John MONTANYE

                   Birth: Lois Stewart; Ancestry.com.
Marriage: Lois Stewart; Ancestry.com.
Death: Lois Stewart; Ancestry.com.

Note by Lois Stewart:  JOHN MONTANYE, second son of Joseph Montanye and his wife Maria Covert of Roxbury Township, Morris County, New Jersey, was born about 1734. Although Johns older brother Abraham was baptized in 1732 , no baptismal record has been found for John. He was undoubtedly named for his mothers father, Hans Covert of Bridgewater Township, Somerset County, New Jersey, just as his older brother was named for his fathers father, Abraham Delamontanie of Harlem, NY. His identity is certain because he was named in his fathers will , while his approximate date of birth has been determined both by naming patterns and by the date of birth of his oldest son.

John Montanye must have married Sarah Miller about 1756. Sarah Miller was the daughter of Andrew Miller, a Scot who moved to Basking Ridge, New Jersey, with a group of neighbors from Southold, Long Island. Other families in the Black River (Lamington) neighborhood included the Bird family and the Horton family, both of whom also became allied to John Montanye through marriage.

John and Sarah had nine children, all of them born in New Jersey. They were living in Roxbury Township, Morris County, NJ, for the tax lists of 1779 and 1780 , near Johns father Joseph Montanye and his brother Abraham, as well as near Abraham Montanye, Jr. (who is Johns oldest son, not son of his brother Abraham).

He was a soldier during the Revolutionary War, but his record for the DAR has been badly confused with that of John Montanye [SDJM #902] of Tappan, Orange County, NY. He is, instead, the John Montanye who served in the Morris County Militia . He was still living in Morris County, NJ, on 22 April 1783, when he signed a petition of Rev. War soldiers citing the high cost of living in New Jersey and strongly urging that the western lands [in Pennsylvania] be sold to settlers, thus helping the states finances and making western land available for settlement at the same time.

It is unfortunate that John Montanyes military service with the Morris County Militia is not listed in the Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War, although that of his son Abram is so listed, as well as those of his cousins Edward and Abraham Montanye of Somerset County, NJ. This may be one reason why the NSDAR has been reluctant to change its records. However, it is clear that the State of New Jersey does regard John Montanye of Morris County, NJ, as a Revolutionary War patriot.

John Montanye disappeared from Morris County tax records after 1783. He must have gone first to Virginia with his youngest brother Isaac, since John Montanye was listed once in Loudoun County, VA, with Isaac Montanye, between 1783 and 1787. The earliest record of his move to the Wyoming Valley, PA, was in 1787 when he was listed as a tailor, living in Wilkes-Barre.

He may have had to return to New Jersey several times, since he was the executor of the estate of his wifes brother-in-law Peter Wortman of Roxbury. That estate was not settled for several years. His father died in 1788, leaving him and Isaac the land adjoining the meadow ground below the house and adjoining the public highway, in Roxbury Township, Morris County, NJ. It seems likely that John gave or sold that land to his oldest son Abraham, who remained in New Jersey when all the rest of the family moved to Pennsylvania.

In 1796 John Montanye and his sons Joseph and Isaac were listed as taxpayers in Kingston township, Luzerne County, PA, and his son Andrew was a taxpayer in Exeter township, Luzerne County, PA.

