"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.

Enough of War: The Death of A Young Confederate Soldier

In one of her letters to her son Baker, Louisa Tapscott White Armstrong described her uneasiness at Baker's joining a rifle company in Texas in 1885. "I have had enough of war," she wrote. The war to which she had the most intimate knowledge would have been, of course, the Civil War. Louisa had married Edward McCarty Armstrong shortly before the Civil War, in 1856; in that marriage she also became the stepmother of Edward's children by Hannah Pancake, who had died two years previously. The oldest boys of that first marriage were young adults when the Civil War began in 1861. By that time, Louisa would have mothered those step-sons for five years.

At this point, I do not know how many of Edward McCarty Armstrong's sons fought in the Civil War, but I do know which of them died in that war. I found, tucked in the chaos of the family papers, a hand-written copy of Isaac's obituary. The description is written in fine, old, script; I have placed images of the handwritten notice at the bottom of this post.

A Young Christian Soldier.

Among the sad fruits of this horrible war, another excellent Christian youth has just been gathered in the grave.

Isaac P. Armstrong was born in Hampshire County the 6th day of April 1842. He was the son of Col. Edward M. Armstrong, recently a member of the Virginia Convention and now a refugee, with his large family, from his home at New Creek Station, in Hampshire.

This young man enlisted in the service of his country, and the defence of his desolated county, at an early period of the war; was in the battle of Manassas--and in Ewell's division, engaged in the series of hard marches and bravely contested fields, which have shed on that division since placed under Jackson, such imperishable glory. On Friday evening the 27th of June, he received a fatal wound in his knee in the battle of Gaines Mill. He was taken first to a hospital in Richmond, and then in a few days to the residence of Rev. B. M. Smith at Union Theol. Seminary, where he had spent his years of college life. Here he lingered, a great sufferer for seven weeks. All that the most eminent surgical skill could suggest, and Christian kindness could administer, was done for his healing and comfort, but the nature of his wound baffled every effort, and in the morning of the 22nd, he calmly rested from his labours and sufferings.

During his college and Military life his walk was that of one, who had sought and found the Saviour, and been led by the Spirit, as a son to the God of all grace. He bore his great sufferings with Christian firmness and patience, and resigned himself with childlike confidence and peace, to the will of his Father in Heaven. His Christian faith had been the basis of his courage as a soldier, and he met death relying on Him, from his love in Christ , he felt assured, that "neither death, nor life, nor principalities, nor powers nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature" should be able to separate him. Though far from his Mother's side by which he would have wished his body laid, he rests till the Resurrection morning, among honoured dead--and in the midst of a Christian community, who testified their regard for the young Soldier, while on his bed of pain, by ennumerable acts of kindness, and will cherish his memory, as that of one whom, God blessed them, in sending to die and be buried among them.

Click on each image to enlarge.

Armstrong Grocery, Salem, VA

This past week I've been trying to organize letters that have been stored in plastic bags for years, letters that are not arranged in any order that I can understand, letters from the early-twentieth century in the same bags as letters from the 1880s and 1890s. But in organizing and quickly reading the letters, I discover patterns emerging, relationships coelescing in my mind. In one photograph album I came across a photo of an old store with this inscription beneath it: "Armstrong Grocery, Salem, Va." Edward McCarty Armstrong had a store in Romney, in what is now West Virginia. But Edward sold his property after the Civil War and moved to Salem, Virginia. Did he open another store there? In none of the letters (from the 1880s) I have read so far, does Edward mention a store, just the headaches and heartaches of trying to get his farm to produce. However, it may have been that Edward opened a store in Salem after selling his businesses in Romney and New Castle, West Virginia. His obituary indicates that he purchased the farm some years after moving to Salem: "Moving to Salem, Va, March 1866, he began business with his accustomed energy, and only laid it aside in 1882 in order to cultivate a farm, which he bought near Salem. After farming for five years, he rented his place and came back to Salem to live." Then, today, looking through a file of letters I had arranged by date, I came across a letter from Robert Armstrong to his brother Baker, dated November 30, 1882, and written from Baltimore, where Robert evidently was living. In the letter, Robert mentions "Cousin Will" and "Aunt Susan"--I suspect that "Aunt Susan" would be the wife of William Armstrong, the brother of Edward McCarty Armstrong.

