Oakland Drive, 814: Henry Montague House

Location: 814 Oakland Drive, Kalamazoo
Survey ID: R-47
Designation: Henry Montague House
Date: 1861
Style: Greek Revival

The following material is from the 1973 Initial Inventory of Historic Sites and Buildings in Kalamazoo and was made available for use here by the Historic Preservation Coordinator of the City of Kalamazoo. See Introduction to an Initial Inventory for details about how the survey was conducted.

This simple but spacious brick home built on the eve of the Civil War, suggests its identification with the popular Greek Revival by its side-lighted and pilastered doorway and the hint of an entablature under the eaves. It was built in 1861 by one of Kalamazoo’s earliest settlers, Henry Montague, who served as Steward of the Asylum from 1859 to 1884.

Montague left his family home in Hadley, Massachusetts, at the age of twenty-two. He settled first in Washtenaw County, where he married his wife, Abigail, in 1836. Then, late in 1836 or early in 1837, he took up a farm on “Grand Prairie”, near Kalamazoo. He farmed there for twenty-one years and actively supported the Republican Party, the abolitionists and the temperance reformers. He traveled to Jackson for the founding of the Republican Party, to Ann Arbor for the first abolition meeting in Michigan, and helped organize the temperance platform in the state. In the fall of 1854, his neighbors elected him to the State Legislature for a term. There he actively campaigned to have the State Hospital placed in Kalamazoo. He became Superintendent of the building committee, and was named Steward of the Asylum in 1859. He bought property adjoining the hospital and, in 1861, began constructing the home which his family would occupy until 1917.

Montague continued active in local affairs, speaking at the laying of the cornerstone for the old Kalamazoo College Building, serving as a Trustee of the village, helping to organize the County Pioneer Society. His son, Calvin, enlisted at the outset of the Civil War as Fourth Sergeant of the local “Blair Guards”. Later, when President Lincoln agreed to the recruiting of black troops, Calvin served as Captain of Company K, 102nd U.S. Colored. Ultimately, he left the army with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He tried his hand as a photographer for a time in Kalamazoo, then left for a clerkship in Washington.

The Gazette took notice several times of Henry Montague after his retirement, recording his eightieth and ninetieth birthdays, and announcing his death at ninety-six on June 2, 1909. A daughter, Helen, continued to live in the family home until 1917. It then became a residence for State Hospital officials, particularly Dr. George Inch and, after 1926, Dr. Roy A. Morter.

Maps:

1861, not shown
1873, shown

Kalamazoo County-Tax Rolls:

Kalamazoo City Directory:

1878-1917 Montague family occupies–1917 is Helen Montague with address change Henry Montague is Steward of the Asylum 1899 City Directory has 5 year history – July 29, 1893, “Henry Montague 80th birthday celebrated” April 3, 1898, d. of Mrs. Henry Montague, 80

U. S. Population Census Rolls:

1860 Henry Montague, 42, Steward of the Asylum, $3000 real, $500 pers., b. Mass., Abby Montague, 39; Calvin, 22, student; Mary, 16; Helen, 4; Willis Foster, 11 1850 Henry Montague, 37; Abby Montague, 33; Calvin, 13; Francis; Mary; Charles; Samuel

Kalamazoo Gazette: December 22, 1929

Came to Kalamazoo County (Grand Prairie area) in mid-1830’s elected to State Legislature in 1850, instrumental in getting Asylum located in Kalamazoo. Served as President of the County Pioneer Society and also of the Farmer’s Mutual Ins. Co.

U. S. Population Census Rolls:

1870 Henry Montague, 56, steward, Mich. asylum, b. Mass.; Abby, 52, keeping house, b. Mass.; Mary, 25; Calvin, 30, photographer; Helen, 14; Eddie, 8.
1880 Henry Montague, 66, steward of asylum, b. Mass.; Abigail, 62, b. Mass.; Helen, 24, daughter, at home; Henry 3., 18, son, at school