ROBERT HIESTER MONTGOMERY
(1 872 – 1953)
By Anthony T. Krzystofik University of Massachusetts
Background
Robert H. Montgomery was born in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania in 1872. His introduction to accounting began on February 4, 1889, at the age of 16 when he became employed as an office boy for John Heins, a public accountant in Philadelphia. Montgomery was also introduced to professional accounting organizations at this time as John Heins was president of the American Association of Public Accountants and one of the ablest accountants in the profession. Other partners of the firm included William M. Lybrand, T. Edward Ross and Adam A. Ross. Montgomery was admitted to the partnership in 1896 at the age of 23. After ten years of association with Heins, this group on January 1, 1898, founded in Philadelphia the public accounting firm of Lybrand, Ross Bros. & Montgomery. In 1902 the firm opened an office in New York City with Robert Montgomery assuming responsibility of the office, This office was the first of an expansion that was eventually to become the international accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand.
Montgomery’s early accounting education was received on the job and through evening bookkeeping courses. He did, however, receive a law degree from Dickinson College and was admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania in 1900 and in New York four years later. For many years he practiced both law and accounting in New York but eventually abandoned the law practice for accounting. Montgomery along with his partners became a charter member of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants in 1897. Mr. Heins was the first President. Robert Montgomery received his certificate on June 15, 1899.
Teaching Career
Montgomery’s introduction into accounting education was through the teaching of a course in the Theory of Accounting during the summer of 1902 for the Pennsylvania Institute of Public Accountants. Courses were offered by the Institute in each of the four subject areas of public accounting in an attempt to upgrade the accounting profession. In 1904 Montgomery taught classes which were sponsored by the Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1905-06 Montgomery also lectured at New York University. When evening classes were instituted at Columbia University in 1910, Montgomery assumed the task of teaching the first class and of obtaining instructors to take over additional classes.
In 1912 Montgomery was appointed an instructor in Economics at Columbia University. The School of Business was not established until 1916. In 1919 Montgomery was promoted to Professor of Accounting and made a member of the Administrative Board of the School. He maintained a faculty position at Columbia until 1931.
In Montgomery’s autobiography it is interesting to note that he found it difficult to teach accounting and auditing to students who had never seen a set of accounting records. Consequently he established an “Accountancy Laboratory—the connecting link between Theory and Practice.” In this laboratory he used actual sets of books from old and bankrupt concerns.
Major Publications
The writings of Robert Montgomery include a long list of articles and books beginning with the publication in 1905 of an American edition of Auditing: A Practical Manual for Auditors authored by Professor Lawrence R. Dicksee of the University of Birmingham, England. Professor Dicksee’s book, which was first published in 1892 in England, was largely based on English court decisions and therefore of limited application in the United States. Montgomery’s adaptation of the Dicksee text to American needs is considered to be the beginning of American literature in accounting. The introduction to this first modern accounting text was written by Arthur Lowes Dickinson, another leading accountant of the period.
In 1912 Montgomery wrote the first edition of his Auditing Theory and Practice which was to become one of the most influential books in American accounting literature. The motivation for the book as noted by Montgomery was: “During the last few years . . . I have noted in the profession a gradual departure from the principles and procedures enunciated by Mr. Dicksee. More is now expected of the auditor, and, happily, many of the profession have met this broader demand and have shown that the services to the practitioner must extend over the whole field of business activity.”
Of special interest to accounting historians is Montgomery’s contribution to Columbia University library of his vast collection of old and rare accounting books. The library includes historical collections from the entire world on such subjects as an account book of a slaveship and the record books of kings and queens in the 15th century. Rare books on accounting are added annually to the collection.
Public and Professional Service
Robert Montgomery’s public service began as an Army private in the Spanish-American War. During World War I he was commissioned a lieutenant colonel, serving as chief of the section on organization and methods in the Office of Director of Purchase. His post war public service included a number of assignments to governmental agencies and commissions.
He attended the first International Congress of Accountants which was held in St. Louis in 1904 and was an active member of the Congress throughout his career. He was elected President of the American Institute of Accountants from 1912 to 1914 and again from 1935 to 1937.
Montgomery was honored on a number of occasions by the profession and academia. He received the AICPA Gold Medal Award in 1949 and was elected to the Accountants Hall of Fame at Ohio State University.
Personal Interests
As evidence of his broad interests, Mr. Montgomery in his later years devoted his time to horticulture, particularly conifer and tropical trees. In 1938 he founded the Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Florida which grew from an original gift of 25 acres to over 83 acres. His interest in horticulture brought rare collections from around the world to both the gardens in Florida and New York.
Summary
In his book The Rise of the Accounting Profession, John L. Carey when referring to Montgomery and his accomplishments uses the word “amazing.” It is not difficult to understand why he did when one reviews Montgomery’s contributions to the development of accounting philosophy. The publication this year of the pioneer accounting book that bears his name provides an opportunity for accounting historians to review Montgomery’s legacy to accounting.
(Vol. 2, No. 4, p. 8, 1975)
