Family History
Benjamin T. Montgomery (1819-1877) was born enslaved in Loudoun County, Virginia. In 1836 he was moved to Mississippi and sold to Joseph E. Davis (1784-1870), older brother of Jefferson Davis and owner of Davis Bend and Hurricane Plantation located on the Mississippi River. Inspired by social reformer Robert Owen's utopian socialism, Davis attempted to create a paternalistic communitarian social order for the enslaved people of Davis Bend. Montgomery thus was allowed access to literacy and books. In 1842 Montgomery opened a general store and eventually became the manager for most of the business dealings of Davis's plantation. Montgomery's mechanical skills led to his invention of a boat propeller, however, the patent application was denied in 1858 because an enslaved person was not a United States citizen. Montgomery married Mary Lewis in 1840, and they had four children who lived into adulthood. After the American Civil War, Davis loaned money to Montgomery for the 1866 purchase of Davis Bend. The town of Davis Bend was a completely African American community populated by some of the formerly enslaved members of the plantation community and new citizens recruited by Montgomery. The general store begun years earlier, Montgomery & Sons, continued as a succesful retail establishment and the cotton growing business of Davis Bend prospered up until around Montgomery's death on May 12, 1877.
William Thorton Montgomery (1843-1909) and Isaiah T. Montgomery (1847-1924), Benjamin and Mary's sons, took over business concerns and ownership of Davis Bend, but plunging cotton prices and Mississippi River flood waters created financial struggles. In 1881 Jefferson Davis took legal action and repossessed the property for the Davis family. William Thorton moved to the Dakota Territory, returning to Mississippi years later, but Isaiah remained in Mississippi. Isaiah, in partnership with two cousins, founded Mound Bayou, the first all-Black town in the Mississippi Delta, in 1887. The town remains today. He initiated a number of commercial enterprises and held public office as mayor and receiver of public monies in Jackson, Mississippi. He was a delegate to the Mississippi Constitutional Convention of 1890.