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.

A Few Problems of the History Detective

As I have been working on organizing and publishing online the history of my husband's family, I have encountered numerous problems that I am sure many amateur family historians encounter, especially those who have a plethora of unorganized material. In our case, there is the overwhelming problem of having a lot of information scattered in boxes and trunks: hundreds of letters--often removed from their envelopes and placed, willy nilly, in plastic bags with unrelated letters; photographs on which no one troubled to identify the persons and places; notes on family history located in separate folders, envelopes or files. Then, even with a family tree, it is sometimes difficult to identify people exactly because different generations of relatives have the same name. Take the name Edward McCarty Armstrong: there is Edward McCarty Armstrong, Sr., son of William Armstrong who emigrated from Ireland when he was a boy of ten years old; then there is Edward McCarty Armstrong, Jr., son of Edward McCarty Armstrong, Sr., and Hannah Pancake, the first wife of Edward McCarty Armstrong, Sr.; then there is Edward McCarty Armstrong, son of David Gibson Armstrong and Hannah Gibson. David G. Armstrong is the brother of Edward McCarty Armstrong, Jr., and the half-brother of Baker White Armstrong, Jr. (son of Edward McCarty Armstrong, Sr., and second wife Louisa Tapscott White). Oh, and Edward McCarty Armstong, Jr., also named one of his sons Edward McCarty Armstrong--at least according to the family tree. Confused? Well, I certainly was, for among the family papers is the obituary of Dr. Edward McCarty Armstrong, a physician who died in Houston, Texas, in 1940. This is Baker White Armstrong, Senior's nephew, the son of David Gibson Armstrong and Hannah Gibson Armstrong, nephew of Edward McCarty Armstrong, Jr.. Imagine these errors multiplied. Aargh!

In addition, there is the difficulty of others having mis-identified people in photographs. At the end of her life, my husband's mother tried to identify as many people as she could in the photographs that she had inherited only a year or two before, at the death of her aunt, Mary Ophelia Nugent Armstrong ("Mimi"). (My mother-in-law, Mary Nugent Robb Greene, knew she had a few months to live after being diagnosed with cancer.) After my mother-in-law died, her brother, Baker Robb ("Rocky") began going through the family papers. Then, after Rocky's death, my sister-in-law rescued all the material and transferred it to us, and I began familiarizing myself with the people in the photographs. And I discovered that my mother-in-law had mis-identified a few people. Even Mimi, my husband's great-aunt, mis-identified people. How do I know this? Because I came across photographs that someone from a generation previous to my mother-in-law and her great-aunt had marked. Because these people personally knew the originals, their markings are more reliable. However, one discovers these errors only after looking at many photographs and many markings on those photographs. And even then one has to proceed with caution. And so, as I become even more familiar with the material that the Armstrongs, Nugents, Cooks, Greenes, and Robbs left behind, I will find myself, I am sure, re-appraising what I have already posted on this blog, returning to correct any errors that I may discover over time.

One uses a lot of deductive reasoning in trying to piece together the puzzles of family history. For instance, I have before me a photo of three young men. One of the young men I know to be Baker White Armstrong, Sr.. The photograph was taken by Maury Brothers of Roanoke and Salem, Virginia. Baker looks the age that he would have been when he was living in Baltimore, Maryland, or perhaps just after he went to Texas, that is, the 1880s. Who is likely to be in the photograph with him? Probably his brothers. I suspect that Baker's mother would have loved just such a picture of her sons because two of them, the oldest two, were often far away from home. I imagine the young men going into town--Roanoke or Salem-- for a photography session for mother when Robert and Baker are home on a visit. So I deduce that the other two young men are Robert Armstrong and Charles Armstrong. But no names are on the photograph. Only after much searching do I come across a photograph of a middle-aged man and his wife, and on the back of that photograph the man is identified as Charles Armstrong and his wife Mabel, taken in San Diego, California. The resemblance to that young boy is strong, as well as to another, more formal, photograph, also marked as having been taken in San Diego, California. I know, only after reading through family letters, that as an adult Charles Armstrong migrated west to the state of Washington and then on to California. So, finally, I have a pretty reliable answer: the three young men are Baker White Armstrong, Sr.; Charles M. Armstrong; Robert Armstrong. And if I'm still not quite sure whether or not the third brother is Robert, I continue the search.

Going through these old papers and photographs, I feel as if I am a history detective, searching for clues to a puzzle that can only be assembled incompletely.