It must be that, by 1882, one or two of the older sons of Edward McCarty Armstrong owned or managed the store in Roanoke or Salem that the father had, perhaps, started when he moved to Salem in 1866. Edward McCarty Armstrong had two families: one by his first wife, Hannah Pancake, and the other by his second wife, Louisa Tapscott White. Baker and Robert are sons of the second marriage. And evidently, Robert and Baker felt that they had not been served well by their older half-brothers, William Dillon Armstrong and David Gibson Armstrong. Robert writes that he's thankful that he has "some relations here who do seem to appreciate me more than any at home except you all at Edgewood." Edgewood was the family home of Edward McCarty Armstrong and his second wife Louisa Tapscott White Armstrong, and the name appears as a heading to many of the letters that mother Louisa wrote her sons Robert and Baker in later years.

Later in the letter Robert writes:

Neither of us has been treated properly at home--the Dr., as you well know, acted in any but a [unreadable] manner toward you; and Bro. G. [that would be "G" for "Gibson," for David Gibson Armstrong was called "Gib" or "Gibson" by his family]--well, if he had done the square thing by me, he would have offered me a share in the profits and thus made me a partner in the store. He does enough business to afford it and, besides that, I think I had worked long enough with him to entitle me to something better than I was getting. But, sometimes a "man's foes are they of his own household." Therefore, I think it better for us both to have left since neither of us were appreciated or ever received the slightest encouragement from our brothers, whom we served. But, if you will come here, we will "make it or bust."

The "Dr." in the letter may have been Dr. Perry, whose signature appears in one of the images below and who probably worked as a druggist for the grocery store. I suspect that Baker was learning his trade from the good doc. At the end of the letter, Robert adds a postscript, with a request that Baker evidently did not honor because this letter still exists!

Destroy this letter, please, when you have read it for I don't wish anyone else to see what I have written in ref. to W. D.  & D. G. A. [William Dillon and David Gibson Armstrong]. They are kind in other respects, but as regards the matter mentioned, they did not do the square thing. R.

Also among the family items is a pharmacy or grocery notebook filled with printed advertisements and blank, lined pages for notes. The pages have headings such as: Yankee Notions, White Goods, Dress Goods, Groceries, Paper Hangings, etc. On some of these pages are written pharmacy recipes for ointments and cures. The final page has a calendar for the year 1873. Tucked in the pages are newspaper clippings of humorous stories and pages from a pharmacy tablet from Geo. W. Norrell, Pharmacist, Bryan, TX. Baker White Armstrong, who eventually went to Texas and worked for a while as a druggist for Geo. W. Norrell, clearly owned this notebook. On the outside is stamped "David G. Armstrong & Co., Salem, VA." And so the puzzle is nearly completed. Baker's and Robert's older half-brother David Gibson Armstrong owned a grocery store in Salem, Virginia. Both Baker and Robert worked for their brother. Below are images from the old pharmacy notebook. Note, 22 November 2009: Later letters reveal that William Dillon Armstrong owned a Drug Store in Salem, and David Gibson Armstrong owned a store, as well. It could be that the brothers were in business together, but by 1885 or 1886, Baker Armstrong and his brother Robert were exchanging letters about the possibility of Baker's buying out William's Drugstore. In the end, Baker did not do this, and William began business in another town. Brother Gibson also sold his storeroom.

