"On Nov. 9, 1773, John Montgomery, late of the Provence of Pennsylvania, received ... three parcels of land lying in Mecklenburg Co., NC, containing in all 630 acres, and on the waters of McRees [actually McKees] Creek. His will, dated Sept 13, 1795 (probated October term 1795) mentions his wife (name not given), four sons . . . and four daughters. . .
"Before 1800, Samuel Montgomery moved to Knox County, TN.
"Before 1809, John moved to Blount Co., TN."
[Years after first reading those notes, I found a short article in the journal Genealogy (New York), June 1915, vol. 5, iss. 6, p. 43, which must have been the source of Irwin's notes. That article gives no references.]
The Samuel Montgomery is ours, documented in his section of this site. The 1830 federal census does show a John Montgomery, born in the same decade as Samuel, living in Blount Co., TN.
A source on the purchase is Holcomb and Parker's "Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Deed Abstracts 1763-1779." William Harris of Parish of St. Pauls, Prov. of Georgia sold the three tracts to John for 300 pounds (curr.) on 9 Nov 1773.
The will of John Montgomery, probated in 1795, gives 200 A on the north side of McKees Cr to son Samuel. Son James also gets 200 A on McKee Creek. Son Robert gets the rest of the plantation. Son John gets a colt and 50 pounds "in specie." His unmarried daughters were Isabella and Ruth; married were Elizabeth Johnston and Mary Irwin.
From the "loose estate papers" of Mecklenburg County, Samuel received his part of the estate in 1800 (from the executors). Here is the signed receipt. Those papers also include the receipt of her part of her husband's estate by Isabell, establishing the name of John's wife.
A survey of 200 acres on the "northwest" side of McKee's Creek was made 1805, Sept 11 for Samuel Mountgomery by Saml Black.
These are transactions in Mecklenburg's "Abstracts of Deed Books 15-23" (1794-1830) compiled by Ferguson:
- 1801 Samuel Montgomery of Knox Co., TN to John Montgomery, 20 A on the west side of McKee Cr
[The reference to Knox Co. is explicit. On the old map, note that McKee Creek runs northeast, meaning that the "west" side is also the "north." Don Maring has associated John's three tracts with modern roads as shown in the new map. Samuel's tract is northwest of the other two.] - 1800 Samuel Montgomery of Knox Co., TN to John Wilson 180 A on McKee Cr.
[And that should take care of selling off his inheritance.] - 1811 Samuel Montgomery of Knox Co., TN to John Wilson, 24 A on the west side of McKee Cr
[This muddies the water since I see no purchase to account for Samuel's ownership of the additional 24 A, but the identification of Samuel with Knox Co. in the sale of his father's land overrides my concern over missing how the extra was acquired.]
Here is my copy of the Mecklenburg land abstracts
The 1790 federal census for Mecklenburg Co. shows these heads of household named Montgomery.
Page Line Given name a*b*f 358 07 David 1 3 3 383 19 George 1 4 1 350 46 James 1 4 3 355 44 John 1 . 1 377 28 John 1 3 3 355 45 Robert 1 3 5*Note: a=Males 16 or older; b=males less than 16; f=females.
These three categories are free white persons. The 4th and 5th categories of the census are respectively slaves and other free persons. Neither John has an entry in the latter 2 categories.
The absence of a Samuel is consistent with the interpretation that Samuel left in about 1786. See his section. I interpret one John as Samuel's father. The other could be Samuel's brother.
The 1798 Tax List of Mecklenburg County is organized by militias. Under "Captain Smith's Co." are these Montgomerys: James with 200 A and 1 WP [white male person], Robert with 240 A and blank WP, and Samuel with 200 A and blank WP. John Montgomery is listed under Captain Bowman. [I interpret the blanks to mean that they owned the land but did not live there.]
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