Introduction

Biography

Montgomery was the son of Har­vey Gib­son and Is­a­belle Grant Craw­ford of Mar­tins­burg, Penn­syl­van­ia, and husband of Mar­ga­ret El­lis Bra­sing­ton Church.

He at­tend­ed the West Sun­bu­ry Aca­de­my, gra­du­at­ing in 1888. He en­tered the Uni­ver­si­ty of Woos­ter in 1889, and gra­du­at­ed in 1893.

For a year he tra­veled in the Am­er­ican west with sev­er­al col­lege friends, and in the au­tumn of 1894 en­tered Prince­ton Theo­lo­gic­al Sem­in­ary, gra­du­at­ing in 1897. He was chos­en class po­et in the Aca­de­my and in the Uni­ver­si­ty, and in his sen­ior year, was elect­ed toast­mas­ter for Prince­ton’s an­nu­al Pan-Hell­en­ic Ban­quet.

Upon leav­ing the se­mi­na­ry, Gib­son was asked to ac­cept the pas­tor­ate of the church at At­lan­tic High­lands, New Jer­sey, in 1897. On Ja­nu­ary 5, 1898, he was elect­ed by the First Pres­by­te­ri­an Church of Wilm­ing­ton, De­la­ware. Then, on May 17, 1898, he be­came pas­tor of the Rox­bor­ough Pres­by­te­ri­an Church in Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia, serv­ing there through at least 1904.