William Armstrong

Research into the Lives of the Descendants
Of
Robert Armstrong

Introduction

"Robert Armstrong in company with three brothers and a sister came to America in the latter part of the 18th century and settled in Berks County, Pennsylvania. One of the brothers of Robert Armstrong was impressed into the service of the crown and was never afterward heard from. James, another brother, settled in Virginia, and became a prominent planter. William located in Louisiana, and became a general in the war of 1812. A sister, Mary, married a Mr. Burnside, and was the mother of Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, who served with distinction in the Civil War, afterward became the governor of Rhode Island. "(The History of Youngstown and Mahoning Valley, Ohio., by Jos. Butler.) [Although some of the facts mentioned in the above quote may be true, the Burnside –Armstrong connection cannot be substantiated. Published information concerning Ambrose Burnside’s parents: Edgehiill Burnside was his father and Pamelia Brown was his mother.]
. Robert Armstrong may have remained in , Pennsylvania until 1805, in as much as his second son, James Potter (1802-1874) was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania; after which Robert came to Eastern Ohio (Columbiana County) and selected a home in the wilderness. This home and farm was later known as “The Walnut Grove Farm” and it was part of the land he acquired, the deed to which was signed by Thomas Jefferson. The original farm was the northeast quarter of section 19 of Goshen Township, and then named the Columbiana County, now called Mahoning County, Ohio; where the farm extended close to the banks of Mill Creek. Robert Armstrong erected a pioneer cabin and in 1823 built a substantial stone house, which stood in good preservation until the end of the 19th century. The stone was largely field sandstone and the walls were laid with clay mortar, being painted over with lime. While it is a two-story house, the cost of the mason work was only $63. This old stone landmark stood along the old Pike Road which was laid out by John Strawn from Wellsville on the Ohio River direct to Cleveland. The portion of the pike through the Armstrong farm was improved by Robert Armstrong. The road passed diagonally through the farm, dividing it almost equally. The pike was constructed prior to 1823 since the house was located purposely at one side of the road. . The foundation of the old farm home can be seen with Google Earth. In this old home, Robert Armstrong died January 14, 1843. He was born March 3, 1763. He married Ann Potter who was born June 16, 1779 and died August 27, 1826.[1]
The state of Ohio was organized in 1803, and Columbiana County was laid out the same year. The boundary lines of the county at that early day took in nearly all of Carroll County and most of Stark County. It also comprised five of the best town­ships in Mahoning County, which are bounded on the north by the old Western Reserve line. After the organization of the county, the settlements spread with wonderful rapidity. In a very few years the county had so increased in population that several new townships had been organized, and enjoyed the ad­vantages of township government
The early settlers found this county to be a difficult section to clear out. It was one vast wilderness, covered with heavy timber and thick underbrush. Many vicious wild animals infested the woods, and poisonous snakes lurked about the rocky places. Certain Indian tribes occasionally pitched their tents in this region, and the little colonies of white people were put in fear. The treachery of the red man was so well known that neither men, women nor children felt safe when a band of In­dians was in the neighborhood. A chief might profess great friendship one day, and the next day he might order a hospitable white family to be massacred in cold blood. Such were the nat­ural conditions of Columbiana County when the first settlers located here. None but the hardiest and bravest dare attempt a settlement in this region, where nature seemed to defy the progress of civilization. Those who cut away the forests soon found that the soil was fertile and very productive. It yielded in abundance whatever was planted, and thus from the beginning the pioneers were enabled to live from the products of a virgin soil. At this day it is a matter of great wonder how our fore­fathers succeeded in clearing away the immense forests which covered this entire county at the beginning of the 19th cen­tury. These early settlers were men to be admired. They were men and women of great industry; they possessed great energy, were endowed with wonderful perseverance, and their endurance scarcely knew a limit. Great and good, brave and noble, the pioneers of this county will be revered throughout time and Robert Armstrong was counted as one of them.
The Goshen Township where he settled was incorporated September 11, 1810. In one of the first business meetings for the Township, Robert Armstrong was chosen to be one of the “Fence Viewers”[2]. Later, Robert Armstrong served as Treasurer from 1820 – 1825 and then he served as Township Trustee for the years 1824 and 1825.
The published records show that Robert and Ann Potter had 9 children as noted in the Family Group Record below. However, a study of the 1830 census for Columbiana County, Goshen Township, shows a male child in his family between the age of 0 and 5 years, which cannot be accounted for in subsequent census records nor among those nine children noted in the family group record. Robert’s wife, Ann Potter, died in 1826 leaving him with several children (Mary, Rebecca and Sarah plus the male child under 5 years of age) in the home. It seems likely that the unaccounted for male child under 5 years of age in 1830 may have been a child born in 1826 and that Ann Potter Armstrong probably died during his birth. Since the child is unaccounted for in 1840, he may have had an early death. The cemetery records where Ann Potter Armstrong is buried may substantiate this assumption. The last known child to be born to the Robert Armstrong family was Sarah Armstrong born 21 July 1820.

