CONCERNING THE IRISH MONTGOMERYS.
In the New York Herald, September 10, 1905, is a statement by “L. W., London, England,” giving many details of interest concerning the ancestry and family of Gen. Richard Montgomery. The statement appears in the genealogical department of the Herald, of that date, which department is conducted by Mrs. Clara H. Manning. The statement is in answer to a correspondent and is as follows:
“H. W. N.’s family tradition is at fault. Gen. Richard Montgomery had no sister Elizabeth. His only sister was Sarah, wife of Charles Jones, fourth Viscount Planelagh, and mother of thirteen children. General Montgomery had brothers, John and Alexander. John died unmarried in Lisbon, 1786. His administration is in the Prerogative Court of Ireland. Alexander, the brother, was captain in the Forty-third Regiment and member of the Irish Parliament for County Donegal; died unmarried September 29, 1800. His will is in the Prerogative Court of Ireland. Lady Planelagh and her three brothers were the children of Thomas Montgomery, of Swords, near Dublin, eldest son of Alexander Montgomery, of Ballyleek, who married Mary Francklyn.
“Thomas Montgomery had several brothers and sisters. His brother, Robert, of Brandram, County Monaghan, married Sarah Maxwell. This is the nearest Maxwell connection. Thomas had many cousins. Ulster has many Montgomerys of other lines. It is said the Earl of Mount Alexander could ride at the head of a regiment all Montgomerys. At one time in the Irish Parliament were six Montgomerys all over six feet in height and the handsomest men in Dublin.... By far [one of] the most noted family of modern times is that of the Montgomerys of Grey Abbey, County Down, a famous military stock.
“For all this they have a pedigree made in the eighteenth century to take them on to the famous old Grey Abbey stock of the early Ulster settlement. As a fact, they are descended from a thrifty yeoman who purchased Grey Abbey after the old stock had died out. No American Montgomerys can prove any near connection with either the Montgomerys of Ballyleek or the Earls of Mount Alexander. The nearest probable American connection is not of the Montgomery name, being that of the descendants of Thomas Patterson, who emigrated from County Donegal to Philadelphia at the time of the Irish rebellion. Thomas Patterson was grandson of Alleriah Montgomery, said by tradition to be a cousin of the general. Her marriage certificate in the diocese of Raphoe indicates her as coming from the vicinity of the general’s family, being about his age and not belonging to any other of the Montgomery families in that part of Ireland.”