Contents
Whose family are you here for?
Showing both families — every line on the page. Pick a side to hide the other
family's ancestors; Earl, Kristin and their three children stay on either way.
Person · James L. Montgomery
The record
- HHomethe fan · what changed · open questions
- MMigrationbirths and deaths on a map, by decade
- TTimeline609 entries · 5 eras
- PPeople290 cards, by generationJames L. Montgomery
- LLines13 surname pages
The evidence
- DDocuments896 thumbnails, filterable
- SSourcesS1–S1207, with where each is cited
The findings
- How the wall came downProeger line
- The glass patentsProeger line
- How the Caffey half was closedCaffey line
- What the DNA saysits own page
- Four routesMigration
- The asymmetryLines
- Open questions20 questions
- Add to this recorda form, read by Earl
How to read this record
Every claim is tagged
Most family trees flatten everything into the same confident typeface. This one does not.
The three research tags below are the whole point of the exercise: they say what a document
proves, what the weight of evidence suggests, and what nobody has found yet. A fourth marks
what the family stated directly, where no document has been retrieved at all — it is kept
separate on purpose and is never quietly promoted to confirmed. A fifth, added on
13 September 2026, marks biological evidence: a DNA result is not a document, and it is not
testimony either. Two further labels mark where this page withholds information
rather than lacking it.
ConfirmedAttested by a document that was actually retrieved and read — a census sheet, a
government index, a grave marker, a family-written obituary.
ProbableStrongly supported but not nailed down: a user-contributed tree, a masked index field,
or a chain of consistent circumstances. Believable, not proven.
Not foundSearched for and not located. This is a statement about the search, not about the
person — the record may well exist somewhere unsearched.
Family testimonySupplied by the family and recorded on their word — no document has been retrieved for
it. Note the diamond rather than the dot: this is provenance, not proof, and it stands
apart from the three record tags above S24.
DNA evidenceBiological evidence consistent with a claim. It corroborates origins; it does
not by itself establish a person or a link. Note the bar rather than a dot or a diamond:
no DNA result on this page is ever counted as confirmed, because no document
was read for it S46.
Living — withheldThe person is living. By the privacy rule for this page, name and relationship are
shown, and at most a year the family has already published. Full dates of birth, ages,
places of residence and record identifiers are held back.
Research in progressA branch that is actively being worked on. The node exists in the structure so the
shape of the family is honest; the detail is simply not in yet.
- Born
- 28 December 1866
- Died
- at Victoria, Texas, on 8 February 1932
- Parents
- James P. Montgomery
- Sources
- 4
Research status
Research status: CONFIRMED as a son of
James P. Montgomery, and added to the tree on Earl’s approval of 2 October 2026. His Texas death certificate, read from the image, names his father as James P. Montgomery
S1199 S1190; in 1880 a James L. is among James P. Montgomery’s children in DeWitt County
S1095. Added 2 October 2026
Life in the order the records give it
Birth1866
Born
28 December 1866 in Texas
S1199Death1932
Died at
Victoria, Texas, on 8 February 1932 S1199Family parents, marriages, children, siblings
Open questions what is probable, weak or missing — confirm or correct it
Weak or missing
What is weak or missing: his death certificate names only his father, and the father’s birthplace line is partly cut off; his mother is presumed to be Elenor from the 1880 household but is not named on any record of his own. The 1870 household has a La Fayette, 4, and no James, so whether “L.” stands for Lafayette is an open question
S1094In the record
Generation 5 — Kristin's great-great-grandparents
- S10941870 United States Federal Census — Precinct No. 1, DeWitt County, Texas, post office Clinton, page 20, dwelling 119, family 119. Ancestry record 7642917. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 1 October 2026. Confirmed June 1870: Jas. Montgomery, 37, farmer, born Tennessee; Ellen, 35; Evaline, 14; Harvey, 11, and Virginia, 11, bracketed ‘Twins’; Mary, 6; La Fayette, 4; Idella, 1; the children born Texas.
- S10951880 United States Federal Census — Precinct No. 1, DeWitt County, Texas, S.D. 6, E.D. 46, page 68. Ancestry record 10575200. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 1 October 2026. Confirmed 10 July 1880: James P. Montgomery, 47, farmer, born Tennessee, parents born North Carolina; Elenor, wife, 45, born Tennessee; Harry Alex, son, 21, and Virginia, daughter, 21, at home, bracketed as twins; Mary, 14; James L., 13; Idella, 11; Louisa and Eliza, 9, twins; Ida, 7; the children born Texas. Nothing on these three pages names Piland. The link to Jennie Montgomery, who married E. R. Piland in neighbouring Gonzales County in 1883 (S913), is her name, her age and the county.
- S1190FamilySearch index, Texas, Deaths, 1890–1977 — James Lafayette Montgomery, 1932. FamilySearch record K33C-8GL, checked 1 October 2026. Probable Father James P. Montgomery. An index only; the image has not been read.
- S1199Texas death certificate no. 9072 — James L. Montgomery, died 8 February 1932 at Victoria. Ancestry, “Texas, U.S., Death Certificates, 1903–1982”, record 81651405. Image examined, read 2 October 2026. Confirmed Born 28 December 1866, Texas; father James P. Montgomery. The image read of the index entry S1190; the father’s birthplace line is partly cut off.