Henry E. MONTROSS

Notes:

Name:
By the time he was 30, Henry had a shoe shop in the 2nd Ward of Albany, was married, and had a son under 5. the Albany directories show him as a shoemaker at 21 Washington St. in 1832-33. In 1839-42 he was listed as a porter, living at 17 Washington St. In 1850 the census enumerator put hi down as a passage agent, which may mean that he worked for a steamship line on the Hudson. He was a policeman 1857-59; a bartender in 1860; had an oyster saloon on State St. in 1862; and was janitor of the Albany gymnasium in 1863-67. From 1868 to 1887 he was a constable, except for 1882, when he was a clerk. In 1888 he appears as an insurance agent.

On 22 Oct 1846 Henry bought for $400 a lot on Fayette St. (30 ft. by 70 ft.), it west half of Lot 19 on 9th Ward. He sold it the next spring, 5 Mar 18447, for $450, subject to a $400 mortgage (Deed, Albany Co. 91:287; 93:212). Catherine signed the deed with her mark although she could write if she wanted to: we have the small pocket Bible in which she inscribed a message and signed her name in presenting it to her son George Henry when he enlisted in 1864 to fight in the Civil War.

When Henry was about 66, his grandson Henry and the latter's wife both died of tuberculosis, leaving an infant daughter Clara Bell Montross. The child's grandmother, widow of Henry's son George, petitioned to have Henry appointed guardian of his great-granddaughter Clara Bell. He was appointed 29 Aug. 1876 but a week later he asked the court to be relieved of responsibility on account of his "extreme old age" - 66 years. The court complies. (Guardianships, Albany Co. 13:54).

In 1889 Henry removed to Troy and stayed with a relative Margaret Hulse (Halse) on Spring Ave. From there he wrote 5 June 1890 a letter to the Commissioner of Pensions, Washington, D.C., in which he recited facts about his only son George's death in the Civil War and added: "I am 80 and unable to work and have no means or property of any kind. I am supported entirely by the charity of the people. Will you please write me if there is a law under which I am entitled to a pension. Please write me soon." Signed Henry F. Montross, Spring Ave., Troy, NY, care of Margaret Hulse. There is no record that he received a pension.

Family/Spouse: Catherine FREDENDALL. Catherine was born about 1812; died after 22 Oct 1866 in Troy, New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]