Family Group Record

Robert Armstrong
Birth 3 March 1763, , Ireland
Death 14 January 1843, Goshen, Mahoning, Ohio, USA
Wife Ann Potter (Birth: 16 June 1779
Death: 27 August 1826 Goshen, Mahoning, Ohio, USA

Son William M. Armstrong (Birth: 23 July 1800 - Death: about 1880, , Virginia

Son James Potter Armstrong, Birth: 11 November 1802 , Chester, Pennsylvania, USA - Death: 30 March 1874, Tully, Marion, Ohio, USA)

Son John Armstrong, Birth: 27 September 1805 Goshen, Mahoning, Ohio, USA - Death: 5 February 1859 Goshen, Mahoning, Ohio, USA

Son Joel Armstrong (Birth: 9 August 1808 Goshen, Mahoning, Ohio, USA - Death: February 1865 Goshen, Mahoning, Ohio, USA)

Daughter Mary Ann Armstrong (Birth: 12 November 1811 Goshen, Mahoning, Ohio, USA - Death: before 1900 North Benton, Mahoning, Ohio, USA)

Daughter Lydia Armstrong (Birth: 17 March 1813 Goshen, Mahoning, Ohio, USA - Death: about 1826 Goshen, Mahoning, Ohio, USA)

Daughter Rebecca C. Armstrong (Birth: 31 July 1815 Goshen, Mahoning, Ohio, USA - Death: 17 September 1905, Deerfield, Portage, Ohio, USA)

Son Robert Armstrong MD (Birth: 8 December 1817 Goshen, Mahoning, Ohio, USA - Death: 7 June 1873 North Benton, Smith, Mahoning, Ohio, USA)

Daughter Sarah P. Armstrong (Birth: 21 July 1820 Goshen, Mahoning, Ohio, USA - Death: 7 December 1858, Grant, Wisconsin, USA)

Son Name Unknown, (Birth 27 Aug 1826, Goshen, Mahoning, Ohio, USA, - Death before 1840)

