"Oh! I Must Make Some Money!"

Throughout the 1880s, in the letters written by the Armstrong men, there is an undercurrent of anxiety as the young men in the family try to find positions that will not only support themselves but that will provide extra money necessary for the comfort of their extended families. Robert and Baker Armstrong, sons of Edward McCarty Armstrong Senior's second family, go from their half-brothers' grocery and drugstore  in Salem, Virginia, to various posts in Baltimore and Texas--looking for the best financial deal. In one letter in 1886, Baker evidently writes his father for advice about a partnership a man in Texas is offering him. At the time, Baker is working as a druggist in the drugstore owned by George W. Norrell, Bryan, Texas. In a letter dated January 12, 1886, Edward M. Armstrong writes his oldest son [I have regularized the punctuation.]:

In reply, are you at liberty to accept the 2nd proposition of Mr. Stuarts? When Mr. Norrell agreed to meet your demands for $1000 a year, did you not place yourself under obligation to continue with him? I merely ask the question, for I do not know all that passed between you. I want you to be very careful that in advancing your own interests that you do no injustice to others.

Father Edward advises his son to look closely into the character of the man offering Baker a partnership in his business. (The type of business is not identified though the word choice suggests some kind of mercantile business--maybe another drugstore.)

Are you to have any control in the business & who buys the goods? Will your name be in the business and will you become responsible for debts? Is Mr. Stuart a Christian? Is he strictly moral? Does he drink, or gamble? Is he a high flyer or extravagant?

In a later letter, dated January 26, 1886, Mother Louisa adds her advice:

My idea is that you had "set in" for the year with Mr. N. at $1000. I feel somehow that he is a safer man than the other; that he is rather close & the other a "fast liver." Of course I do not pretend to know; but judge so from your letters. Riches take to themselves wings and fly away sometimes.

The young Armstrong men's looking out not only for their own interests but for the comfort of their relatives was to be a characteristic of their behavior throughout their adult lives. Both Robert and Baker sent money home to help their mother purchase a medicine she deemed necessary for her health and to purchase clothing for their siblings. In 1886, Baker and Robert evidently helped pay for their sister Nettie's travels to visit various family members in Virginia, a trip that Mother Louisa writes about and that Nettie herself describes in a letter to her brothers, dated Jan. 6, 1886: "You can't know how much pleasure you are giving me, in this nice trip, and I certainly am grateful to you for it." I get the feeling, from reading several of the letters, that the trip was a way of getting Nettie away from the farm, with its sad reminders of sister Katie, who had died in January of 1885.

The boys were always looking out for those members of the family who needed their help, and letters first from their older half-brother William Dillon Armstrong and another from their nephew David Gibson Armstrong, Jr., illustrate how other relatives relied on Baker and Robert. By this time, William had sold his store house and was casting about for another business. He had spent quite some time in 1885 in quest of a place to open another business, but in January, 1886, he seems to be a little desperate:

Not being able to fall upon a suitable location for business during the Summer & Autumn & tired of running around & separation from my family, I concluded to replace them under the old roof for the Winter, hoping something would develop for me by the time Winter breaks......[Later in the letter, William's desperation comes through more clearly.] I am glad to hear you & Robt are both succeeding so well, in your adopted home & trust an ever faithful and kind Providence may be over you, to bless & protect--A dark & mysterious Providence has certainly been the portion of our family during the past five years & at times I am so humiliated, I feel desperate,--But I will not write about disagreeable things--

William continues the letter by asking his brothers to inquire about the whereabouts of certain Texas boys who had attended Roanoke College and who had neglected to pay their bills at his store in Salem: "...as I am at a dead outlay just now--everything going out and nothing coming in--every dollar collected helps very much--"  William's list of Texas college boys who did not pay their bills goes back to 1878.

William ends his letter by telling his younger half-brothers that he does not want to burden them with these matters, but that he thought that since they were in Bryan, they might be able to succeed in collecting some of the money and that although he was entitled to interest, he would settle for just the principal of whatever they could get.

Baker receives another desperate letter later in the year from his nephew David Armstrong, son of David Gibson ("Bro. Gib") and Hannah Armstrong. Brother Gib's drinking has wreaked havoc in the family. William's own troubles may have been connected to Gib's problems because the two might have been in business together in Salem. In February, Baker's sister Jane alludes to William's and Gibson's difficulties: "Brother Will expected to go last week or this to Kentucky & N. C. looking for a home and some-thing to do, but we have not heard of his going out. Last week we were at Sister Hannah's [wife of David Gibson Armstrong, Sr.]. She and Hannah both look badly, Little Hannah especially and I suppose it is owing to her Father's behavior. I suppose he has been doing all right for the last week or two--have heard nothing to the contrary."

By May, William has bought a store house in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and has begun buying goods to stock the store. Mother Louisia writes Baker that William "will get a boy & train in the business. It was hard for me to part with him, I tell you."

However, Brother Gibson's family is not doing so well, for Baker receives a letter from his nephew David, dated August 12, 1886, unfolding a sad tale of missed opportunities. Evidently, Baker's friend Gus Finley wrote a letter in David's behalf, to help secure David a position at a high school. Finley had written a letter to the principal and to David but got the letters mixed up. By the time the mix-up was rectified, the position had already been filled. Then David takes up another offer from a gentleman offering him a position at his college. However, David then discovers that the college has been in some difficulties and that "it would be next to a miracle" if he "received any pay at all," for "the college is just being re-opened after 3 yrs. suspension, & the prospects are that it will again prove a failure." David, however, feels obligated to follow through with his acceptance of the position: "Having given my word to labor there, I feel in duty bound to fulfill the engagement." However, in anticipation of being without a job soon, David adds:

So Bake, if you can get that $75.00 position for me, oh, do so, by all means.... My aim is now to make money! If I ever go to the Seminary, it will be obliged to be on the fruit of my own labor. Oh! I must make some money! After consultation with a trustworthy lawyer in town, I find that, if my mother & Bros. & sisters have a roof over them by the first of Jan., they might be exceedingly thankful. My father is still drinking--getting lower into the slough of infamy & disgrace, & what I do now, must be done quickly. Anything that pays is the only question I ask in connection with a position. So far as my personal comfort & ease is concerned, I care for them not at all. Crucify the flesh is now my shibboleth--so do not hesitate to write me about a position because it may be disagreeable or contrary to the mode of life which I have been brought up. So keep your eyes open for me, Bake, & do the best you can.

And that's what Baker and Robert did--the best they could for their extended family. As letters into the twentieth century indicate, they felt this obligation all of their lives, as they became very successful in Texas. But for now, in 1886, their meager earnings are multiplied, it seems, like the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

Note on the photograph above: The young man is not identified, but the photographer is one that took photos of many of the Armstrong family. It is in the style of other photos taken during the 1880s. And there is enough family resemblance for me to conclude, very tentatively, however, that this might be a photo of one of the Armstrongs, perhaps David Gibson Armstrong's son David, Jr. The look has that same sad, contemplative look of Brother Gibson's son Edward, whom I identify in this post: "Too Many Edwards, Too Many Unidentified Faces." But no one is now alive who really knows.