Giving Thanks: "What Kind & Loving Hearts"

In previous posts, I have described how brothers Robert and Baker Armstrong felt obligated to help their parents and siblings who remained in Virginia. Over the family's letter-writing history, from the 1880s to the death of Baker in 1937, family members wrote notes of thanks to their benefactors. Among those early thank-yous is that of Fannie Armstrong's of October 16, 1886. That year, Robert and Baker evidently paid for sisters Fannie and Janie to take a trip to Lynchburg as well as to supply corrective lenses for Fannie's poor eyesight. ("Lynchburg's Centennial celebration was held October 12 - 15, 1886, in conjunction with the Agricultural Fair.") Fannie's letter follows:

My Dear Brothers,
Mother is writing to one of you and will give you the particulars of Janie's and my trip to Lynchburg but I want to write a few lines myself to thank you again for putting it in my power to take this trip.

We both enjoyed the trip & what we saw of the fair, but above all I was so very thankful to have something done for my eyes. I think I have hardly waked up yet to the fact that I have really had them examined and have [unreadable] to hope for their improvement.

Dr. Baker says he thinks these glasses will relieve me much but can't say that I will be entirely relieved because I have so much neuralgia. Says I must wear them constantly at least for some time. Won't I be interesting looking?

He was very pleasant & kind and only charged me $5.00 for glasses & all that seemed marvelously cheap to me and I thought perhaps for your sake he did not charge me quite as much as he would others but I do not know. He met us at the depot & had us driven to Mrs. Maree's in a nice carriage, paying expenses--would not hear to our doing it. I can hardly write at all with this ink but Mother has been using the other & I did not know either that it was much better--Would write over but for my eyes. Mother told you that Janie went with me & we came back with a little over six dollars. Don't you think that was doing well? I am going to put away $5.00 for fear that I may need more for my eyes--may find the glasses do not quite suit & may have to write to Dr. Baker about them again.  Mrs. Maree was very kind, too--so that we got along very well--

I must not write more but hope before long to be able to write you oftener & better letters--The Dr. says the glasses will try my eyes at first--& I had better not use them for teaching for a while. One of the girls will teach Charles. I must not write more--hope you can read. With much love for you both and many thanks again,
Yours lovingly
Fan

With this letter, we can probably conclude that in the photo above of Fannie and Nettie Armstrong, the two Armstrong sisters who never married, the one on the left, wearing glasses, is Fannie.

On September 18th, a month previous to Fannie's letter above, Mother (Louisa Tapscott White Armstrong) wrote a letter to Robert including extended thanks for Robert's and Baker's support of their father.:

Suppose before you receive this you will have received your Father's letter. It grieves me  that he has to call on you boys for so much money, but what can he do when he is so pressed? ....It is his hands that most of his bill have been made for, not his family except for groceries-- $25 would pay off Enoch, John, Miranda, & Adeline every month & I proposed he would get you to advance him that much so he would not have to make bills--but now this trouble comes on & you cannot do that.  If he could only sell his fruit well, he might make a little. He is more & more anxious to sell. Old Nell's neck had to be lanced on the other side, a week or so ago & he cannot use her for a long time. He has had Gibson's horse here for several weeks, but I do not know what he can do about keeping him. Poor old man. I do feel for him that he should be so worried in his old days. But we both have so much cause for thankfulness that we have such sons who are so willing to aid & comfort. May God indeed bless and keep you both.

Months later, in a letter dated April 26, 1887, Father Edward McCarty Armstrong, Sr., again thanks his sons in a letter to Baker:

Dear Baker, Your letter enclosing P.O. [unreadable] for $55 came to hand on Sunday the 24th. [F]or your prompt response to my request, you will both accept my thanks, $45 of this I have placed to your credit, $8 for photo & $2 for Charles own use to be expended by him as he pleases.

I and the family thank you for the present of dear Katie's Photo, we have not yet received it, but suppose it will come in due time. I will heed your instructions as to the [unreadable] before taking it from [the] Express Office, will reject the Picture if not satisfactory when it comes.

