William W. Montgomery, a native of Hardin county, was the son of William Montgomery, who, after his banishment from Ireland for participancy in the rebellion of 1798, came to America and settled in Hardin county, Kentucky, where in the early days he was a substantial citizen and became the owner of large tracts of land.

William Montgomery husband of Kitty A. Brooks

They had the following child:

1. Alexander Brooks Montgomery

Bits and Pieces
of Hardin County History
A Quarterly Publication
of the
Hardin County Historical Society
Summer 2007
Former county judge keeps
peace with Indians in West

Alexander Brooks Montgomery was born near Tip Top in Hardin County, Kentucky on December 11, 1837. His father was William W. Montgomery, Esq. and his grandfather, William Montgomery, one-half of the Bleakley-Montgomery mercantile firm once located in Elizabethtown on lot #6 of the Public Square inside a log house shortly after 1801.

He attended the common and private schools including Georgetown (Ky.) College where he graduated in 1859 followed by the Louisville Law School graduating in 1861. He was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Elizabethtown in 1870.

Montgomery was the first president of the Bank of Elizabethtown but is remembered for a political career that he embarked on soon after his education was completion.

Montgomery served as county judge of Hardin County, Kentucky, 1870-1874; member of the State senate 1877-1881; elected as a Democrat U.S. Representative to the Fifteenth and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1895); chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses); unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Fifty-fourth Congress.

Montgomery was a member of the Dawes Indian Commission, appointed under act of Congress to treat with Five Civilized Tribes, serving as a commissioner from March 2, 1895 to June 30, 1897.

Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Choctaw and Chickasaw nations comprised what the U.S. government referred to as the Five Civilized Tribes. These tribes were originally from the South East portion of America and moved by the Federal government to the newly designated Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. Indian territory originally included all of present-day Oklahoma north and east of the Red River, as well as Kansas and Nebraska. But in 1854 the territory was cut down when Kansas and Nebraska territories were created. White settlers continued to invade the West and half the remaining Indian Territory (West Oklahoma) was opened to whites in 1889 creating a need for Congress to have a commission negotiate with the Indians. By 1907 Oklahoma became a state of the USA, and Indian Territory was no more.

Upon Completion of his duties as a member of the Dawes Indian Commission, Montgomery resumed the practice of law in Elizabethtown. He died December 27, 1910. He is buried in the Elizabethtown City Cemetery.

PHOTO: This two-story brick Italiante-style residence at 616 Montgomery Avenue in Elizabethtown was built by A. B. Montgomery soon after he began practicing law in the town.