The Armstrong Family
By
Royal Harvard Brooks, Jr.
[1]Introduction
Royal Harvard Brooks, Jr is the grandson of Catherine Elizabeth Armstrong and Francis Harvard Brooks who was the daughter of Robert Alexander Armstrong and Mary Bennett. Robert Alexander Armstrong was the son of James Potter Armstrong and Mary Catharine Taggart, the principle subjects of this brief history.
Pennsylvania became a state in 1787, 15 or 16 years before James Potter Armstrong was born. Virginia became a state about the same time (1788), but, it wasn’t until 1863, as a result of the Civil War that West Virginia became a state. Thus, the state presently known as West Virginia was called Virginia at the time James Potter Armstrong was born (1801) and at the time he was married in 1833. James Potter Armstrong was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, but by the time of his marriage the family, probably, was living in Virginia. When they made their move from Pennsylvania and their length of stay in Virginia is not known. At this time of writing, neither the parents for James Potter Armstrong are known nor any of his siblings.
Pennsylvania was the place of arrival of most early Armstrong immigrants. History suggests that following clan custom, they came to join relatives who had pioneered earlier, but by 1790 most of the good land (and all the free land) in Pennsylvania had been taken. Many of the relatively new immigrants of the Armstrong’s began to filter west into Ohio or south into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Migrations south into the present state of West Virginia from Pennsylvania were basically confined to those areas to the north and east of the Allegheny Mountains which acted as a barrier to overland travel. This area is the head waters for many rivers that flow from these mountains making travel to the south and west relatively easy as opposed to overland travel. Many of these rivers are tributaries to the Ohio River, the western boundary of the state of West Virginia.
The area to the west of the great Ohio River was known as the Ohio Territory. In 1803, it became the 17th State of the Union. It was at this time that the great Shawnee warrior, Tecumsech, was attempting to gather a great coalition of Indian Nations to stop the spread westward of the Whites. The reader may obtain a better feeling of the circumstances of the westward movement and the feelings of both settler and Indian as settlers came from Pennsylvania and Virginia by learning some of the thoughts of Tecumsech as he talked to some of his Sioux brothers.
“The Sioux are a great and numerous nation, Tecumseh told the assembled chiefs, proud of their heritage and jealous of their country and rightly so. Long had the stories been told in their tepees and before their council fires of the troubles brought upon Indians east of the great mother of: rivers (Ohio) by the white men. No matter whether the Indians had offered peace or war, yet they had been pushed back out of their lands.
The times it had happened were too many to number. Had not the Delawares lost their home on the shores of the great eastern sea and been thrown back to the Ohio country? Had not the Onondagas finally split in the mountains of New York and those who had not remained there come to this Missouri country? Had not the same thing happened to the Shawnees, who long ago had been forced away from their warm coastal territory in the land called Florida, then forced to move again and again until finally, in the Ohio country, they too had split and most of them crossed the mother of rivers to seek peace? And what of the Cherokees and the Tuscarawas, the Pamlicos and Powhatans, the Susquehannas, Narragansetts, Cayugas and Senecas and a hundred other tribes? Had not all of them been pushed back? Were not all of them still being pushed back?
The Sioux must peel back the husks from their eyes and see what was coming. No longer was the great mother of rivers a barrier to hold back the white flood. No! Until last year there had come only a few scattered Americans, alone or in small parties, to penetrate deep into their country, coming in peace, they said, to trap and trade and no more, as the Frenchmen who were already there along the Mississippi were doing. But now the great white chief, Jefferson, had bought from the French, who had no just title to it, all this land and more and would soon be coming to claim it. At this very moment, as the Sioux were aware, a large force of whites under the young captains Clark and Lewis moved upstream on the Missouri to find their way across the great mountains far to the west and reach the western sea..
And heed well this fact: this young Captain William Clark was the brother of the white chief George Rogers Clark who had helped take Ohio lands from the Indians, as all assembled here knew. Other men would follow. It was always thus. Thirty summers ago the lands of the Shawnees .had seen the same; and though they had fought, yet they had seen their game destroyed, their forests leveled, their prairies burned, their lands taken, their villages ruined, their warriors killed. And now the Can-tuc-kee country and the Ohio country had become part of the Seventeen Fires-individual States in the Union of the whites.
So it would happen here west of the mother of rivers. Not might happen. Would happen. Unless the union of the Indians became too strong for the whites. Already many tribes are ready, when the great sign is given, to join together in such union as one people; Senecas and Oneidas, Mohawks, Ottawas, Wyandots, Winnebagos, Sacs, Foxes, Kickapoos.
