Ben Montgomery
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Benjamin Montgomery (1819-1877) was an influential American inventor, land owner, visionary, and a former slave.
In 1837, before the outbreak of the Civil War, Montgomery was sold as a slave to Joseph E. Davis, brother of Jefferson Davis, who later became the only President of the Confederate States of America. During that time Montgomery was given run of a general store on the Davis Bend plantation in Mississippi, where slaves could trade for dry goods and where whites could purchase the items traded in by the slaves. This sort of arrangement was not unusual, but it was unusual that Montgomery, himself a slave, was in charge.
Taught to read and write by members of the Davis family, Montgomery eventually became responsible for overseeing the entire purchasing and shipping operations of the plantation. He learned many skills including land surveying, flood control, and architecture.[citation needed]
Montgomery also turned out to be an accomplished inventor. In the late 1850's he invented a boat propeller designed specially for steamboats to operate in shallow water. On June 10, 1858 he was denied a patent in a ruling by the United States Attorney General's office, on the grounds that neither slaves nor their owners could receive patents on inventions devised by slaves. [1]
On May 21, 1847, Montgomery's son, Isaiah Montgomery, was born. Due to Ben's favored position among the Davis Bend slaves, Isaiah was given the opportunity of education. Father and son would enjoy a strong, life-long relationship. [2]
Following the end of the civil war, Joseph Davis sold his plantation and property to Montgomery, in 1866, for the sum of $300,000 as part of a long-term deal. With his son Isaiah, Montgomery established a general store known as Montgomery & Sons. Montgomery had long dreamed of establishing a community of freed slaves, and now he worked with his son to make that dream a reality. Unfortunately, he never lived to see his dream come to fruition. Catastrophic floods ruined the crops, and, unable to make payment on the loan, Davis Bend reverted to the Davis family. Heartbroken, Montgomery died the very next year.
The dream was not forgotten, however. After his death his son Isaiah picked up the reins, purchasing 840 acres between the Vicksburg and Memphis railroad lines. Along with other former slaves Isaiah Montgomery established the town of Mound Bayou, Mississippi in 1887, and was rapidly elected its first mayor. [3]