 

 

The Armstrongs and The Civil War

Buried in the large number of family photos from several generations of Armstrongs, Nugents, Lewises, and Cooks are a couple of photos from the Civil War. These photos remind us of the bloody conflict that took place here on American soil, in the fertile valleys, on the streets of frontier towns, on farmland, in the yards of folks, once neighbors and kinfolks, now on opposite sides of battle. Because my first goal is to organize and communicate what information we have here in our own family records, I have not researched how the Civil War affected the Armstrongs. At the time, Edward McCarty Armstrong and his family were living in what was to become West Virginia, a strong Unionist part of Virginia. Most of the slave-owning plantations were in eastern Virginia, and there was a long history of political differences between these two parts of the state. However, just a little online research reveals that Edward McCarty Armstrong was a delegate to the Virginia Secession Convention, and as a delegate, he voted against secession. However, when the secessionists won later, he supported the Confederacy and eventually moved his family from New Creek (later to be named Keyser, West Virginia) to Salem. Edward McCarty Armstrong's home was later sold to the "Davis brothers of Piedmont" and thereafter the home was known as the Davis Mansion.  The Armstrong Mansion, home of William Armstrong, Edward's father, was located on the site where Keyser High School now stands. The two photos we have of Union soldiers camped in Keyser are near those Armstrong homes. Click on each image for a better view.

This first photo is of the Union Army encamped in the area then known as New Creek and now known as Keyser, West Virginia.  On the back of the photograph is stamped in ink: COYD YOST, Photographer, KEYSER, WEST VA. And in handwriting (Mimi's or Katharine's): Occupation by Union Soldiers, Civil War, Birthplace of Papa. And in my sister-in-law's handwriting: taken from the home of Louisa White and Edward M. Armstrong. Those latest notations would have been made at the direction of my mother-in-law, daughter of Katharine Nugent Armstrong Robb, in 1987.

Just this week, I found among the family papers a letter written to Mary Ophelia Nugent Armstrong (Mimi), from J. C. Sanders, Superintendent of Keyser Public School. The letter is dated February 27, 1929. At the beginning of the letter, Superintendent Sanders describes the picture of the home below. Then he describes what very well might be the original of the photo above:

Today a high school pupil brought to me another picture of Keyser taken in 1865. This is the picture I mentioned in my other letter. This shows all the land now occupied by the city of Keyser to be occupied by tents of soldiers and the old army fort on the hill now occupied by the Potomac State College. In the back-ground of this picture is shown in a very prominent way the old Davis mansion and almost hidden by a tree may be seen to the left the slave quarters. A photographer here tells me that he is under the impression that he has a negative of this picture and if so a copy from it would cost but a dollar or two. He is looking it up. This picture is an heir-loom and cannot be secured. It bears the inscription: "Photographed in 1865 by G. W. Parsons, 22' Penn. Reg. & Mulligan's Battery. I will be glad to have these copied for you if you desire.

 

In the same letter dated February 27, 1929, Superintendent Sanders writes:

Since writing you the other day Mrs. W. E. Woolfe (sic), the niece of Col. T. B. Davis, has sent me a photograph of the old Armstrong or Davis Mansion house taken in 1863. On the back of the picture is the name of her father Mr. Buxton with the note that it was taken during the late war 1863. It is a 5 X 8 picture that shows beside the house the barricks (sic) of the soldiers in the west end of the town. It was evidently taken while the house was occupied by the Union soldiers because in the yard at the side of the house is shown in the picture two officers (sic) tents. While I have not looked up the records, I am told that Col. Armstrong was a southern sympathizer and this property was taken from him and used by the Union Army and was occupied by an Ohio regiment known and (sic) the Ohio bucktails, named such because they wore squirrel tails on their soldier caps. When the house was torn down several years ago I saw the names of many soldiers from all parts of the West written and carved in the old cupola. Mrs. Wolfe will not part with this picture but will loan it for copies and I have consulted a photographer and he will charge $2.75 to make a negative and about $1 apiece for pictures taken from it. If you would like a picture copied I will be glad to have him do this for you.

From the Nugent-Cook side of the family, we have Civil War discharge papers, among others,  for Edwin Oscar Cook, Sr., but I have not found any such papers (yet) for the Armstrong side of the family.