You dear boys, what kind & loving hearts you have, and how much you do contribute to our happiness & support. I do not know what I would have done for the last two years, but for the assistance you have [rendered?] us all. We bless the Lord for all you are, to us all.

These examples of thanks are the few of many expressed to Robert and Baker Armstrong over the years. As I have been going through the family letters, so many of which remain to be read and organized, I have encountered many such letters of thanks. One of the most moving is one written from Salem, Virginia, in 1941, by Baker's nephew, Gordon Armstrong,four years after his uncle Baker's death. (Gordon was one of the sons of Baker's half-brother William Dillon Armstrong and Margaret Glasgow Armstrong.) The letter is addressed to Baker's widow, Mary Ophelia Nugent Armstrong.

Dear Aunt Mary,
I am enclosing you check for $60.00 which is the amount of my debt to Uncle Baker. I borrowed this amount from him about nine or ten years ago.

I should not have done this, as I had no reasonable prospect of repaying him at that time; and I have regretted so much that I was unable to make payment during his lifetime.

But I am now able to make this repayment, and it gives me a great deal of pleasure to pay you. It gives me real satisfaction to do this, as I have felt badly about this matter for a long time, and wish I could have done it earlier.

I trust you have been well, and that the blessings of Providence may be yours in abundant measure.

With much love to you and your loved ones,
Affectionately,
Gordon Armstrong

Click on image for a larger view.

Armstrong Letters: "If only you were here now..."

Baker White Armstrong, son of Edward McCarty and Louisa Tapscott White Armstrong, 1883

Search Google for "Eutaw Place, Baltimore, Maryland," and you will get responses that include information about the Victorian architecture of an historical area of the city. One website about Baltimore describes an area of the city that is "one of the most architecturally distinguished late nineteenth to early twentieth century neighborhoods in Baltimore City." In the future, I may research those streets as they appeared in 1883, when Baker White Armstrong (Sr.) lived there. He was twenty-four to twenty-five years old at the time, working for George B. Seal, Druggist, at the end of 1883, which we know because he received in December of that year a Christmas card from his niece Eliza, and that card was addressed to Baker's place of work. And we know the address of his place of abode because letters from family are addressed to Baker at 453 Eutaw Place, Baltimore, Maryland. Baker had family living there, his cousin William Armstrong (son of William and Susan White Armstrong). In previous years, Baker had worked at his half-brother's store, learning the trade of a druggist, and now, here he is, more or less on his own, working for a druggist in Baltimore, Maryland. And the family at "Edgewood" near Salem, Virginia, miss his presence.  We have the letters to prove it.

Here in the bulging manila folder is a letter with the heading: St. Valentine's Day, Edgewood, Feb. 14, 1883. "My Dear Sons (BW and Robt)," the letter begins, and so we know that Robert, too, is in Baltimore. It is a family letter, with an entry from each family member remaining at Edgewood, beginning with Father, Edward McCarty Armstrong, Sr..  Mother writes next, then Sallie (who must be Sarah Elizabeth Armstrong, the youngest child of Edward's first marriage to Hannah Pancake--Sallie is often a nickname for Sarah, and in later letters, "Sallie" includes S. E. A. in her signature), then Fannie, then Janie, then Biddy (which must be a nickname for Nettie, though in later letters Nettie signs her name as "Nettie), then Katie, and finally, in huge, childish, cursive letters, Charlie.

Father says:

We all miss you much, we long for your letters, which we think are few, and far between. We have been pretty much isolated since the small pox scare, and our thoughts travel to you, do write often to us. The winter has broken, & we begin to look forward to the planting, trimming, pruning, and to long for the sight of the beautiful flowers and green fields. I must stop now, & give room to others, as this is to be the family letter.  Your Affectionate Father, EM Armstrong, Sr.

