ABSTRACT
Robert Heister Montgomery, accountant, lawyer, educator, and author, was generally recognized as one of the outstanding leaders of the accounting profession from about 1910 to about 1940. While his formal education had been limited, he was very observant and widely read. Most of his accounting knowledge was obtained on the job and from association with John Heins, who was, from all references, a strict taskmaster. Between 1900 and 1940, Montgomery was an active participant in many of the major professional accounting organizations. Montgomery received much recognition for his service to the profession of accountancy and for other public service. Montgomery was quick to see the implications of the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution, a law permitting the imposition of a general income tax. In accounting literature, the word “amazing” is frequently used to describe Montgomery’s life and accomplishments.
