James Robert MONTGOMERY

Father: Ward Pease MONTGOMERY
Mother: May Belle FITZGERALD

Family 1: Barbara Jean MCMENAMIN
  1. Jean Marie MONTGOMERY
  2. Richard James MONTGOMERY
  3. William John MONTGOMERY
  4. John Robert MONTGOMERY 
                                                                             _John Harper MONTGOMERY _
                                                   _John Nelson MONTGOMERY _|_Melinda PLATT __________
                          _James Ivor MONTGOMERY _|
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                         |                        |_Luceva WARD ____________|_________________________
 _Ward Pease MONTGOMERY _|
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|                        |_Mary A LETT ___________|
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|--James Robert MONTGOMERY 
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|_May Belle FITZGERALD __|
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INDEX

Notes

Born December 13, 1911, at the family home, on the Lett family Homestead, south of Sandwich , Illinois. Family: Father, Ward Pease Montgomery. Mother: May Belle Fitzgerald Montgomer y. Sister Marilla May, age 3. His sister, Mary Louise, would arrive two years later, 1913. 1917-1922 - Started school September, 1917. Attended a rural schoolhouse reportedly just t o the east of the Lett Homestead Farm about one-half mile. After leaving the Lett Homestea d Farm, attended the one-room "Little Red Schoolhouse" on the road south of Base Line Road, w est of Montgomery, IL, He attended with his older sister Marilla. The "Kick" School, as it w as called, was next to the "Kick" Cemetery. Younger sister Mary Louise attended this schoo l briefly. Lived on the Base Line Road farm with the family's pet hens, their Collie, "Flos sie", and Shetland pony, "Bud". Used to ride him bareback and one time his dad hitched Bud t o a little cart and Bob and his sister, Mary Lou drove him to the little red schoolhouse. T he family later moved to a Randall Road farm just north of Aurora off Galena Street, where to day there are only pine trees to suggest the location. Attended the nearby rural "Randall Sc hool" with his sister, Marilla. A photo of their school class taken on the island at Geneva , IL, attests to this. Late 1922-early 1923 - Moved from the Randall Road farm to live on Blackhawk Street near Gree nland School, west side of Aurora, IL. Father, Ward, started trying to sell real estate whil e taking correspondence commerical artist classes. 1923, July 18th - Father, Ward Pease Montgomery, died of a ruptured duodenum in Aurora, Illin ois, after only a week in hospital. Had apparently began ulcers while still living on the fa rm(s). 1923 - 1924 - Lived with his Mother and sister Mary Louise and his Uncle Harold at the farm o f maternal grandparents, James and Ida (Compton) Fitzgerald, north of Wheaton, Illinois. Wen t to grammar school there. Sister Marilla stayed in Aurura in high school on west side of Au rora through graduation. 1924 - Moved from Grandparent's farm north of Wheaton back to Aurora. 1925 - Reunited as a family unit with Mother and 2 sisters after sister Marilla's High Schoo l Graduation. 1924 - 1925 - First job - paper route 1925 - 1929 - Attended East Aurora High School, Aurora, IL. Interested in music, art / illus tration, as was his father. In an autobiography at age 14, he expressed desire to become a c ommercial artist one day, as did his father at the end of his life. He played drums in the o rchestra but apparently the HS band only his freshman year. His artwork is displayed on th e pages of his high school yearbook. In the yearbook, next to his senior class photo is writ ten, "Bob spends so much time helping others that he never has time to do any work". His hig h school achievements are listed: Student Council Rep. 1-4; French Club 3, 4, Treas. 3; Boys ' Glee Culb 3,4, Vice-Pres. 3, Sec. 4; Orchestra 2, 3, 4; Band 1; Auroran Staff 3,4 (school n ewspaper?); Patron Staff; Class Motto Committee. He designed scenery for three various stag e productions during the senior school year. 1926 - 1928 - Purchased first second-hand snare drum with $5.00 from paper route. 1928 - 1929 - Worked after school and Saturdays at Fisher's Bakery in Aurora for 25 cents pe r hour during last year of High School. 1929 - Began playing dance jobs using his expanded drum set, added to during high school wit h money from the Bakery job. October 1929 - Stock Market Crash. 