Isaiah Montgomery
Encyclopedia
Isaiah Montgomery was the son of Ben Montgomery
, and the founder of Mound Bayou, Mississippi
. Soon elected mayor, he was an active politician, participating in the 1890 Mississippi state constitutional convention which disfranchised black voters. He was seen as promoting an accommodationist position, a position which would soon be shared by another former slave and eventual black leader Booker T. Washington
.
, Isaiah was afforded an education due to his father's relatively influential position on the Davis Bend
plantation. Following the end of the American Civil War
, he began a business with his father. It lasted until Benjamin Thornton Montgomery's
death in 1877.
Ben Montgomery had long dreamed of establishing an independent black colony.
bottomlands to found Mound Bayou in 1887. Bolivar County was the largest in the Delta. As farmers cleared land, they started cultivating cotton.
Montgomery worked to procure blacks protection of the law and to keep their work and lives separate from supervision by whites.
Ben Montgomery
Benjamin T. Montgomery was an influential African American inventor, landowner, and freedman.-Early life:In 1837, before the outbreak of the Civil War, Montgomery was sold as a slave to Joseph Emory Davis. Davis' brother, Jefferson Davis, later became the President of the Confederate States of...
, and the founder of Mound Bayou, Mississippi
Mound Bayou, Mississippi
Mound Bayou is a city in Bolivar County, Mississippi. The population was 2,102 at the 2000 census. It is notable for having been founded as an independent black community in 1887 by former slaves led by Isaiah Montgomery. By percentage, its 98.4 percent African-American majority population is one...
. Soon elected mayor, he was an active politician, participating in the 1890 Mississippi state constitutional convention which disfranchised black voters. He was seen as promoting an accommodationist position, a position which would soon be shared by another former slave and eventual black leader Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
.
Early life and education
Born into slaverySlavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, Isaiah was afforded an education due to his father's relatively influential position on the Davis Bend
Davis Bend
Davis Bend, Mississippi was originally founded by planter Joseph E. Davis as a model plantation slave community. He and his younger brother Jefferson Davis, future President of the Confederate States of America, had large plantations about 20 miles south of Vicksburg.-History:Davis was influenced...
plantation. Following the end of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, he began a business with his father. It lasted until Benjamin Thornton Montgomery's
Ben Montgomery
Benjamin T. Montgomery was an influential African American inventor, landowner, and freedman.-Early life:In 1837, before the outbreak of the Civil War, Montgomery was sold as a slave to Joseph Emory Davis. Davis' brother, Jefferson Davis, later became the President of the Confederate States of...
death in 1877.
Ben Montgomery had long dreamed of establishing an independent black colony.
Career
After his father's death in 1877, Isaiah worked to make that dream come true. With his cousin Benjamin T. Green, he bought property in the northwest frontier of Mississippi DeltaMississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. The region has been called "The Most Southern Place on Earth" because of its unique racial, cultural, and economic history...
bottomlands to found Mound Bayou in 1887. Bolivar County was the largest in the Delta. As farmers cleared land, they started cultivating cotton.
Montgomery worked to procure blacks protection of the law and to keep their work and lives separate from supervision by whites.