Montgomery, Benjamin Thornton (1819–12 May 1877), businessman, was born a slave in Loudoun County, Virginia. As the boyhood companion of his owner’s son, Montgomery completed in the afternoon the lessons the young white boy learned from his tutor in the morning. In this manner Montgomery gained a basic education. In 1836 he was sold to a trader who transported him to Natchez, Mississippi, where he was purchased by Joseph Davis, elder brother of ...