Montrans in the News – Monthan and Moutran Instead.

Montran Monday
By Don Taylor

It is time for another edition of “Montran Monday[i].” When I encounter a new, historical newspaper article about persons with the surname Montran, I try to add information about them to my family tree database in hopes of encountering something that might lead me to learn about my maternal grandmother’s father. This week, I found several new mentions of Montran:

1. My first false alarm was the marriage of Mr. & Mrs. Gerard Orcutt, published in the Schenectady Gazette. Gerard was in the U.S. Air Force stationed at Davis-Montran [sic] in Arizona. Of course, it should have read Davis-Monthan.
2. La-Gaceta (Tampa, FL) reported on Feb 19, 1942, that Charles Irving Berney married Anne Poquette Montran[sic]. Again, it should have read Anne Poquette Monthan.
3. The University of Arizona (Tucson) 1965 yearbook (page 178) indicates that Alan Montran[sic] was among the Army ROTC Seniors. Further research found an Albert Moutran whose son, Alan Moutran, was born in Hawaii in 1943. Albert was a Captain in the USAF and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. I believe this is a likely candidate for the typo of Alan Montran.
4. Finally, the New London (Conn.) Evening Day reported on Aug 28, 1930, that Alfred Montran filed for divorce from Mary Azzi Montran. They married on Dec 5, 1920. On Jan 9, 1931, the paper reported the Alfred Moutran case was continued pending a motion regarding alimony. Further research found an Albert Moutran, who lived in New London before WW II and died there in 2010. His obituary indicated he was born in 1921, and his parents were Alfred and Mae (Karam) Moutran. I am confident that “Alfred Montran” was actually Alfred Moutran.

No luck this time finding any new Montran’s in my various newspaper sources.

Endnotes

[i] Montran Monday – My grandmother’s father was John Montran. She used the surname, as a young child and when she began her career in show business. The name is uncommon and most of the Montrans I see in the newspapers are my grandmother during her early vaudeville career. However, with the constant flow of newly digitized material, I often learn of new articles which contain the Montran name. I pay attention to the finding and try to determine a possible relationship of any Montrans to Donna’s father, John Montran.