There are more. There will be many more than that. Fifty nations or a hundred joined into one to hold and protect what is theirs and to reclaim what has been taken from them. When the great sign is given, the Sioux should take up their weapons and come. Would they? “ (The Frontiersman -,A Narrative, by AllenW. Wckert)
The prophecies of Mormon made several millennia earlier had already begun to come to pass: “the Lord hath reserved their blessings, which they might have received in the land, for the Gentiles who shall possess the land. But, behold it shall come to pass that they shall be driven and scattered by the Gentiles ….” (Mormon 5:19-20)
As noted above in the words of Tecumsch, they would come and push the Red Man further West. Treaties were made, treaties were broken! And come they did! The word spread rapidly throughout the newly organized states and the colonies of President Jefferson’s real estate deal with Napoleon Bonaparte where one-third of the present USA was purchased from the French for $15 million, or for about 4 cents per acre. Before buying the land, Jefferson had hired fellow Virginians Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to find out what was out there. They traveled 8,000 miles in 2 1/2 years, going to the mouth of the Columbia River and returned to give a detailed report of the vast area and its tremendous potential. The news of this acquisition gave the frontier people confidence that they could move west and still be under the protection of the US government.
Another very significant event occurred near the location where the Armstrong’s lived in 1801. They may have been involved in the conflict between the United States and Great Britain, called the war of 1812. This war was mainly fought in three regions.
The land fighting of the war occurred along the Canadian border, in the Chesapeake Bay region, and along the Gulf of Mexico; extensive action also took place at sea.
Of particular interest to our history of the Armstrong’s was the fact that Americans won control of the Detroit frontier region when Oliver Hazard Perry's ships destroyed the British fleet on Lake Erie (Sept. 10, 1813). This victory forced the British to retreat eastward from the Detroit region, and on Oct. 5, 1813, they were overtaken and defeated at the battle of the Thames (Moraviantown) by an American army under the command of Gen. William Henry Harrison. In this battle the great Shawnee chief Tecumsch, who had harassed the northwestern frontier since 1811, was killed while fighting on the British side.
The British appeared near success in the late summer of 1814. American resistance to the diversionary attack in Chesapeake Bay was so weak that the British, after winning the Battle of Bladensburg (August 24), marched into Washington, D.C., and burned most of the public buildings. President Madison had to flee into the countryside. The British then turned to attack Baltimore but met stiffer resistance and were forced to retire after the American defense of Fort Mchenry, which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the words of the "Star-Spangled Banner."
James Potter Armstrong was 13 years old; would his father have been involved in this conflict? This will a research subject as the search for the parents of James Potter Armstrong continues. The end of the war gave more confidence to the settlers that movement westward could be undertaken with even more security.
Marriage and Children
The marriage of James Potter Armstrong to Mary Catharine Taggart in 1833 indicates that the Armstrong family, our subject of interest, relocated themselves from Chester county, Pennsylvania to Randolf County, West Virginia, sometime between 1801 and 1833, most likely after the war of 1812. This marriage occurred in 1833 in Randolph County, (possibly Elkins, the county seat), West Virginia or Virginia as it was known then. Little is known at this writing about either family. Future research will be the subject of the families of this couple. Family records (Pitts, 1994) and various census records always used the name Catharine as the first name of Mary Catharine Armstrong. In early research of this family, Catharine was the only name used in census and other records. The name Mary was never used. It took about 9 months of searching to finally locate the maiden name of Catharine Armstrong (wife of James Potter Armstrong). Her grand daughter living in California in 1910 supplied this information when her father William, the eldest son of James Potter Armstrong and Catharine Taggart, died. It wasn’t until the author visited the archives in that county where William lived, that this information was found (Brooks Research Report, Nov. 1995).
On November 13, 1833, not long after the marriage of James Potter and Mary Catharine, a great phenomenon occurred that has not been equaled since. For many hours the heavens were ablaze with shooting stars, flaming meteors, tongues and balls of fire and sheets of flame, darting in every direction presenting a grand and brilliant though terrifying spectacle. Many of these as they approached the earth seemed to go out or disappear. This brilliant and unusual display created great excitement and terror. Many supposed that the end of things had at last come, and hundreds prepared themselves accordingly and prayed for protection from the threatened calamity (Harrison County History).
Apparently, James Potter Armstrong and his wife, Mary Catharine Taggart, moved into Harrison County from Randolf County, West Virginia, about 1834/35 where their first son , William, was born. Where the family lived in Harrison County is not known. Since Clarksburg is the county seat of Harrison County, West Virginia, this location may well have been where William was born (1835). The distance from Elkins to Clarksburg is about 55 miles.
Victorian modesty caused people to try so hard to make the “stork” story true that the birth was often denied by protocol which demanded that doctors deliver children of mothers from under a sheet, a practice in Harrison County at the time of William’s birth. (History of Harrison County). Whether or not William was delivered by a physician is not known.
The population of Clarksburg in 1835 was about 500. There was only one store and perhaps only one physician. These were hard times in this frontier town and most everything had to be grown or obtained from the forests. The unbroken forests which originally covered West Virginia was inhabited by numerous animals, most of which have disappeared by mid nineteenth century. Buffalo were the first in size. They did not exist in great numbers due to the lack of forage, especially during winter months. The last known buffalo to be killed in Harrison County was in 1825. Elk was also found but not as numerous as deer and bear both of the latter contributed largely to the support of the settlers. Fruits, nuts and berries were found in great abundance. All of these were of use to the settlers. The sugar tree produced sugar in the spring and contributed much to the comfort of the settlers. Thus it should be noted that God our Father provided in these lands east of the mountains a great variety of fruits, nuts, and plants for use by the early settlers and perhaps was not excelled by any other part of the country.