1929, June - Graduated East Aurora High School, East Aurora, IL. 1931 - August - Living with family in an up/down duplex on Evans Avenue. Contracted polio o f the lower extremeties following a long hot day, having had a headache all day and playin g a band job. Doctored daily by a Doctor Lindbergh, Osteopath, and his family with the aid o f fluids, fruit and many massages. Recovered from polio enough to be able to walk independen tly and play drums - but never to run again. Took drum lessons in Chicago for a brief time a fter the polio - paid for by Mother. 1932, October 22 - Bob's Band, The Fidgety Five, a novelty band, won first place in the distr ict finals of the WLS Radio / Paramount Radio contest at the Paramount Theater in Aurora, IL , winning $75 and an opportunity to perform before a live audience on the air on November 20 , 1932, at the WLS Radio Studios in Chicago, IL. Paying in the band were: Wiley, bass; Rus s Lindgren, guitar; Jack Pfeffers, trumpet; Rogers, sax, Montgomery, drums. One of the WLS j udges eventually bought the WLBK radio station in DeKalb. 1932, November - Grandpa Fitzgerald died, Grandma Fitz came to live with the family. 1932 - 1933 - Bob Montgomery and His Band - played at small clubs like the Prima Gardens in a nd around the Fox River Valley, ala Geneva and Aurora, IL. Places like the Fox Valley Garden s and a nice club on the east side of Geneva. 1933 - Family moved to 440 Weston Street - a four-bedroom house near Copley Hospital - with t he expanded family, including Grandma Fitzgerald. Family had lived in houses / apartment s / duplexes on Grant Place (near the coffee house), South Avenue two times (by themselves an d once with his Grandfather and Grandmother Montgomery and Edith and Jessie, etc.), Root Stre et and Benton Street near the high school - all on the east side of Aurora. 1933 - Played drums in a small band (his band?) at a club north of Aurora - The Paramount, i n Geneva. At home in Aurora, took on a roommate and fellow band member named Harold O'Brien. 1934 - 35 - Traveled with Artie Collins' Band to, among other places; Detroit, Chicago, Nash ville, Cleveland, Akron, Syracuse, Buffalo, Columbus, Youngstown, Louisville. In a letter t o his Mother in late summer, 1935, he writes from The Garfield Hotel in Cleveland of having n othing to do while waiting to leave for "a one-nighter in Bascom, OH, then to Youngstown fo r 2 weeks at $20 a week - a "living wage", and then to the "Roosevelt" in Pittsburgh, the Va n Cleve in Dayton, the Gibson in Cincinnati or the Carter in Cleveland." The bookings didn' t sound reliable - confusion was blamed on the bookings office, as per Collins. His money wa s shrinking, too. 1935 - November - Had left playing with Artie Collins' Band to play with Harold Menning's ban d and was living in Appleton, Wisconsin. Bob talked to Menning about hiring Obie and in mid- January 1936, Obie and Bob's sister, Mary Lou, "joined" the band. Appleton was headquarter s for the band and they played in surrounding towns, traveling in a bus. Returned home in ti me for his sister Marilla's wedding at Thanksgiving-time. 1935 - 1936 - Played drums in the Harold Menning Orchestra. Traveled by bus to surrounding t owns. Maybe got iin the band by knowing someone in the band, as it was when he got his broth er-in-law, Obie into the band. Owned a 78rpm, disc dated as recorded in 1928, recorded in Po rt Washington, WI, of the Harold Menning Band's performance of "My Suppressed Desire". 1936 - January-July - Brother-in-law Obie also played with the Menning Band and then moved ba ck to Illinois. Originally lived with Bob Tewkes and another man in Appleton and slept on a n open sleeping porch until Obie and Lou came up to town. Lived with Obie and sister and the ir son "Jackie" in an apartment in a private residence in Appleton. Returned to Aurora afte r the band had apparently broken up. 1939 - 1943 - During this time, working at a men's clothing store in Aurora. After that he w ent to work for Montgomery Ward's in DeKalb. He rented a room in the home of John and Marth a McMenamin on Augusta Avenue. August 28, 1940 - Recorded on a Silvertone Label disc; "Exactly Like You" and "Medley: Whisp ering / On The Alamo / More Than You Know," with vocals by Bob on the Medley. Band recorde d with: unknown. September 4, 1943 - Married Barbara Jean McMenamin.



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