'What ever happened to...?'

Motley grad Esther (Montgomery) Johnson graduated as co-valedictorian of her Motley High School Class of 1929. Now 100 years old, she hopes to travel back to Motley from her home in Seattle sometime this spring. Reporter's note: This is the third in a series entitled, "What ever happened to...?" a periodic column which will highlight stories from graduates in the Motley and Pillager areas.

She hasn't been back to Motley since the town's Centennial Celebration in 1987; but 100-year-old Esther (Montgomery) Johnson says she's hoping to take a trip back to her hometown sometime this spring.

"I don't suppose there will be anyone left that I remember," she said in a recent phone conversation from her home in Seattle. "But it sure would be nice to see Motley again."

Esther's voice is bright and full of enthusiasm as she recalls the midwestern town she called home for the first 18 years of her life.

"I was born in Broken Bow, Nebraska... my family had a cattle ranch there," Esther said. "But we moved to Motley when I was just five weeks old. We had a big house down by the Mill Pond. I heard that it's not there anymore."

Newlyweds Esther (Montgomery) and George Johnson of Seattle, have been married since 1993. Esther (a Motley native) turned 100 years old Sept. 21; and George, just 97 years, still works at his real estate office every day. (Submitted photo) Born Sept. 21, 1909, Esther recently celebrated her 100th birthday.

"They had a party for me at my church...350 people came to help celebrate. It was wonderful," Esther shared.

She still plays piano (by ear) at her church in Seattle; performing many of the old hymns she first learned at the Free Methodist Church in Motley.

"That was a big part of my life growing up," Esther said, recalling the church and some of the clergy who helped lead the congregation in its earlier years...Pastor Winn, Pastor Miller and Pastor Elliot. "Oh, there were several," she added.

Esther's parents were Charles A. Montgomery and Lula (Skelton) Montgomery. She had three brothers and two sisters. "I'm the only one left in my family," she said.

Gravestone Paul Montgomery, a former watchman with the railroad, was murdered in 1922, while on duty in Staples. Eldon Morey and Paul Schlichting, both of Motley, have recently been tending to Paul's gravestone, per request of his sister, Esther (Montgomery) Johnson of Seattle. (Submitted photo by Eldon Morey) Charles traveled quite a bit, Esther recalled. "He was the state inspector of weights and measures. I suppose he wasn't real popular in some towns." Her father was also the mayor of Motley in 1929.

She had a happy childhood. "The Montgomery kids never lacked for entertainment," Esther said; adding that they had a lot of fun playing on the banks of the Mill Pond.

"We didn't seem to have a lot of luck with pets," she laughed. "We were always having funerals for our cats. One of my sisters would sing, someone else preached; and I always prayed. There were six crosses down by the Mill Pond at one point."

Esther said she can picture her hometown like it was yesterday.

She's fairly certain there were three grocery stores back then. "Ben Kale had one; Broom and Johnson had the others."

If they needed to buy clothes, however, the Montgomerys traveled to a neighboring town. "We'd take the train to Staples or Brainerd...that's where you could get clothing."

"Oh, I have a lot of memories..." Esther says over the phone.

School was an important part of her childhood, too.

The old brick schoolhouse she attended for 12 years is no longer standing; but Esther said she has very vivid memories of the building and all that transpired within its walls.

"We had good teachers at Motley. I can't remember all of the names; but I remember a Miss Springer and Miss McGandy. Mr. (George) Haun was my favorite principal. He was also our basketball coach," Esther said.

Esther's voice lights up again as she recalls the thrill of playing on the Motley High School basketball team. "We were state champs for two years; and I was also one of the captains. It was all very exciting."

Arthur Hogland was her boyfriend at the time, Esther confides, a slight smile evident even over the phone. "He was the captain of the boy's basketball team; and he had bought himself a Ford, which means I didn't have to ride the bus to ball games."

Another highlight for Esther was being named covaledictorian of the MHS Class of 1929, along with her friend Mary (Parker) Morey.

Through a set of circumstances, Esther was recently introduced to Mary's son, Eldon Morey, of Motley.