Little is known of this Armstrong family, as no known journals or dairies have been found to supply personal family history. The early U.S. Census records were used to track the family and their lives as they moved westward. It seems certain that the siblings and parents of James Potter Armstrong moved together and that many of the Armstrong’s in the communities in which they lived were related. If one assumes that the census data is correct, this Armstrong family moved considerable distances as noted from the birth of their children. According to his own record, it was in 1839 that Robert Alexander Armstrong, was born in Chiveot, Hamilton County, Ohio. This is now a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio near the banks of the Ohio River. What was it that drew James Potter Armstrong and perhaps others family members to Chiveot, Hamilton county, Ohio? Perhaps, other family members who had moved there earlier? Whatever was the attraction, the great River was the fastest and surer way to travel there. The closest port on the river from Clarksburg was most likely St Marys on the Virginia side of the River.
The distance from Clarksburg, to St. Marys, West Virginia on the Ohio River is about 57 miles. By 1835, travel on the Ohio River was safe and affordable and the best way to get to the Cincinnati area. Whether or not they traveled by the river to that location is not known, but it seems likely according to the times.
One begins to wonder if James Potter Armstrong may have been some kind of a traveling minister as the next child is born in Morrow County, (possibly Washington Township) Ohio in 1842, Edwin D. Armstrong. Morrow and Marion Counties are located in the northern central part of the State of Ohio as shown on the map noted herein.
The exact location of the family when the next child was born is uncertain. The naming of this male child is a mystery also, in that he is named William J. Armstrong in as much as the first son was named William I Armstrong. He was born in 1844 as the fourth child. His name appears in the 1850 U.S. Population Census for the State of Ohio, Mahoning County, Goshen Township at the age of 6 years. It is quite likely that he was born in either Morrow or Stark County since the family lived at these locations before moving to Mahoning County where they were enumerated in the 1850 census. William J. lives only to be 8 years of age as he dies in 1852 on the 4th of October. The fifth child to be born to James and Catharine Armstrong is Lydia Armstrong, the only female child to come into the family. She is born in 1845. Due to conflicting information, the location of her place of birth is uncertain. When she was enumerated in the 1850 census in Mahoning County at the age of 5 years, her birthplace is given as Ohio. Ten years later at the age of almost 15 in the 1860 U.S. Population Census for Marion County in the Tully Township of the State of Ohio, her birthplace is given as Virginia the same as given for her oldest brother, William I. The 6th child to come into the family is Franklin born the 19th of June 1846, in the state of Ohio, probably in Stark County. He later dies at the age of 6 years. Both of the latter sons, William J. and Franklin, die in October and September respectively of 1852 and they were buried in the Iberia Cemetery of Morrow County. The last child to be born into the family is John Armstrong in 1848 in Limaville, Stark County, Ohio.
Did the Armstrong’s move back to Virginia for the birth of Lydia or is the census record in error? It is the opinion of the author that the census record is in error and that she was probably born in Stark County, Ohio. Why did they move to Limaville in Stark County from Morrow County where Edwin was born and then to the Goshen Township of Mahoning County? There is some indication that the family lived near Canfield in Mahoning County, if so, the distance from Limaville to Canfield is about 24 miles due east. But, why was the family temporarily located at these many locations for short periods of time? Their moving around in Ohio has occurred over about a twenty year period (1839 – 1859). A final question: was William J. Armstrong the biological son of James Potter Armstrong and Mary Catharine? Could he have been taken in by the family from a close relative?
By 1860, the Armstrong family had settled onto a farm in Marion County in the Tully Township. James Potter Armstrong remained on this farm the rest of his life. His life here and how the farm was obtained is the subject of the next Chapter.
To briefly summarize the movements of this Armstrong family: After James Potter Armstrong is born in 1801, he is found in Randolf county, West Virginia; then Harrison county West Virginia; then Hamilton county, Ohio; afterwards to Morrow county, Ohio; then to Stark county, Ohio and then to Mahoning county, finally settling in Marion county, Ohio probably about the year 1952. A map showing possible routes to these various locations is shown in Figure 1.
The thirty year period between 1801 and 1830 is an interesting period to contemplate. Surely there should be a record of some type left at their residences where the blanks could be filled in, but to no avail. When the father of James Potter Armstrong is known, then the family, perhaps, can be tracked from Pennsylvania to West Virginia and then to Ohio. It seems probable that other family members may have been at these locations finally helping James Potter Armstrong to settle down.
It is interesting to note that the center of The Church development and growth and where many sacred revelations were received by the Prophet Joseph Smith just ten years earlier occurred only 58 miles due north at Kirtland, Ohio and only 28 miles to Hiram, Ohio from Limaville. Had the Armstrong family been in this area ten years earlier would their history have been different?
[1] The basis for writing and constructing this history is to formalize the facts, events of the time, and the environs in such a way that additional information may be found by the writer so as to extend the genealogy backward to more of the fathers. Likewise, this document may be of interest to descendants so they may better appreciate the sacrifices made by their fathers.
