The Proeger Family · Generation 6 — Kristin's 3rd-great-grandparents

Elenor Frances Bradford

Probable mother of Virginia Francis Montgomery · born 1836

Elenor Frances Bradford

Probable

Probable mother of Virginia Francis Montgomery · born 1836

Born
March 1836 in Tennessee
Buried
at Sample, Gonzales County
Married
James P. Montgomery
Sources
13

Research status

Research status: PROBABLE (strong), the verdict of the potential-parents review, and added to the tree on Earl’s approval of 2 October 2026. Elenor F. is the wife of James P. Montgomery in every census that holds Virginia: 1860 S1093, 1870 as Ellen S1094 and 1880 S1095, all read from the images. Added 2 October 2026

Evidence: Elenor F. is the wife of James P. Montgomery in the 1860, 1870 and 1880 DeWitt County censuses that hold Virginia, all read from the images; four of her other children's Texas death certificates, each with a different informant, name a Bradford mother (Ellen Bradford twice, Elenore Frances Bradford, Mary Ellen Bradford); in 1900, read from the image, Ellen Montgomery, born March 1836 in Tennessee, is a widow in Gonzales County, mother of nine children, all living. Weak or missing: No document read names her as Virginia's mother: Virginia's own death certificate gives the mother as "don't know", and the 1880 relationship column is to the head of the house; three of the four death certificates are read from indexes only (Lula's is now read from the image); the 1855 Coffee County marriage register does not name her parents; her death has not been found in a record. Not yet confirmed. Know more? Confirm or correct this →

Life in the order the records give it

Death1931
Bradford: four of her other children’s Texas death certificates, each with a different informant, name a Bradford mother: Harry Alexander Montgomery (1931), Virginia’s twin, “Ellen Bradford” S1186; Matilda Evlin Henry (1931), “Ellen Bradford” S1187; Lula Gay Piland (1949), “Elenore Frances Bradford” S1188; and Mary E. Baker (1942), “Mary Ellen Bradford” S1189. Lula’s certificate is now read from the image too: mother’s maiden name “Elenore Frances Bradford”, born Tennessee S1198; the other three are read from FamilySearch’s index only
Birth1836
Born March 1836 in Tennessee, by the 1900 census, read from the image: Ellen Montgomery, 64, a widow in Precinct 5, Gonzales County, mother of nine children, all nine living S1184
Burial1837
Buried at Sample, Gonzales County, by Find a Grave, which gives her dates as 28 March 1837 to 23 January 1905; those dates are not used here S1201

Family parents, marriages, children, siblings

Marriage1855
Wife of James P. Montgomery; the Coffee County, Tennessee, marriage register, read from the image, has James Montgomery licensed to marry Ellen Bradford on 4 April 1855 and married the same day S1200 S1185

Open questions what is probable, weak or missing — confirm or correct it

Probable
Probable mother of Virginia Francis “Jennie” Montgomery Probable confirm or correct →: Virginia’s own death certificate, read from the image, gives her mother’s maiden name as “don’t know” S1183, so the link rests on the three censuses and on her brothers’ and sisters’ records below
Weak or missing
What is weak or missing: no document read names her as Virginia’s mother in words; the 1855 marriage register does not name her parents; her death has not been found in a record

In the record Generation 6 — Kristin's 3rd-great-grandparents

Elenor Frances Bradford · Sources

Citations

Sources cited on this card

13 of the record's sources are cited here. The numbering is the record's own; the full list, with where else each is cited, is at Sources.