Finally, although the following picture is not directly related to the Civil War, I include it here because it seems to belong to this post that describes homes of ancestors. On the back of this old photo are inscriptions in two hands, and here I can probably finally decide that the large print handwriting on many of these photographs is that of Mary Ophelia Nugent Armstrong rather than that of her sister, Katharine Armstrong Robb. First, there is this faded note written with pencil, in cursive: Given to Mary Nugent Armstrong, Mother's Home in Romney, W. Va., N. T. A. My guess is that "N. T. A." is Nettie Tapscott Armstrong. Then, in Mimi's large, round, print: Grandfather White's home, Romney, W. Va.--Our grandmother, Louisa White, Papa's mother's home. (Papa's and Baker's name) Baker White Armstrong. And one small addition, in what might be my husband's print: Louisa White is Baker White Armstrong, Sr's Mother.

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.

Hannah Angeline Armstrong: A Few Words Tell a Tale

Among the Armstrong family papers is a 16-page memorial to Mrs. Hannah A. (Pancake) Armstrong, first wife of Edward McCarty Armstrong, Sr.. The memorial includes songs sung at the funeral as well as a long sermon, with just one page and another paragraph devoted to the woman herself. The husband's obituary informs us that the two married in Cumberland, Maryland, on September 3, 1837. The Armstrong family tree indicates that Hannah and Edward had seven children, but this funeral publication mentions eight children, "seven of whom survived her." At first, I thought that there must be some mistake in the printing. Then I located online a list of grave markers for Indian Mound Cemetery in Romney, West Virginia. Among the list were numerous Armstrongs related to the family in which Hannah married:

• Baker W. Armstrong: born Feb 4, 1842; died Aug 25, 1861-- "at Winchester, VA" "Aged 19 yrs 6 mos" "Our young soldier sleeps well".
• Chichester Tapscott Armstrong: born mar 12, 1846; died Sep 1, 1850; "Son of Wm. J. & Susan C. Armstrong".
• Elenor Baxter Armstrong: died Sep 15, 1826; "Wife of David Armstrong".
• David A. Armstrong: died Apr 29, 1838.
• Elizabeth Armstrong: died Jul 4, 1843; "Sacred to the memory of Mrs. Elizabeth Armstrong who departed this life on the evening of 4th of July 1843, aged 57 years. The deceased was for many years of the Presbyterian Church & a Christian o f the purest & noblest character. Her death bed scene was one which can never be forgotten; so solemn, so careful, so sublime; it seemed as if the Chamber of her death was none other than the gate of Heaven; as a wife, a mother, a member of the Church of Christ, a neighbor & Friend she had no superior. This monument is erected to her memory by those who morn her & know how to appreciate her Virtues".
• Fannie Jane Armstrong: born Mar 22, 1848; died Sep 30, 1857; "Dau. of Wm. J. & Susan C. Armstrong".
• Hannah Angeline Armstrong: bor Feb 26, 1819; died Aug 3, 1854 "in the faith of the gospel".
• infant Armstrong: died Jul 21, 1854; "Daughter of E.M. & H.A. Armstrong".
• Louisa Tapscott Armstrong: born Feb 2, 1837; died Jul 7, 1841; "Dau. of Wm. J. & Susan C. Armstrong"
• Sarah Elizabeth Armstrong: born Oct 24, 1851 "in Romney": died May 13, 1932 "in Danville, VA" "Daughter of Edward McCarty Armstrong & Hannah Angeline Pancake".
• William Armstrong: born Dec 22, 1782 "in Lisburn, Ireland"; died May 10, 1865 "in Hampshire County, West Virginia".
• William James Armstrong: born Jun 28, 1813; died Jun 19, 1847; "Aged 33 yrs 11 mos 22 days" "Son of Wm. & Elizabeth Armstrong".

A quick reader will note the information from those markers close together in the Indian Mound Cemetery: Hannah Angeline Armstrong, who died on Aug. 3, 1854, and the infant daughter of Hannah and Edward, born on July 21, 1854. What do those dates tell us? That the infant was interred without being named, and thus was probably stillborn. That complications from the birth perhaps caused the death of the mother. These are guesses, but educated guesses. From these guesses, we have a tale: a family doubly bereaved. This thirty-five year old mother left behind seven living children, all of whom had to be under seventeen years of age. Two years later, Edward McCarty Armstrong was to marry Louisa Tapscott White, from whose union seven more children were produced, including Baker White Armstrong, Sr., my husband's great-grandfather.

