William M. Montgomery: The Iceman from Derrywinny
Jonathan Smyth's Times Past column, this week, recalls Robert Montgomery from Derrywinny, Kilmore who became one of the largest ice suppliers in the US...
Derrywinny is situated in the electoral district of Killykeen, in the civil parish of Kilmore. In 1896, the Irish naturalist, writer and librarian, Robert Lloyd Praeger, wrote an essay, in which he mentioned that this townland has a bog containing ‘several uncommon plants’; flora that included the ‘Great Sundew’, Marsh Andromeda, and White Beak-rush.
In Irish, Derrywinny becomes the lyrically pleasing ‘Doire Bhainne’, that is ‘oak wood of the milk’. It was in this pleasant-sounding place, William M. Montgomery was born. He grew up to become one of the largest ice producers in all of America.
So, who was this iceman from Derrywinny? No, he wasn’t some superhero from a marvel comic, nor was he a character in a science fiction novel. William M. Montgomery became an ice magnate and, with the help of his brother Robert Montgomery, they kept Americans cool for years.
William emigrated from Cavan to New York City in 1863, where he and his brother Robert then started the William M. Montgomery Ice Company in 1879. They harvested vast quantities of ice blocks and quickly became major ice dealers. Montgomery’s cool-headed acumen helped the company to expand, supplying vast quantities of the product through new routes across the state of New York, and further afield for exportation.
William made his brother Robert a business partner and, after William’s death, Robert became president of the company. William M. was born at the Montgomery homestead in Derrywinny, not too far from Cavan Town in 1845. He also had an older sister Mary born in 1841.
Ice work
The work of ice harvesting is not likely one you may have heard much about, and I doubt readers will have seen it in the job section of any paper either. Ice harvesting was big business in the 19th and early 20th century when the chilly product was gathered from Norway and along the East coast of the United States. It was a licensed business, for example, in 1890, Montgomery’s ice company requested the renewal of their permit for ice dredging, tally house and scales on approach to Pier at ‘40th Street, at North-river’. Another account relates to them keeping ice houses by the Hudson River at Cooper’s Island.
Termed as a ‘cold weather crop’, the ice was cut from frozen lakes and rivers in the early winter months and stored as blocks in icehouses to sell on as a cooling agent for preserving cold foods in an era before the invention of electrical refrigeration. Drinks require ice too and I am sure many a worker relished in a cold libation following a day sliding about on the frozen Hudson. It was tough work, for certain, and there needed to be at least a foot of ice on the water before the icemen could get stuck in, using either a hand saw, or a ‘powered saw blade’. I’m certain, that health and safety would have had a field day if they’d been around during an ice harvest.
Cavan
Mind you, when it came to their homeland, staying in contact was a thing the family never let slide. The Montgomerys remained in touch with Cavan. William’s brother Richard and his wife Elizabeth lived on at Derrywinny and, when William M. died on February 10, 1898, word soon journeyed across the Atlantic, and appeared in the pages of the Cavan Weekly News. They named him a great Cavanman, and the toast of the large ice producers of New York.
To New Yorkers, William was a public-spirited benefactor whom the Cavan journalist referred to as ‘honourable, intelligent, and upright in all his dealings; prominent as an ice harvester and dealer; thoroughly practical … an excellent advisor.’
According to friends, his infinite energy always seemed to display a limitless nature.
He was busy at his ‘large ice houses’ at Rensselaer, in Rensselaer County, east of the Hudson when he fell ill. Poor William developed a severe cold, but thankfully managed to complete that year’s harvest. Two weeks later, Montgomery headed home to New York City to convalesce. The illness could not be shaken, his condition worsened and typhoid set in. Death soon followed.
One obituary noted Montgomery as having had a good reputation, and how politicians invited him to stand for election as Alderman of a local district. He successfully defeated a Democratic majority and then later, took a seat in the State Assembly, serving a single term only. But ice harvesting was his primary passion, and he would not commit himself fully to politics.
When a publication for ice harvesters called ‘The Ice World’ was launched, William offered encouragement and would often contribute valuable advice in its columns. The journalist concluded that William had been a ‘kind and devoted husband, parent, brother’ and a friend to the reporter who penned the obituary in the Cavan Weekly News.
Slippery slope
After William’s time, Robert served as the company’s president until his own demise on December 8, 1904. Hardly a fortnight had passed following on from Robert’s death, when a New York paper, The Sun, published a report on December 30, which signalled treacherous conditions ahead for the ice business when a ‘petition in bankruptcy’ was filed against them by a creditor. At the time, the company’s stock was entirely owned by the Montgomery family, and The Sun listed more of Robert’s relatives, including John W. Montgomery, vice-president; William E. Montgomery, secretary; and Frederick H. Montgomery, treasurer.
In 1905, fears were confirmed when the ‘Cold Storage and Ice Trade Journal, reported how ‘it was alleged that the company is insolvent and on December 1st (1905) paid $1,500 to Peter A. Whitbeck, a creditor.’
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