  1. S10931860 United States Federal Census — DeWitt County, Texas (county from the index; not filled on this page), Free Inhabitants, page 85, dwelling 660, family 649. Ancestry record 35015992. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 1 October 2026. Confirmed James “Monguemay” [Montgomery], 25, stock hunter, born Tennessee; Elenor F., 23, born Tennessee; Matilda C., 4; Harvy A., 2; Virginia F., 2; the children born Texas. Indexed as “Mongee”; the page edge cuts the end of the name on the last line. Harvy A. and Virginia F. are the twins marked in 1870 and 1880 (S1094, S1095).
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. S1183Texas death certificate no. 30822 (Hays County registration no. 950) — Mrs. Virginia F. Piland, died 25 September 1927 near Buda. FamilySearch record K3Q2-LKX, “Texas, Deaths, 1890–1977”. Image examined, read 1 October 2026. Confirmed Married; born August 1858, Texas; housewife; father James Montgomery, birthplace “Don’t know”; mother’s maiden name and birthplace “don’t know”; informant R. Piland, Austin; burial Live Oak Cemetery, 26 September 1927. The image of the certificate indexed at S915.
  5. S11841900 United States Federal Census — Precinct 5, Gonzales County, Texas, ED 57, sheet 4B, 6 June 1900. Ancestry image 4118493_00054. Image examined, read 1 October 2026. Confirmed Montgomery, Ellen, head, born March 1836, 64, widowed, mother of 9 children, 9 living, born Tennessee; next door Leonard and Lula Piland; nearby Harvey Montgomery, born August 1858.
  6. S1185Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790–1959, and Tennessee State Marriage Index — James Montgomery and Ellen Bradford, 4 April 1855, Coffee County. FamilySearch records Q2Z9-44XV and VNZC-Y8D, checked 1 October 2026. Probable An index only; the register image has not been read, and nothing yet proves this couple is the James and Elenor F. of DeWitt County.
  7. S1186FamilySearch index, Texas, Deaths, 1890–1977 — Harry Alexander Montgomery, 1931, Smiley. FamilySearch record K33Q-88R, checked 1 October 2026. Probable Father Jim Montgomery; mother Ellen Bradford. An index only; the image has not been read. Harry is Virginia’s twin in 1870 and 1880.
  8. S1187FamilySearch index, Texas, Deaths, 1890–1977 — Matilda Evlin Henry, 1931, Pilgrim. FamilySearch record K33W-XPB, checked 1 October 2026. Probable Father J. M. Montgomery; mother Ellen Bradford. An index only; the image has not been read.
  9. S1188FamilySearch index, Texas, Deaths, 1890–1977 — Lula Gay Piland, 1949, Buda. FamilySearch record K7D8-SQJ, checked 1 October 2026. Probable Father James P. Montgomery; mother Elenore Frances Bradford. An index only; the image has not been read.
  10. S1189FamilySearch index, Texas, Deaths, 1890–1977 — Mary E. Baker, 1942, Austin. FamilySearch record K3DW-KR4, checked 1 October 2026. Probable Father James L. Montgomery; mother Mary Ellen Bradford. An index only; the image has not been read.
  11. S1198Texas death certificate, state file no. 12496 — Lula Gay Piland, died 1949 at Buda, Hays County. Ancestry, “Texas, U.S., Death Certificates, 1903–1982”, record 773172566. Image examined, read 2 October 2026. Confirmed Born 15 August 1871, DeWitt County; father James P. Montgomery, born Tennessee; mother’s maiden name Elenore Frances Bradford, born Tennessee; informant M. Z. Piland. The image read of the index entry S1188.
  12. S1200Coffee County, Tennessee, marriage register, page 25 — James Montgomery and Ellen Bradford, 4 April 1855. Ancestry, “Tennessee, U.S., Marriage Records, 1780–2002”, record 1400556. Image examined, read 2 October 2026. Confirmed “April 4 — James Montgomery Licence to Marry Ellen Bradford”; the return says they were married the same day by James Stevens(?), J.P. for Coffee County. The register image behind the index entry S1185. It does not name Ellen’s parents.
  13. S1201Find a Grave memorials 28905334 (James P. Montgomery) and 28905333 (Ellen Frances Montgomery), Sample Cemetery, Gonzales County, Texas. Seen as Ancestry hints, 2 October 2026. Probable Both buried at Sample, Gonzales County. James: born 23 April 1836, died 7 May 1887; Ellen: born 28 March 1837, died 23 January 1905. ⚠ Memorials, not records. A member tree gives James’s death as 17 May 1887, and Ellen’s 1900 census age points to 1836, so only the burial place is used on the cards.

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Compiled for the Proeger family

Living adults appear in full, on the same terms as everyone else here: what the records say, each claim cited. Minors appear by name only — no date of birth, no birth year, no age, no school, no place, no address, no other identifying detail. A minor may be named and may appear in a family photograph; nothing further about them is published. Where it is not established whether someone is an adult or a minor, the minor rule applies.

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