Zachariah Montgomery

Zachariah "Zach" Montgomery (March 6, 1825, Nelson County, Kentucky - September 3, 1900, Los Angeles, California) was a publisher, lawyer, politician, and author, particularly known for his skills as an orator.

Montgomery's speeches were often published in newspapers of the day and in pamphlet form. Although his widely published and forceful critiques of the compulsory public education system were never embraced by the public at large, his book "Poison Drops in the Federal Senate" (1886) is considered by some contemporary writers as a landmark study of the relevant issues. This work continues to elicit discussion amongst home school organizations, teachers' associations, political scientists, and politicians. He was a proponent of the voucher system for the funding and maintenance of primary and secondary schools.

Zach Montgomery received his Bachelor of Arts (1847), and Master of Arts in Law (1848) from St. Joseph’s College, Bardstown, Kentucky. While at St. Joseph's, Zach befriended fellow student Augustus Hill Garland and studied for the bar exam in the offices of Benjamin Hardin Helm (1784-1852), a noted lawyer, statesman, member of the Kentucky Legislature and U.S. Congress. Zach was admitted to the Bar in Kentucky in 1850.

In July 1850, Montgomery immigrated to California via covered wagon in response to the California Gold Rush. Following a very brief and unsuccessful stint as miner, he returned to the practice of law.

Legal career

Zachariah Montgomery held law partnerships in several California cities including: Sacramento (1850-1852), Yuba City (1854-1864), San Francisco (1868-1871), Oakland (1871-1881), San Diego (1884-1885 and 1890-1894) and Los Angeles (1894-1900). He served as District Attorney for Sutter County in northern California (1856, 1858-1860).

Zach Montgomery was the founding President of the Oakland Bar Association (1877), and served as United States Assistant Attorney General in first Administration of President Grover Cleveland (1885-1889).

Political career

While in California, Montgomery served the public in numerous capacities as an elected official. He was a Representative of the California State Legislature 15th District (12th session; 1860-1861) and served on the Judiciary and Indian Affairs Committees. Zachariah was a delegate to the State Democratic Convention (John C. Breckenridge Party on Democratic ticket; 1860) and was nominated for Speaker of the House (California State Assembly) but lost this election. Notably, Zach authored California State Assembly Bill AB 348, "The Montgomery Bill" – an education reform bill "to amend the California School Law Act of May 3, 1855".

On February 11, 1861, Montgomery delivered the "State of The State" speech to the California State Assembly. Zachariah was petitioned by colleagues to become a United States Senator (1867) but declined due to political ideological differences with the Lincoln Administration.

Publisher and author

Newspapers/serials

* 1864-1865 "The Occidental" (San Francisco)
* 1866-1868 "The Occidental and Vanguard" (San Francisco)
* 1881-1884 "The Family’s Defender Magazine and Educational Review" (1881 - Oakland; 1882-1884 - San Diego)

Books

* Montgomery, Zachariah. "The Poison Fountain or Anti-Parental Education", self published, San Francisco, 1879.

* Montgomery, Zachariah. "Poison Drops In the Federal Senate", Gibson Bros., Washington D.C., 1886. (republished 1972, 1883; St. Thomas Press).

The latter book continues to stimulate discussion and debate on the issues of the U.S. public education system and that of parental rights in terms of the education of their children.

Trivia

* Montgomery Creek, Shasta County, California, is named in honor of Zachariah. The town was established in 1877.

* Zach witnessed the Squatter's Riot in Sacramento on August 15, 1850 and served as Charles L. Robinson’s attorney in the case. Robinson later served in the California legislature and as the first Governor of Kansas. [http://www.kshs.org/places/capitol/representatives/robinson_charles.htm]

* Montgomery was a staunch and vocal opponent of the Lincoln administration throughout the Civil War, he surrendered his license to practice law in late 1863 in protest to the California Legislature's "Test Oath". In 1868, the Test Oath was repealed and Zach resumed his law practice.

* In the summer of 1884 Zach mounted an unsuccessful bid for the office of District Attorney of San Diego County.

* Montgomery served in the precedent-setting court case at the United States Supreme Court: Cunningham v. Neagle, U.S. 1 (1890).

* When the news of President Abraham Lincoln’s death reached San Francisco, April 15, 1865, the offices and printing press for the "Occidental" were destroyed by an angry mob that targeted newspapers sympathetic to the southern cause.

Personal facts

Marriages

On July 4, 1854 Zach married Helen Francis Graham (born: December 20, 1835, – died: July 18, 1856) who died some months after giving birth to their son Thomas (1855-1861).

On April 28, 1857 he married Eleanor Bridget Evoy (1828-1923). They had six children including famed aviation pioneer John Joseph Montgomery (1858-1911), Zachariah Montgomery Jr. (1858-1861), Mary 1859-1948, twins Ellen (1861 - 1864) and Margaret (1861-1931), Richard (1863-1932), James (1865-1956) and Jane (1869-1955).

ee also

*John J. Montgomery
*George Thomas Montgomery

elected modern references

* Baker, Joseph E. "History of Alameda County, Calif.", vol II, p. 547., 1914.

* Bancroft, Hubert Howe "History of the Pacific States 1860-1890", Vol. VII, pgs. 270-271, 312. 1885.

* Bancroft, Hubert Howe "The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft", Vol. 24, pgs. 270, 312.

* Davis, Winfield "History of Political Conventions in California: 1849-1892".

* Ellison, William H. "A Self Governing Dominion: California, 1849 - 1860", 1950.

* Guinn, J.M., "History of the State of California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley, California, also Containing Biographies of Well-Known Citizens of the Part and Present", p. 210, 1907.

* Guinn, J.M., "History of the State of California and Biographical Record of Oakland and Environs also Containing Biographies of Well-Known Citizens of the Part and Present", Vol 2, p. 733 – 736, 1907.

* "Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography of the Nineteenth Century," p. 668

* Hittell, Theodore Henry "History of California, - 1885," (also 1897)

* Shanahan, J.J., F.S.C, Masters Thesis. "Thesis on Zachariah Montgomery - Agitator for individual and States Rights", U.C. Berkeley, 1955.