Isaiah Thornton Montgomery
(May 21, 1847 – March 5, 1924)
He was founder of Moud Bayou, Mississippi, an all-black community. A Republican, he was a delegate to the 1890 Mississippi Constitutional Convention and served as mayor of Mound Bayou.
He participated in the 1890 Mississippi constitutional convention as a delegate from Bolivar County and voted for the adoption of a state constitution that effectively disfranchised black voters for decades, using poll taxes and literacy tests to raise barriers to voter registration.. Montgomery promoted an accommodationist position for African Americans. Following the end of the American Civil War Isaiah began a business with his father. It lasted until Ben’s death in 1877. His father had long dreamed of establishing an independent black colony; by the time of his death, the Reconstruction era had ended and African Americans struggled to maintain themselves against white supremacists.
The I.T. Mongomery House in Mound Bayou is a National Landmark.
Benjamin Montgomery succeeded despite being refused a patent. The Conversation