My great-grandfather Jack D. Montgomery is a mystery. We know very little about him.
We first knew his name from a delayed birth certificate issued to my grandfather Jack A. Montgomery. The information on the form was provided by Fern Craghead. The information about Jack D. was suspect. I thought for a long time that Jack D was made up to explain Jack A and perhaps Fern didn’t ever reveal Jack A’s father.
I was proven wrong on a trip to Pawhuska County Courthouse in Oklahoma. There I found a marriage license for Jack D. Montgomery and Viola Fern Barlow. He did exist!
Later on Ancestry.com, I found them in a the 1919 Tulsa City Directory. But in 1920, Fern is by hersel in a Tulsa boardinghouse working as a telephone operator. Her husband and son are nowhere to be found in census documents.
There are no confirmed census listings for Jack D. Montgomery that I have confidence in saying, “ Yes! There he is!”
I randomly search newspaper.com for various ancestors. It’s been fruitful and interesting. But I never expected to find this divorce notice for Jack and Fern!
We have a new last know location for Jack. It’s another known oil field. Carter County, Oklahoma. What happened to the oil industry in the 1920”s and 1930‘s?
There is a discrepancy with the middle initial. Is he Jack D or Jack E.? What is it with all these initials instead of names anyway? Our family lore says that my grandfather Jack A.’s middle name was just the initial A.
But now we have a location for the divorce record. I’ve sent an email to to County Clerk. Will we find out anything new about the elusive Jack D?
Gathering My People 