There are other stories here; tease them out by looking at the information from the markers. But for now, we remember Hannah Angeline, dead at thirty-five years of age.

Click on the images for a readable view.

William Armstrong: "He Came to This Country when a Boy"

The life of William Armstrong, immigrant from Ireland in 1790 (or 1792--records disagree), illustrates how quickly America could absorb its foreign-born citizens. William Armstrong was ten years old when he came to the United States, and by the time of his death in 1865, he had risen to the United States Congress, representing Virginia. A brief biography of the great-great-great grandfather of my husband, Thomas Alexander Greene, and his sister, Linda Katharine Greene Bolano, can be found here: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress." He is buried at Indian Mound Cemetery, Romney, West Virginia, and a photograph of his grave marker can be found on the Find-A-Grave website here.

Records indicate that William Armstrong kept a tavern in Romney, in what is now West Virginia. In the family photographs and papers, I came across a photo purported to be of Main Street in Romney; one of the buildings is the Armstrong tavern. The smeared print on the bottom front of the photograph reads: "Main St., Romney, W. Va. Armstrong Hotel, subsequently Keller Hotel, on the right." The rest of the handwriting is unreadable to me, though the writer seems to be identifying a building opposite the Armstrong hotel. The back of the photograph has information written in two hands--in pencil at the top: "Present from Lyde Wilson, Black Mountain, N. C." In another hand, which I identify as either Mimi's (Mary Ophelia Nugent Armstrong, daughter of Baker White Armstrong, Sr.) or Katharine Armstrong Robb (oldest daughter of Baker White Armstrong, Sr.), is written the following: "Armstrong Hotel--Romney, W. Va. Grandfather or great-grandfather E. M. Armstrong.... William Armstrong." (In time, I will be able to identify just which sister wrote these notes, as I become more familiar with the family material.) That photograph is below.

In consulting the Armstrong Family Tree, one can see that William Armstrong married Elizabeth McCarty, and they had six children:

• James Dillon Armstrong (married Anne Waterman Foote)
• Sarah Rebecca Armstrong
• Charles McGill Armstrong
• Edward McCarty Armstrong (1st wife, Hannah Pancake, with whom he fathered seven children; 2nd wife, Louisa Tapscott White, with whom he fathered seven children)
• William J. Armstrong (married Susan C. White)
• Eliza Jane Armstrong (married David Gibson)

What do we know of William Armstrong besides what is contained in brief Congressional biographies, tombstone photographs, or a list of his descendants? We have a discourse prepared for William Armstrong's funeral, and below I have included pages from the discourse that focus on the life of William Armstrong. The photo of the cover of the booklet is at the top of this post.

 

Click on the images to increase to readable size.

Note: Julian Armstrong, descendant of John Armstrong, who was an uncle to William Armstrong, writes that he can decipher the rest of the handwritten note on the photo of Main Street in Romney, West Virginia. In an e-mail, 25 October 2009, Julian writes: " “Main Street Romney W. Va Armstrong Hotel subsequently Keller Hotel on the right. Gilkerson Street opposite & the Heiskel corner”. I know this is a bit of a guess but the Gilkerson and Heiskel families were contemporary neighbours in Romney and there is just enough legible to be able to interpret the inscription accordingly." Julian has been researching the Armstrong family for years and has gathered quite a lot of information on his American cousins. Thank you, Julian.

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.

Helen ("Hydie") Frances Armstrong and Her Family

So far, I have introduced two children of Baker White Armstrong, Sr., who left his home in Salem, Virginia, for Texas: those children are Mary Ophelia Nugent Armstrong (named after her mother) and Baker White Armstrong, Jr..  Of the four children of Baker White Armstrong, Sr., and Mary Ophelia Nugent Armstrong, only one had offspring: my husband's grandmother, Katharine Nugent Armstrong. I will introduce this grandmother in the next post. This entry is dedicated to the third child of Baker and Mary: Helen Frances Armstrong, also known as "Hydie."

