Major James McConnell Montgomery

Major James McConnell Montgomery first came to Buckhead towards the end of the War of 1812 – really the Red Stick War – when he was charged with building boats to ship supplies down the Chattahoochee to Fort Mitchell in Columbus. A small band of soldiers under the leadership of Lieutenant George Gilmer – a future governor – stationed at Fort Peachtree protected him. He returned around 1820, and raised his family around what had the Creek village of Standing Peachtree. The United States employed him and his brother to keep white settlers from encroaching on the Cherokee Nation, which was on the other side of the river.
He also served as a road commissioner, kept the records for the Court of the Ordinary, was a commissioner for the “poor school,” a mail carrier, a census taker, a justice of the peace, a tax receiver and a tax collector. He also operated the ferry, a saw mill and a grist mill.
The first post office in the area is said to have been in his house.
He died on Oct. 6, 1842 and is buried in the Montgomery Family Cemetery, one of the most significant historic sites in Atlanta. This obelisk marks his final resting place, which is just off of Marietta Boulevard north of Bolton Road.
In 1853, the Montgomery family sold what had been Standing Peachtree to Martin DeFoor, who took over the ferry operations. Those names – Montgomery Ferry and Defoors Ferry – remain to this day, know best for the roads bearing their names.