William Armstrong:
It is unknown where and when Robert Armstrong and Ann Potter were married, similarly, it is not known where William, the first son was born. Since the second son James Potter Armstrong was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, William may have been born also in Pennsylvania, Berks County where Robert and Ann Potter first settled after arriving in America or perhaps if Robert and Ann Armstrong were married in Ireland, then he may have been born there. Whether or not Robert and Ann were married before they arrived in America is left to conjecture until more research is done in Pennsylvania.
As noted above in the family group record, William was born 23 July 1800. The Census record for Columbiana County shows that William first appears as a separate household in the 1830 census. This record shows one male between the age 30 to 40 living with a female of the same age range and two other females; one aged 10-15 years, and one aged 20-30. It is possible that both females are not his children, but relatives. The older male and female are obviously husband and wife of the same age range. Ten years later (1840), the census record for the same location shows a William Armstrong living with a large number of persons that contradict a normal increase in family size due to births. In analyzing the life and travels of the second son, James Potter Armstrong, it is believed that James Potter Armstrong and his family had moved into the home of William Armstrong before 1840. The combined households agree precisely with the size and number of children for James Potter Armstrong at that time. By subtracting out the James Potter Armstrong family, William has a son between the age of 10-15 years and two daughters between ages 5-10. These two daughters may be twin daughters. The female of age 40 -50 is obviously William’s wife. This 1840 census record seems to confirm that the two young females in William’s home in 1830 are relatives and not his birth children.
The Armstrong’s affiliated themselves with the “Friends”[3] (Quakers) upon arrival in Ohio and it is assumed that the same affiliation occurred in Pennsylvania. In the records that have been searched for the marriage of William Armstrong, the only marriage record that fits with the census records of 1830 and 1840 is a marriage between William M. Armstrong and a Charlotte E. Brown on 4th of December 1828 by Mathais L. Swem, J.P. According to this Quaker Record, William was condemned for marrying out of unity by the Upper Springfield Monthly Meeting on 27 June 1829.
There is no way to write in detail the life story of William Armstrong as the only evidences of his life that have been found on the earth are these records mentioned above. In a biography of Sylvester Armstrong, a grandson of Robert and Ann Potter, the author mentions that William went to Illinois and died in Virginia at the age of eighty.[4] A search of the census records for Illinois and Virginia has produced nil results. A possible exception is a census record for Harrison County, West Virginia for 1870 showing a William Armstrong living in a home of “paupers”; age 72 and being born in Ireland. His going to Illinois and dieing in Virginia may be rumor or fact, however, this may be of some significance as his brother, James Potter Armstrong, lived in Harrison County, Virginia for a short time where the first son of James Potter Armstrong was born. The new born child of James was named William. The lives of these two brothers, William and James, may be more closely connected than initially supposed. Recalling the situation mentioned above where James and His family were found living with William and his family in 1840 strengthens the closeness of these brothers. The original farm of their father, Robert, after his death, fell into the hands of the younger brothers John and Joel. Is that of any significance?
Another interesting tid-bit found in the records is that in the Will of James Potter of Marion County, Ohio; probably an uncle. William and his family may have remained in Ohio until the death of James Potter, because William receives a portion ($50) of the James Potter estate after his death in 1852[5], however there are no census records for he and his family after the 1840 Census in Columbiana County, Ohio.
In order to bring some significance to land records that were discovered earlier in Harrison County, Virginia (West Virginia), it is necessary to discuss some of the events of the life of James Potter Armstrong, the second son of Robert and Ann Potter Armstrong. Previous research analysis has always lead to the fact that since James Potter Armstrong was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania and that he was married in Randolph County, West Virginia, his parents must have moved from Pennsylvania to Virginia and then moved to Ohio where James Potter Armstrong lived with his family. As noted in the above narrative of the introduction, the family of Robert and Ann Armstrong moved directly to Ohio, Columbiana County (now called Mahoning County) from Pennsylvania. For reasons unknown to this writer, it appears that the two oldest sons, William and James, when they were of sufficient age, removed themselves from Ohio to Virginia. This may have been in the later part of the 1820’s. A land record[6] was found in Harrison County, Virginia, which was for some land situated along Elk Creek[7] adjoining the land of Steven Dicks and James Nutter sold to John Dicks in 1831 by William Armstrong and Charlotte Armstrong of Columbiana County, Ohio. The land occupied by James Nutter was land he acquired in 1773 upon which a fort was built as a harbor of refuge for the neighborhood during the Indian Wars. Nutter’s Fort, a present community along Elk Creek, retains the name of the pioneer land owner and it is located about 2 miles south of Clarksburg. Steven Dicks, the other adjoining land owner to the William Armstrong sale, when he was a boy in 1776 heard the Declaration of Independence read from the steps of Independence Hall in Philadelphia just after its passage by the convention.
Another land record[8] has been found which was for a land sale between William Armstrong of Ohio and Thomas Rise (Grantee). This was a two hundred acre parcel of land along Rooting Creek in Harrison County and the deed transaction was dated 1827. There is no indication in the deed document that William Armstrong was from Columbiana County in Ohio, but if he is the same person as noted in the preceding Deed Document, then this transaction occurred a year before he was married. However, this data noted herein is much more subject to question than the previous land record noted above.
It seems very likely that the two brothers, William and James were together in Virginia. James was married to Mary Taggart in 1833 and their first born son was born in Harrison County (probably Clarksburg) and he was named William. It is reasonable to expect that they traveled together from Virginia to Ohio and returned by 1840 to the community where their father and their siblings lived in the Goshen Township of Mahoning County, Ohio. Each family would have had children along the way during that seven year period as noted in the historical events for James Potter Armstrong to be referred to in the next section. William is not to be found in any census record beyond 1840. If he returned to Virginia with his wife and children, their names are unknown. However, evidence from the land record noted above is very conclusive concerning the name of his wife, Charlotte E. Brown[9].

