LEFT FOR TEXAS: Armstrong--family tree

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Our Armstrong Family Tree

Here I have posted an image of the Armstrong family tree. How it came into Mimi's possession, I do not know, but we have extensive evidence of her correspondence with other relatives as she tried to locate information about various branches of her family. Recently, I discovered that an Armstrong descendant has been researching the family for years. We got in touch, and Julian Armstrong, who lives in England, told me that several Armstrong brothers emigrated from Ireland in the late-1700s, one of which was Tom's and Linda's ancestor, James Armstrong. The eldest of the brothers, John, remained in Ireland, and then his descendants moved to England in 1922. Julian Armstrong provided me with this information:

Baker White Armstrong, Sr.’s father Edward McCarty Armstrong (1816-1890) married 2^nd Louisa Tapscott White (1836-1887) – both mentioned in one of your newspaper cuttings - on 23^rd October, 1856. His father William Armstrong (1782-1865) was a Lawyer, JP, Congressman and in retirement a Taverner. He left Ireland for the States in 1792. He was the son of James Armstrong (1760-1795) who emigrated from Ireland to the States in 1790 and was one of the original four brothers to do so – the others being William (1757-1824); Robert (1766-c1828); and David (1768-1838) who was the last to come over in September 1815 aboard the “Westpoint”. I am descended from their eldest brother John (1754-1837) who remained in Ireland. John was my great great great grandfather.

How exciting to locate a distant relative with this information! I will be providing more information about William Armstrong in another post.

Left for Texas: For the Ones Who Came Before Us

Although I am no genealogist, I am interested in the stories, ethics, and views passed down through generations. I grew up in Texas hearing stories associated with my Dugat ancestors who first journeyed from France to The New World and what is now known as Nova Scotia. Eventually booted out by the British, these Acadians found their way to South Louisiana and became known as "Cajuns." My particular branch of Dugats then settled in Texas while it was still under Spanish governance. Other ancestors perhaps fled religious persecution in England, and still others came to America for a number of reasons, traveling south and west, leaving kinfolk behind, transforming their stories over time. Most of my ancestors left little behind except for stories and a few photographs though over time their descendants have pieced together some of the family sagas. (Some family names: Benton, Scott, Deweese, Cole, Simmons, Cooper, Schlobaum, Dobbs)

In contrast, my husband's family left a wealth of family documentation in the form of photographs, letters, and other ephemera. I have created this blog in an attempt to create order from the chaotic family papers that my husband and his sister have inherited. This blog first tells some of the stories of the Armstrongs who left Ireland for America in the 1790s. At the age of ten, William Armstrong accompanied his parents to the New World, and by the time of his death in 1865, he had risen to the United States Congress, as a representative of Virginia. The blog will also include information about the Nugents, the Cooks, the Greenes, and other family names. And I'll add links to information about my own family genealogy. Our stories are much like the stories of other Americans whose ancestors left their original countries for new opportunities in the New World. And they kept traveling, searching, once they arrived.
Anita Dugat-Greene