Representative Samuel James Montgomery

Samuel James Montgomery (December 1, 1896 – June 4, 1957) was an American politician, attorney, and World War I veteran who served one term as a Republican U.S. Representative from Oklahoma from 1925 to 1927. Over the course of his career, he combined military service, legal practice, and public office during a period of significant political and social change in the United States.

Montgomery was born in Buffalo, Larue County, Kentucky, on December 1, 1896, the son of Henry Harrison Montgomery and Ella Slack Montgomery. In 1902 he moved with his parents to Oklahoma, where the family settled in Bartlesville. Growing up in what was then a rapidly developing region, he attended the public schools of Bartlesville. His early years in Oklahoma, a state that had only recently been admitted to the Union, helped shape his understanding of the needs and aspirations of a growing population in the Southwest.

After completing his primary and secondary education, Montgomery pursued legal studies at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. He studied law there and, following the interruption of World War I, was admitted to the bar in 1919. He began the practice of law in Bartlesville, establishing himself professionally in the community where he had been raised. At some point in his early adulthood he married Elizabeth Grove Hutcheson at Fort Worth, Texas; the couple had two children, Henry and Elizabeth, and maintained close ties to Oklahoma throughout his legal and political career.

Montgomery’s early legal career was interrupted by his service in World War I. He enlisted as a private in the Sixth Regiment, United States Marine Corps, on July 18, 1917, and served with the Second Division of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe. His service extended until May 19, 1919, when he was honorably discharged. For his actions during the war, he received the Croix de Guerre from the Republic of France, an honor that recognized his courage and contribution to the Allied war effort. Returning to Oklahoma after the war, he resumed the practice of law in Bartlesville and reestablished his civilian career.

Building on his legal background and wartime service, Montgomery entered electoral politics as a member of the Republican Party. He was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-ninth Congress and served as a U.S. Representative from Oklahoma from March 4, 1925, to March 3, 1927. His single term in the House of Representatives coincided with a significant period in American history marked by postwar economic expansion and shifting political alignments. During his tenure, he participated in the legislative process, represented the interests of his Oklahoma constituents, and contributed to the work of Congress as the nation addressed issues of economic development, veterans’ affairs, and federal governance in the 1920s.

Montgomery sought to continue his service in Congress but was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1926 to the Seventieth Congress. After leaving office in March 1927, he returned to private life and resumed his legal career. He practiced law in Tulsa, one of Oklahoma’s principal commercial and oil centers, and later in Oklahoma City, the state capital. Through his legal work in these growing urban centers, he remained engaged in the civic and professional life of Oklahoma long after his brief tenure in national office had ended.

Samuel James Montgomery died in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on June 4, 1957, at the age of 60. He was interred in Memorial Park Cemetery in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, returning in death to the community where he had grown up and begun his professional life. His career reflected the trajectory of many early twentieth-century American public figures who combined military service, legal practice, and a period of congressional service during a transformative era in the nation’s history.