"He has been just wonderful," Esther said of Eldon. "I had been very worried about the condition of my brother Paul's grave...he's buried there in Motley. Eldon said he would check into it for me."

Esther's voice sobered a bit as she recalled the murder of her brother, Paul, in 1922. He was only 22 years old.

Paul had been hired as a watchman/ guard for the railroad; a job that was supposed to be conducted in pairs. There was a railroad strike going on at the time, which made for strained, often volatile working conditions.

Unfortunately, Esther said, her brother's partner did not show up for work that day; and as Paul was walking back to the depot in Staples at around 5 a.m., he was shot four times by some men hiding in the bushes.

The men took flight, Esther said; and were never found.

"My brother lived long enough to say that they got the wrong person," Esther said. "It was very sad for everyone, especially for my folks."

She thinks about Paul to this day; and has been relieved to know that Eldon Morey, along with Paul Schlichting (the Motley cemetery's caretaker) has been tending to his grave.

Since getting in touch with Esther, Eldon said he has been reading up on the railroad strike and on the unfortunate death of Paul Montgomery.

"A lot was written about the murder in both the Motley Mercury and the Staples World newspapers," Eldon said. "In fact, there seems to have been a running heated battle between the editors of the two papers - Ernest Haymaker and E.D. Lum - in regard to the incident."

Haymaker, the editor of the Motley Mercury, was a bit of an extremist, Eldon said. Lum's columns, as well, were spiced with words which wouldn't be described as 'neutral' by most of today's readers.

In addition to Eldon, Esther has been in contact with Ella Topp, a longtime member of the Motley Historical

Society; and author of the book "The Right Side of the River," written for the town's Centennial.

Ella recently helped Esther locate some of the Montgomery family history; and discovered that the property on which Esther's childhood home once stood is now owned by Mark Frisk of Motley.

The Mill Pond Townhomes, which Frisk built a few years ago, now grace the banks of the water where Charles Montgomery first brought his family from Nebraska.

"I hope I can come back to Motley and meet these new friends," Esther said. "There weren't many people left that I knew when I was there for the Centennial. Margaret Erbe and I had a nice time visiting; but I believe she must have passed away...a Christmas card I sent to her last year was returned."

After she graduated from high school, Esther left Motley to attend college in South Dakota. She majored in English and history, two subjects she is passionate about.

"I've always loved history. You know my grandfather was a general in the Civil War...Moses G. Montgomery was his name," Esther shared.

In addition to history, while she was in South Dakota Esther fell in love with Walter Johnson, a man she described over the phone as 'tall and handsome.' When he asked her to marry him, she said, 'yes.'

Walter was a businessman; and his company (ALCOA) moved the Johnson family around quite a bit. "We lived in Sioux Falls, Minneapolis, Cleveland and New York," she said, adding that eventually they settled in Seattle.

"Seattle's great," she tells this reporter. "I hope you can come out and meet my family someday."

Walter and Esther raised three daughters together. Although she taught school off and on over the years, Esther said her most important and enjoyable job was taking care of her family.

After Walter's death in 1992, Esther met the second love of her life...George Johnson.

"He's Walter's brother," Esther said. "George lost his wife two weeks after I lost Walter."

George and Esther were married in 1993; and have been enjoying life to the max, Esther exclaimed into the phone.

"We have a lot of fun together...we've traveled to Mexico in our motor-home. I think that's the secret to living a long life...you just keep going."

In fact, Esther tells this reporter, her 97-year-old husband, George, plays golf on a regular basis and still reports to work every day.

"My husband's in real estate," Esther says. "He owns 'George Johnson Realty' in Seattle. Did you happen to see a news story CNN did about him recently?"

George even has his own website, Esther says. "If you go to it, you can see his picture. He's very cute," she says with a giggle.

It would be wonderful, Esther said, if she could bring George to Motley; to show him where she grew up so many years ago now.

"If we do come out that way, I imagine we'll have to fly into Minneapolis and then rent a car from there. It would be an awfully long train ride," Esther said, the wheels obviously spinning in her mind.

"Yes, I think we'll just have to fly there," she added. "Motley in the springtime. That would be wonderful."