Here we get an initial impression of Father's voice, affectionate and focused on the changing of the seasons as those seasons affect the production of the farm. Then Mother, Louisa Tapscott Armstrong, writes:

My Dear Boys,
Kate received Robt's letter to-day & we were glad to hear from you. Think much of & wish often for you. Baker, as you have no business to attend to, you ought to write twice a week to us. Let us hear about the situation talked about with Canby, Gilpin & Co.. We are still quietly moving along at Edgewood, except the bustling about the cooking, house cleaning &c. If you were here now, we could give you nice bread, good butter & fresh eggs. The weather has been so mild and spring like, that my thoughts are beginning to turn towards my flower bed. None of us have been to town yet. No new cases of small pox in town. The Beemers have come home; but we steer clear of them. Will write again soon. Tell Sister I will write to her very soon. Take care of yourselves in every way. Your devoted Mother.

Again and again, as the years pass, Mother Louisa scolds Baker to write more often. She provides news of home as well as advice. In letters written later that year to Baker, Louisa asks Baker to gather flower seeds for her in a garden near where he lives.

Sister "Sallie," most likely Sarah Elizabeth Armstrong, the youngest child from Edward's first marriage to Hannah Pancake, writes next in the family letter. Sallie's writing has a breezy tone that shows up again in later letters, which are full of details of the household and the community. In this letter of Valentine's Day, 1883, she writes of Charles' taking her on a ride to "the top of the hill in front of the Tobacco House, from which he showed me Salem, and he entertained me far better than any of Salem's beaux (that I know)." Fannie, the oldest child of Edward and Louisa, describes the activities "going on inside the mansion today"--the ironing and butter churning, the short rides, the lessons (Charles "does not do full duty in that respect since his vaccination"), the dish-washing and bread-making.

Janie describes the dressing that she has to put on her injured arm (but no details as to how or why it is injured) and then provides a lively narrative  of her and "Sister's" attempt at plucking a chicken:

Well, I must tell you about Sister's & my experience in picking & dressing a chicken & Turkey. The day after Milly left (one of the servants) Ma wanted chicken so sister & I undertook the picking of it etc & you may imagine what a new thing it was to us but it was nice when it was finished. Week before last we undertook a Turkey & I wish you could have seen it. Pa killed it & in picking it we pulled about half of the skin off  & nearly pulled its legs off & tore it so badly that we had to take a needle and thread & sew it up before basting it but it tasted good too. Mrs. Goodwin was down the day we roasted it & she was very much amused when she saw it & offered to come down & help us in any way she could.

Nettie writes that she has just come from the ironing and is afraid her imagination will be heated. Then she tells this story:

Pa heard the other day that Mr. Lindsay had died of the small pox and we were all expressing our sorrow for Miss Lindsay when lo and behold! a letter came to Mr. Elliot from Mr. Lindsay himself, saying they all "had their health" mighty well--so much for small pox reports!

Katie and Charles, the two youngest, are the last to write. Katie tells Baker that he will be glad that she has been "using [his] Shakespeare" and that she has read Macbeth and will "commence Hamlet tomorrow." She also provides the first hint for us of bigger troubles in the family. In a letter to his father, James Armstrong, a son from Edward's first marriage, had described how he was not regaining his strength, that he could not stand any excitement, and that he might have to give up preaching for a while. If he doesn't get better, Katie tells Baker, James (and Agnes, his wife) will be staying with them during the summer. Later letters to Baker indicate that this is what occurred. "Jimmie" returns to Edgewood with Agnes and continues to worsen, with only a good day or two when he takes a short ride into town with brother William. By the end of that summer, he has died, leaving a pregnant widow. (His son, James, is born in October.)

Finally, the letter ends in the large handwriting of Charles, who is ten years old. (He celebrates his eleventh birthday that year on June 2nd). Charles tells Baker that he has been out riding; that after neglecting to check his traps for three or four days, he found  a dead rabbit in one; that small pox is going around town; and that his "vaccination took splendidly."