The family left hundreds of letters, and of those I have read, I have learned that Hydie was epileptic. The family evidently spent a lot of time, effort, and money seeking a cure, or at least comfort, for their daughter. At times Hydie had a personal teacher and a personal nurse, for family letters mention these people. Other letters describe a household filled with sadness during one of Hydie's episodes or sudden onset of illness. As I go through the letters, I will discover more about Hydie and will include some of that information on this blog. Another thing I do know is that Hydie loved creating geometric ink drawings and that she collected postcards. She left behind boxes and boxes of these collected postcards.

The second photo is of Mary Ophelia Nugent Armstrong and her daughter Helen ("Hydie"). The writing on the back of the photograph (dated Oct. 1909) suggests the family sadness over Hydie's health: "Sorry Mother is not more of a comfort to her. She looks neither comfortable nor happy." Click on the photos for larger images.

The next photograph is of Mary Ophelia Nugent Armstrong and her three daughters. The mother is at the far left; next to her is Katharine (my husband's grandmother), Mary ("Mimi"), and Helen ("Hydie").

The photo below is of all the Armstrong children. Although there is no date on the photo, I estimate that it was taken around 1910 or 1911. From left to right: Katharine  ("Tash") Nugent Armstrong, Baker White Armstrong, Jr. (the baby), Helen ("Hydie") Frances Armstrong, and Mary ("Mimi") Ophelia Nugent Armstrong (Jr). The photograph was likely taken at the family home in Houston, Texas.

I'll end this post with another photograph of Helen and with her obituary. She was the first of the Armstrong children to die.; she was sixty-three years old at her passing.

Helen Frances Armstrong: October 2, 1898 to February 15, 1962

Left for Texas: The Beginnings

Anything labelled as "the beginning" is done so arbitrarily. Can any beginning be definitively assigned? Especially when that beginning relates to the history of a family. Here we have a family: four people, a father, a mother, two children--son and daughter. Where does the family begin? With the parents? grandparents? great-grandparents? great-great-grandparents? And what about the ancillary branches: the sisters and brothers of the father and the mother, the offspring of those sisters and brothers, the in-laws? And so the tree branches.

A little over twenty years ago, someone died in my husband's family, and then someone else, and then someone else, and before we knew it, we had inherited boxes and boxes of family letters, cards, magazine and newspaper clippings, pamphlets, family Bibles, photographs, photograph albums. My husband and his sister divided the furniture and objects that had immediate value and use; we ended up with boxes, files, diaries, and photographs going back to the early 1800s. For years we hauled around this stuff, weighed down by history and someone else's lack of organization. When a great-aunt who had taught first-grade in Houston, Texas, for thirty years died, she left behind hundreds of greeting cards her students had given her over the years, even valentines with candy still inside. Each of us has more than enough detritus from our own lives; imagine inheriting the detritus of the lives of people who kept everything.

A couple of years ago, I began some attempt at organizating all this stuff by creating seven photograph albums, one for each of my and my husband's children and my husband's sister's children. I included photographs from one line of the family, going back to the late 1800s, a few newspaper clippings, a sampling of greeting cards, and other bits of interest. Yet boxes remain. Who has the time to go through every box, pick through every letter (each with its own eccentric handwriting), sort through every newspaper clipping or magazine cutting and put it all in order? So here, I'll attempt an order of a different kind. I'll pull something from the boxes and post it here. The order will be in the index. Everything else will be haphazard, a surprise, a treasure hunt.

And so we begin with a family Bible, one owned by a Mrs. L. T. (could be "J") Armstrong, living in Roanoke, Virginia, in 1878. This is my husband's great-great grandmother. Somewhere in the boxes are obituaries of various members of this family from the 1800s. At some point, those obituaries will appear on this blog--as I come across them again. Here, however, we have the family Bible of a mother who worried about two sons who decided to go to Texas: Baker (my husband's great-grandfather) and Robert. On the inside pages of the family Bible, the mother records these departures. Later she was to write the sons. We have some of the letters sent to Baker. Those, also, shall appear on this blog as I re-discover them.

"Baker left for Texas, Oct. 8th 1884," the mother writes. And so the son leaves Virginia behind and begins a new life in Texas.