Memorials › Edgar Montgomery

Edgar Montgomery

23 Aug 1881 – 24 Oct 1918

Birth23 Aug 1881
Death24 Oct 1918
CemeteryOak Hill Cemetery
Whitewright , Fannin County , Texas , USA
Added byBen Cynova on 24 Dec 2010
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63288160

Bio

Edgar Montgomery (1881–1918) A Young Farmer Shaped by Frontier Heritage, Faith, and the Trials of Early Texas Life Family Legacy and Roots on the Southern Frontier Edgar Montgomery was born 23 August 1881 in Whitewright, Grayson County, Texas, into a family whose history stretched back through generations of Scotch-Irish pioneers. The Montgomery line traced its origins to Augusta County, Virginia, part of the great wave of 18th-century frontier families who moved steadily south and west in search of stability, religious freedom, and fertile land. Over the decades the family migrated through Tennessee and Alabama, eventually following the expanding frontier into North Texas after the Civil War. Edgar's father, Robert Common Montgomery (1854–1940), and his mother, Sarah Elizabeth Phillips (1858–1936), represented this legacy of resilience and self-reliance. Robert was known in the community as a principled farmer, church elder, and neighbor who embodied the Scotch-Irish values of hard work, faith, and civic responsibility. Growing up in such a household meant that Edgar—like his siblings Frank, Mark, Minnie, and others—absorbed a culture rooted in kinship loyalty, hospitality, perseverance, and frontier practicality. Childhood in Post-Reconstruction Texas Edgar was born at a time when Whitewright was emerging as a small but thriving agricultural town on the East Texas blacklands. Railroads were transforming the region, cotton dominated the local economy, and rural families worked closely with church and community networks. His early years were framed by both the strength of family ties and the sorrow of repeated loss. Edgar was born a twin, but his sister Effie survived only four months. His sister Viva died at age five. Such tragedies were heartbreaking yet tragically common in rural Texas, where childhood diseases and limited medical care shaped nearly every family's story. Despite these losses, Edgar grew up in a bustling farm household where older and younger siblings worked together in the fields, attended small country schools, and relied on the deep faith traditions characteristic of Scotch-Irish families. A Student and Young Farmer By 1900, 19-year-old Edgar was living in Savoy Town, Fannin County, listed in the census as both a farmer and a student. Education in rural Texas was improving during this era as new school districts formed and winter terms allowed farm youth to continue their studies. For a young man descended from generations of frontier settlers, the opportunity to pursue more schooling represented both ambition and the changing landscape of rural life. Like many Montgomery men, Edgar balanced intellectual aspiration with agricultural labor—symbolic of a family culture that valued both practical skill and steady improvement. Marriage and Building a Home On 19 November 1907, Edgar married Margaret Lee "Maggie" Webster, a young woman from another respected Texas farming family. Their marriage was rooted in the era's ideals of faith, mutual support, and hard work. By the 1910 census, Edgar and Maggie were settled in Justice Precinct 2 of Fannin County, where Edgar worked a general farm. These were formative years—marked by improved roads, expanding rail access, and modest rural modernization. Families like the Montgomerys were beginning to see the benefits of agricultural science, community schools, and cooperative work with neighbors. The couple welcomed their daughter Minnie Francis on 7 May 1915, who would live to 2006. That same year, however, they suffered the loss of their infant son Marjorie, echoing the tragic pattern of early childhood deaths the Montgomery family had endured for decades. The Broader Montgomery Family in North Texas Edgar's life unfolded within a large, interconnected kin network. His brothers Frank and Mark, his father Robert, and his mother Sarah all remained active in the community. The Montgomerys were known for their reliability, generosity, and faith-driven service. Years later, during the 1919 Canaan Cyclone, the surviving Montgomerys—including Edgar's siblings and parents—would open their homes to neighbors whose houses were destroyed. This act reflected a longstanding family tradition of stepping forward in times of crisis. Although Edgar did not live to see this event, the same family values that guided his siblings—loyalty to community, care for neighbors, and a readiness to rebuild—were the guiding principles of his own life as well. A Life Cut Short in a Time of Crisis On 24 October 1918, Edgar died in Whitewright at the age of 37. His death came at the very height of the 1918 influenza pandemic, which struck Texas with particular intensity during October. While the official cause is not recorded in surviving documents, the timing and location strongly suggest he was one of the countless young adults carried off in the deadliest public-health crisis in American history. In rural counties like Grayson, the flu overwhelmed the few available doctors and swept through farm families who had little means of protection. Edgar's early death left Maggie a young widow and marked yet another profound loss in a family already shaped by both hardship and endurance. Legacy Though Edgar's life was brief, his story is inseparable from the larger heritage of the Montgomery family: Scotch-Irish resilience carried across states and generations A commitment to faith and community service The strength of extended kinship networks in rural Texas The drive to learn, work, and provide despite adversity His daughter Minnie Francis carried his legacy into the 21st century, and the memory of Edgar continues to live through the family's enduring history on the Texas frontier. Sources Texas birth, death, and marriage records 1900 & 1910 U.S. Census (Fannin & Grayson Counties) Local histories of Whitewright, Savoy, and Grayson County Influenza pandemic records (Texas State Department of Health) Montgomery family genealogical materials

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