This family letter serves as a template for many of the letters that follow in the year 1883--and even beyond: descriptions of "the doings" at home for the benefit of the loved one living in a distant city; the details of illnesses, diseases, and deaths that seem to occur with great regularity; the gossip about local families; the descriptions of seasons and the crops that never seem to produce as much as expected; the nagging for more letters and the worry that the absence of those letters means the loved one may be ill, perhaps seriously; the advice of parents who are very religious and fear that their sons might be tempted by "worldliness."

And so, the year 1883: Baker White Armstrong is living in Baltimore, Maryland, working for a druggist but continuing to cast about for more lucrative business. Robert is there for a while but then returns home and works in Salem or Roanoke. Charles Magill Armstrong celebrates his 11th birthday with his nephew Glasgow (son of his much older half-brother William Dillon and Margaret Glasgow Armstrong). Edward McCarty Armstrong and Louisa Tapscott White Armstrong celebrate their 27th wedding anniversary (October 23, 1883: "We have had our trials" she writes her son Baker, "but how many mercies."). Rains delay the wheat planting; drought prevents the seed from sprouting quickly. Scarlet fever rages through Salem, and "the people are much scared up about it." The family manages to get new servants: "Pokey Price, in the house, & Adeline Man a cook, milker & general maid of all work." Jimmie (James Armstrong, youngest son of Edward McCarty Armstrong and Hannah Pancake) dies.

Just before Christmas, Edward writes a letter to his son Baker strongly advising him not to drink. He asks Baker to take a pledge:

You ask me to state exactly what pledge I wish you to renew, To abstain from drinking wine or spirits or fermented Liquor for 5 years more. [Letters from  years beyond 1883 reveal that David Gibson Armstrong drank too much, and the family was distressed by his subsequent troubles.]

The family is disappointed that Baker does not come home for Christmas.

Edward McCarty Armstrong's Children

Two years after his first wife died, leaving him with seven young children, Edward McCarty Armstrong, Sr., married again, to Louisa Tapscott White. This second marriage produced seven children, among whom was Baker White Armstrong, Sr., my husband's great-grandfather. Somewhere among the family photos there must be a photograph of Louisa Tapscott White, but if there is, either I haven't located it yet or the photo is one of the many with unidentified people [Note: I later found among the boxes of family photographs a photo which is likely that of Louisa.]. We do have, however, letters "Mother" wrote her sons Baker and Robert as the two young men traveled and then moved permanently to Texas. Here, however, I will introduce the children, many of whom will appear in later posts with more information about their lives, as revealed through their letters. My mother-in-law identified the two boys at the left as Baker White Armstrong (Sr.) and his brother Robert, and I don't have any reason to believe the two are other than as identified. The photo was a precious one, for it is framed in a wooden frame with a gold metal border. Baker and Robert were very close; they moved to Texas together, one settling in Bryan and the other in Houston, two cities within 100 miles of each other. The letters that Robert wrote Baker reflect the affection of one for the other.

The three girls in the photo in the upper right-hand corner are identified as "Nettie, Janie, and Katie A." There were four Armstrong girls: Fannie, Jane ("Janie"), Nettie, and Kate ("Katie"); Janie was the only one to marry. Katie died young, at the age of 19.

Charles Magill Armstrong was the youngest. I have posted a photo already of Charles with his two older brothers, Baker and Robert, here. In addition, here is one of an older Charlie, looking quite debonair, with his friend Charles Coons. Charles M. Armstrong is the one  standing on the right. The two older brothers, Baker and Robert, exchanged anxious letters about Charlie, who seemed to suffer financial setbacks. I will include some of those letters in a later post.

Next is a photo of Janie. The handwriting on the back of the photo is either Mimi's or her sister Katharine's: "Aunt Janie, Papa's sister." 

And, finally, there are two more photographs of Fannie and Nettie, older women and unmarried, and photos of Baker and Robert as young men.

        Fannie and Nettie




















Baker White Armstrong (Sr.), after he had traveled to Texas in the 1880s

Robert Armstrong, after he had traveled to Texas in the 1880s













More photos of the brothers will be included in later posts.