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Rutherford George Montgomery

American children's writer (1894–1985)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 22, 2026
Entity authorityQ7383341 ↗
Source-derived summary

Rutherford George Montgomery (April 12, 1894 – July 3, 1985) was an American writer of children's books. In addition to his given name, he used the pseudonyms A.A. Avery, Al Avery, Art Elder, E.P. Marshall, and Everitt Proctor.

Life

Montgomery was born in Straubville, Sargent County, North Dakota, "a true ghost town" as of 2005. to George Y. and Matilda Proctor Montgomery. He studied at Colorado Agricultural College, Western State College of Colorado, and University of Nebraska; taught elementary school in Hot Springs County, Wyoming; and from 1917 to 1919 served in the United States Air Corps. During the 1920s, he worked as a teacher and principal at junior and senior high schools in Montrose County, Colorado.

Montgomery married Eunice Opal Kirks in 1930; they had three children. He served Gunnison County, Colorado, as a judge from 1931 to 1936 and as county commissioner from 1932 to 1938, then became a freelance writer.

While still at school, Montgomery began writing stories about the wild animals that lived around his family's farm. He went on to write books about aviation and the people, landscapes and animals of the American West, particularly horses.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Rutherford George Montgomery” as american children's writer (1894–1985). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Rutherford, George and Montgomery.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1894, 1985, 2005, 1917—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1894-04-12. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Rutherford, George and Montgomery providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Rutherford George Montgomery”, the useful work is to connect “american children's writer (1894–1985)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7383341. VIAF identifies the subject as 2927117. The Library of Congress control number is n50016842. 6 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1894, 1985, 2005 and 1917.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Rutherford George Montgomery”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Rutherford George Montgomery primary sources, Rutherford George Montgomery archive and Rutherford research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Rutherford George Montgomery”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Rutherford George Montgomery” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.