Dr. Robert N. Montgomery ~ 1925

Dr. Robert N. Montgomery was supply minister from April to September, 1925. He left Bethel to study at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Robert was born in 1900, the son and grandson of Presbyterian ministers. Roberts' father was John Knox Montgomery who became president of Muskingum College in 1904. He was the 5th child of J. Knox & Emme Patton Montgomery and grew up on the Muskingum campus in New Concord, Ohio. Two of Robert's brothers, Don and Paul also became Presbyterian ministers. Robert graduated from Muskingum in 1921 and attended Pittsburgh Zenia Seminary and graduated in 1924. In 1925 he married the former Ruth Kelley, whom he met while she was attending Oberlin College.
Upon his return to the U.S. he taught at Pittsburgh Xenia until he was called to be president of Tarkio College in Tarkio, Missouri in the fall of 1928. At the time, Robert was the youngest president of any college in the U.S. at age 28. He remained at Tarkio until he was called to become president of Muskingum College in 1932 to succeed his father J. Knox Montgomery who died the year before. While president of Muskingum, Robert was elected moderator of the United Presbyterian Church in 1957 and was the last moderator before the merger of the U.P. and the Presbyterian Churches in 1958. He remained as president and later as Chancellor of Muskingum until his death in 1967 at the age of 67. He was survived by his wife Ruth who died in 1993 and his only child Molly Brunner who lives in Seattle, Wa. (Information provided by C. Barry Montgomery -nephew of Rev. Robert Montgomery)