Continuing this month's trend of county firsts, let's take our first shot at Montour County! This little county has only a handful of markers at present, and I was able to grab roughly half of them while we were on our way to Altoona last month. It's a lovely green landscape with many attractive historic buildings, and Kevin and I definitely want to go back and spend more time there. Sadly, because we were there on a weekday, the building in today's post was not open for tours; but I'm sure it's as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside.
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The marker sits in front of the house
at 1 Bloom Street, Danville. |
At the time that the house was built, in 1792, Montour County didn't exist yet; the land on which the house sits was still part of Northumberland County. The man who built the house was General William Montgomery, a distinguished veteran of the American Revolution. He was born in Chester County on August 3, 1736, to Alexander and Mary (McCullough) Montgomery. He was the second of their four (or five, sources vary) children, but he and his siblings lost their parents to unknown causes when they were all still quite young. It fell to various relatives and family friends to raise them, and they saw to it that William was educated in a number of professions, including milling, surveying, and trade. As a young man, he earned his title serving in the Revolution as the commander of Chester County Militia's Fourth Battalion. He fought on Long Island in New York and also in New Jersey.
William was a busy gentleman. He had also served as a delegate to Pennsylvania's provincial conventions and, after moving to Northumberland County following the war, he served several terms in the State Assembly. In 1784 he was elected to the Continental Congress; the following year he was named Judge of Northumberland and Luzerne Counties. Through the remainder of his life, he held a number of other offices, including a seat in State House of Representatives (where he was serving at the time the house was built), and was named Major General of the Pennsylvania Militia. Somehow, while doing all of this, he found the time to have ten children with two wives; his first wife was Margaret Nevin, the daughter of his father's business partner, and a few years after her death he married Isabella Evans.
William (pictured at left) and Margaret had maintained a very successful wheat farm in Chester County, but after her death he began buying land in Northumberland County. The land was positioned along the Susquehanna River and the Mahoning Creek, so it was originally known as Montgomery's Landing. William brought his family to live there after the Battle of Wyoming, and along with building them an elegant home, he established the town's first grist mill, sawmill, and trading post, and served as its postmaster. His adult son Daniel plotted out the portion of town which today serves as its historic center, between Mill Street and Church Street. Daniel was the principal merchant of the community, under his father's tutelage, and gained an excellent reputation with his neighbors - so much so that they renamed the settlement Danville in his honor.
In 1813, Columbia County was formed from a portion of Northumberland County, and Danville was named the county seat. This was all accomplished partially through the efforts of both William and Daniel, who was now also serving the commonwealth in elected positions. The creation of Montour County didn't happen until many years later, but I'll talk about that when I report on the county marker.
William lived to the age of 79, and died in his beautiful home on May 1, 1816. He's buried in the Old Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Danville. His sons and grandsons continued a family tradition of military service, and many of them - Daniel included - are also buried in the various cemeteries in Danville.
As for the house, it's a real eye-catcher, and I can only imagine it was the envy of the neighborhood back when it was new. Two and a half stories high and made of stone, it features a pedimented gable roof. A low wall of the same stone surrounds the property. The main house is believed to be attached to the original home built in 1777, which is also two and a half stories high, with a log and frame structure. After William's death, it was handed down through the family until 1939, when his descendant who lived there, Miss Helen Russell, died; the house was put on the market, leading several locals to worry that it might be demolished. Fortunately, it was purchased and put into the care of the newly-established Montour County Historical Society. Many residents, as well as members of the large Montgomery family, contributed historical items for display in the house, and it has served as a museum and the society's headquarters for nearly a century. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
From April to October, visitors can walk into the Montgomery House Museum between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. every Sunday, although special tours can be arranged by appointment any day. Just visit the website linked down below for contact information. You'll find arrowheads, musical instruments, and a plethora of historical documents, including letters written by Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln. The Montgomery House is a historical treasure, inside and out.
Sources and Further Reading:
Brower, D. H. B. Danville: A Collection of Historical and Biographical Sketches. Lane S. Hart Publishers, 1881.
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Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.
Thank you for the info. My home is situated in the area Daniel first laid out and I appreciated learning about that. Very interesting article.
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