John Montanye made his will in Kingston, Luzerne County, PA, on 21 September 1802, and it entered probate there on 19 October 1802. His wife Sarah survived him. His will mentioned his wife and named his children in this order: Abraham, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Andrew, Joseph, Mary, Jenny, Isaac, and Nancy. His son Andrew Montanye and son-in-law Samuel Carver were named with friend Philemon Clark as executors.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION, arranged in order of reference:
1. The Rev. B.V.D. Wyckoff, transcriber and translator. Readington Church Baptisms From 1720. Somerset County Historical Quarterly 4 (1915) 213. 23 April 1732 Abraham, son of Joseph and Marytje dla Montagne.
2. Will of Joseph Montanye, written 11 March 1788, Roxbury Township, Morris County, New Jersey. Probate Record #707N at New Jersey State Library, Trenton, New Jersey.
3. Frank J. Zaza. Some Miller Families of the western parts of northern New Jersey. Society of Descendants of Johannes de la Montagne Newsletter 12 (1994) 1123-1139. The seven children of Andrew Miller of Black River, NJ, were Barbara Miller, Andrew Miller, Sarah Miller Montanye, Mary Miller Wortman, John Miller, Grace Miller Ogden, Joanna Miller Rush.
4. Will of Andrew Miller, written 6 May 1775, Roxbury Township, Morris County, New Jersey. Probate Record #366N at New Jersey State Library, Trenton, New Jersey. Miller named his daughter Sarah and his grandson Andrew Metane in the will.
5. Concerning Lots in Peapack Patent; Journals of Andrew Johnston, 1743-1754. Somerset County Historical Quarterly 2 (1913) 186-188. Andrew Johnston was a surveyor hired to survey the lots in the Peapack Patent. In 1753 he assessed Joseph Montanyes land and noted thatAndrew Burd [Bird] and Morris Burd, Peter Rush, John Smyth, John Evilland, Josia Clawson, David Ogden, Elisha Drake, Derrick Wortman, Folker Folkerson, had lots in the same neighborhood. These are all names allied to this branch of the Montanyes.
6. Kenn Stryker-Rodda. New Jersey Rateables, 1778-1780; Morris County, Roxbury Township, March 1779 and February 1780. Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey 46 (1971) 91-92.
7. Kenneth W. Richards, Head of New Jersey State Library. Statement authenticating the Military Record of John Montanye of Mendham or Roxbury, Morris County, New Jersey. Trenton, New Jersey, 1973.
8. The petition is Revolutionary War Manuscript #10719, New Jersey State Archives, Trenton, NJ, being a petition from Revolutionary War veterans, signed at Mendham, Morris County, New Jersey, on 22 April 1783. Note other signatures include John Montanyes son-in-law John Horton.
9. William S. Stryker, Adjutant General. Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War, Compiled Under Orders of His Excellency Theodore F. Randolph, Governor. Trenton, NJ: New Jersey Legislature, 1872. Facsimile Reprint published by Heritage Books, Bowie, Maryland, in 1993. 692.
10. Will of John Montanye of Luzerne County, PA, written 21 September 1802, entered probate 10 October 1802. Luzerne County Probate Book A, page 44.
11. Kari Mohn, Kenai, Alaska, is a descendant of Philemon Clark. She has proved that his wife was Elizabeth Chandler, b. 9 July 1780. The information in the Michael Shoemaker book is wrong in identifying Elizabeth, daughter of John Montanye, as wife of Philemon Clark.
12. William T. Blair, The Michael Shoemaker Book, Scranton, PA: J.I. Shoemaker, 1924. 721-725. There are three mistakes in the information in this book on the family of John Montanye, although the bulk of the information seems to be correct even if incomplete. The three mistakes are as follows: first, John Montanyes place of origin was not Orange County, NY, but Roxbury, Morris County, NJ; second, Philemon Clark was not his son-in-law but a friend; third, Johns daughter Elizabeth was the wife of Joseph Moss.
13. William Nelson. New Jersey Marriage Records 1665-1800. Archives of the State of New Jersey, First Series, volume XXII. Paterson, NJ: State of New Jersey, 1900. Facsimile reprint by Genealogical Publishing, Baltimore, MD, 1997. 199, 266.
14. John Michael, Genealogy of the Montanye Family, unpublished manuscript written at Oxford, Ohio, in 1975. This manuscript starts with the family of Abraham and Margaret Henderson Montanye and is a compilation of their descendants. John Michaels current address is 5300 Hamilton Avenue #203, Chincinnati, OH 45224-3152.