Notes and References:

[1] History of the Upper Ohio Valley, vol. II, Illustrated; Madison, Wis; Brant & Fuller, 1901
[2] The office of fence viewer happens to be one of the oldest appointments in New England. Back in the 17th century, as farmers clear-cut the forest and plowed the fields, they were confronted with thousands of tons of boulders left by the glaciers. They got rid of the boulders with their horses by building stone walls along the borders of their lands. These walls remain intact today around the countryside and are highly regarded among modern property owners. In the early days, it was found that a fence viewer was needed on those occasions when walls were moved or modified illegally. Woe be to any man so caught! It was considered a most serious crime to alter an established wall. Early fence viewers, armed with wall measurements, were able to arbitrate and/or prosecute such crimes by adjoining farmers. Often times, cattle wandered into a neighbor's fields and this was not allowed either. Boundaries had to be maintained and if a farmer neglected to do his part, his neighbor could do the repairs and charge his recalcitrant neighbor 2 times the cost. And, if that neighbor didn't come up with the money, he had to pay 12 percent interest until payment was made! Money, being scarce in those days, made it easy to get scores settled
[3] “A meeting for worship was established at Upper Springfield (later Damascus) by Salem Quarterly Meeting in 1807 and a Preparative Meeting was granted in 1808. One of the first appointments was that of William Morris who was to act as housekeeper. He agreed to keep the house, furnish and cut the wood for the fires, etc., for the sum of six dollars a year, said amount to be paid in produce, eggs and butter. In 1825 a monthly meeting was established by Salem Quarterly Meeting and it remained a part of Salem Quarterly Meeting until 1837 when a Quarterly Meeting named Upper Springfield was established, composed of Marlboro, Sandy Spring and Upper Springfield Monthly Meetings. Friends began settling in this part of the state as early as 1800. Among these early settlers were Samuel Woolman, Thomas Stanley, Catlett Jones, Joshua Lynch, Anthony Morris, Naddy Stanley, Thomas French, Isaac Votaw, Samuel Hicklin, James Stanley, Zacheus Stanton, Amos Holloway, Lemmel Terrell, Pleasant Cobbs, Soloman Stanley, Stacey Shreve, Benjamin Butler, Sr., William Faucett, Robert Armstrong, Abraham Warrington, Littleburg Stanley, Barzilla French, Thomas Longstaff, James Cattell, Zachariah Ellyson, John Carson, Louis Townsend and Edmond Stanley. During these early years, schools were maintained by each preparative meeting, held mostly in log houses with crude equipment. In a report made on education in 1839 for Upper Springfield Quarterly Meeting, monthly meetings reported the number of schools taught by members within the limits to be twenty-three and ten of these were under the direction of monthly and preparative meetings.” http://www.drwilliams.org/iDoc/index.htm?url=http://www.drwilliams.org/iDoc/upper_springfield.htm

[4] History of Youngstown and Mahoning Valley, Ohio; by Jos. G. Butler, Jr., volume III, Publishers American Historical Society, Chicago and New York
[5] Probate Records, 1825 – 1964; Index to Wills 1825-1950; Ohio, Probate Court (Marion County), vol. 3, Pg 529.
[6] Deeds, Harrison County, West Virginia, 1789 – 1833, Deed Book: vol. 21, Pg. 66, Harrison County Courthouse, Clarksburg, West Virginia.
[7] Elk Creek is a tributary of the West Fork River in north-central West Virginia in the United States. Via the West Fork, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 121 square miles (310 km2) on the unglaciated portion of the Allegheny Plateau. The stream is believed to have been named by an 18th century trapper and hunter named John Simpson, who encountered herds of elk along the stream. Elk Creek rises approximately six miles (10 km) southwest of Philippi in western Barbour County and flows generally west-northwestwardly into Harrison County, where it passes through the communities of Stonewood and Nutter Fort; it flows into the West Fork River in the city of Clarksburg. According to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, approximately 70% of Elk Creek's watershed is forested, mostly deciduous. Approximately 22% is used for pasture and agriculture, and approximately 3% is urban
[8] Deeds, Harrison County, West Virginia; 1789 – 1833, Deed Book: vol. 18, Pg 389, Harrison County Court House, Clarksburg, West Virginia.
[9] Columbiana County Ohio Marriages, 1800- 1870, Pg 8; by Carol Willsey Bell, C.G.; Bell Books, 4649 Yarmouth Lane, Youngstown, OH. 44512