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.

The Armstrongs and Nugents: Through the Mists of Time

I have now introduced my husband's great-grandfather, Baker White Armstrong, Sr., who left Virginia for Texas in the 1880s, his wife, Mary Ophelia Nugent Armstrong (Sr.), and the four children. We are going to leave those Armstrongs in the early 1900s for a while and wander through the misty past, to where these ancestors first stepped foot onto the shores of America. At the left of this post is a photo of a man identified as Edward McCarty Armstrong, Sr. So many of the family photographs have no identifying marks beyond the photographer and the city in which the photograph was taken. In the few months before her untimely death, caused by cancer, my husband's mother, Mary Nugent Robb Greene, directed her daughter and me in identifying some of the people in the photographs. The handwriting on the back of this photograph is in a script I recognize from the family letters of the late-1800s, someone who would know best how to identify this particular person.

And so we have here at the upper left, I am rather sure, Baker's father,  Edward McCarty Armstrong, Sr.. At the upper right is Perry Nugent, the father of Mary Ophelia Nugent Armstrong and father-in-law of Baker White Armstrong. Anchor these two men here, in the Old South--before Baker left for Texas. They were men whose fathers had arrived from another country, and who, within a generation, found themselves firmly woven into the fabric of their new home. Edward McCarty Armstrong's father, William Armstrong, came with his family from Ireland when he was a boy of about ten years old, around 1790. [More in another post on father and son] Perry Nugent's father, John Pratt Nugent, emigrated from Ireland in 1792. Both the Nugents and the Armstrongs prospered (though Perry suffered financial setbacks late in life), and the families became united in the marriage of their son and daughter, Baker White Armstrong (Sr.) and Mary Ophelia Nugent. I will turn my attention to the Nugents later. For a while we will walk with the Armstrongs.

Here is an obituary for Edward McCarty Armstrong, Sr.. Click on the image to read the print.

Additional Note added 22 October 2009: Edward McCarty Armstrong is mentioned several times on a West Virginia Genealogy page. Although undocumented information on the Internet should be treated with extreme caution, the information contained there matches with what I have read in the letters that Edward McCarty Armstrong and his wife Louisa wrote to their sons Baker and Robert Armstrong during the 1880s. Edward Armstrong was looking for someone to buy his farm near Salem, Virginia, and evidently the boys weren't thrilled with the idea. But in a letter dated December 10, 1885, Louisa cautions her son Baker not to complain to his father about the possibility:

You urge your Father not to sell his farm. Do not urge him too much, for if you could see things as Robt [Robert] did last winter; you might think differently. I believe the health of my girls will all be broken down, if they have to live here much longer. It is true God can take or give health & life anywhere but looking from a human standpoint I fear it. Then your Father never can make money here, but I fear sinks it. Do not tell him I say this--he thinks differently. But we trust God will do what is best for us every way. It does not look much like it; but I try to do so & leave it with Him. But after my Katie (who was thought so strong & well) was taken so suddenly, my fears are always on the alert.

According to the West Virginia Genealogy page:

Col. Edward McCarty ARMSTRONG was the largest land owner & most prominent businessman at New Creek Station in 1858. He was elected delegate from Hampshire Co to the VA convention held at Richmond 2-12-1861, which was to consider Va's secession from the Union. Mr. Armstrong voted against the Ordinance of Secession; however, his first loyalty was to his state, he therefore wholeheartedly supported the Confederacy. He joined the Confederate army & went into eastern VA. His store was taken over by Col. James H. DAYTON, who became postmaster here on 4-28-1862.

When Edward M. Armstrong (Sr.) returned after the war, he sold his land and moved to Salem, Virginia:

As for Edward MCCARTY, he went from New Creek to Salem VA. He expected the Norfolk & Western RR to install yards, shops and a roundhouse there. Relying on this, he bought much land there in Salem. The RR did not build at Salem. The colonel spent the rest of his life in "genteel poverty" in Salem.

Indeed, as I will share from some of the family letters later, there is much talk of money. Edward McCarty Armstrong's sons, Baker and Robert were later to go to Texas, where they prospered. Before their prosperity, however, and while they were still single, they were able to send money back home to Virginia in response to the needs of their family. In fact, much later family letters indicate that Baker continued to support various members of his family in times of trouble. I have come across letters from the sisters who never married thanking Baker for his generosity.  But that's for later. Now, we're still in the 1800s--walking with the Armstrongs.