Yeazel on 28 Oct 1926. Their son, Milo Eugene Yeazel, was born on 20 Sep 1922, which might explain the brevity of her marriage to Lee. She died on 17 Apr 1965 at the age of 75 in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana.
Lee died on 23 July 1945 at Woodlawn hospital following "a stroke of paralysis" which might have been related to ptomaine poisoning that led to a fall. He was living alone, and had locked himself in his house, so authorities had to use fire department ladders to enter through his second story windows. He was found "in a dying condition at the top of the stairs, where he fell, while supposedly trying to reach help." Lee was buried in Rochester I.O.O.F. cemetery, as many of his relatives had been before.
The Rochester Sentinel also reported, "All efforts by local officials to contact the deceased's children, Freda Montgomery, Theodore Montgomery, and Ray Montgomery, were without avail, although Freda and Theodore were thought to have been located in the vicinity of Washington, D.C."
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