Three Nineteenth Century Armstrongs

From Major (Rtd) Thomas Armstrong, OStJ, FSA Scot. From The Armstrong Chronicles, April, 2005.

Major Armstrong lives in New Zealand and is a Charter Member of the Armstrong Clan Society.

Jack Armstrong

     The 16th President of the United States, which at that period contained only seventeen States, there was born in a small cabin in the Kentucky wilderness a baby who became well known the world over as Abraham Lincoln. The cabin was only eighteen feet long and sixteen wide. It had a packed dirt floor, a solitary window, an open hearth, a bed of cornhusks and bearskins. Abraham Lincoln first saw the light of day on a hard cold frosty morning of February 12th, 1809. His father, Thomas, was a hard working, sober, carpenter, not a great success in life. His forebears had come from England in 1637 and settled in Hingham, Mass., from whence the generations spread down through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, then westward into Kentucky where Abraham was born.

Thomas Lincoln, 28, married Nancy Hands, 22, on June 12th, 1806. Nancy was a simple pioneer woman who had never had the opportunity to learn how to read and write. Her cousin, Dennis Hanks, described Nancy as "shrewd and smart". Nancy's mother had become the wife of Henry Sparrow in 1791, some years after Nancy's birth!, a situation which led to much local speculation! Many years later Dennis Hanks, who lived till he was 94, recalled that he was present in the cabin not long after the baby's birth. "Nancy was lyin' thaI' in the big pole bed lookin' purty happy" said Dennis, "Tom'd built up a good fire and thowed a b'ar skin over the kivers to keep 'em warm"'. Then Nancy's aunt came, washed the new born, "put a yaller flannel petticoat an' lisey shirt on him, an' cooked some dried berries with wild honey for Nancy, an' slicked things up an' wenthome. An'that's all the nuss'in either of 'em got".

The Lincoln's, Hanks, and the Sparrow's whifted around a great deal, having been plagued by unsafe land titles, hence the several moves till 1830 it was to Illinois. A year later Abraham settled at New Salem when he was 22 years of age and measured 6 feet 4 inches (it is reputed that he took size 15 boots). He had come of age and was on his own. There were only a handful of families in New Salem and the lanky Abraham sauntered around the place and got acquainted and became employed when Denton Offutt opened a store which was similar to many others on the frontier: furs, mittens, hides, glassware, pots, pans, sugar, salt, coffee, firearms, saddlery, ox-yokes, etc., all cluttered up. The store was next to Bill Clary's saloon, whose brother founded nearby Clary's Grove Settlement - the home of hard drinking, hard fighting, young men, the leader of which was one Jack Armstrong, the strongest of them all. But for Denton Offutt, no one could be stronger than his clerk, who, he boasted, could throw any man in the neighborhood. To prove this was not so, Jack Armstrong challenged Lincoln to a wrestling match which turned out to be the most celebrated event in the village. Neither man could "throw" the other, and so ended in a draw, but from then on Abraham had the respect of the boys!

Question 1: Are there any records of the descendants of this Jack Armstrong? Is "Jack" a byname for the more common Armstrong name of John? Also, on the Scottish Border where Armstrongs originated, wrestling was, and still is, quite common. Was this match per Border Rules?

General John Armstrong, Jr.

In June 1812, the United States Congress declared war on Britain. Within weeks, John Armstrong, Jr. was a US Army Brigadier General, commanding the defenses of New York. This John Armstrong was the son and namesake of the noted Continental Army Major General John Armstrong. Let's go back to the year 1721 when several former Scottish Border families of Armstrong and others, having previously settled in the Brookborough area of County Fermanagh, Ireland, had immigrated and settled in Carlisle, PA. and were in fact cousins of Major General John Armstrong who also left Brookborough about the year 1736 and, likewise, settled in Carlisle, PA. His brothers William and George either accompanied him, or followed soon after and George assisted John in his surveying expeditions.

On the breaking out of the French and Indian war, George was commissioned a Captain in the 2nd Bn of the Provincial Forces and accompanied his brother John, now a Colonel and afterwards a Major General, on his expedition to the Kittanning. William Armstrong also became an Army officer of some importance and afterwards was promoted to Major of the 2nd Bn Provincial Regiment. However, yet another Armstrong brother of the above Major General John, Major William, Captain George, was Edward Armstrong from Terwinney at the opposite end of County Fermanagh in Ireland.

This Edward left Ireland in 1744 leaving behind a reputed lovely wife at Terwinney. She was Margaret Maquire, a daughter of the great house of Maguire, which down to the close of the reign of Queen Elizabeth bore rule in Fermanagh. Margaret is reputed to have been a lass of great beauty and with a wealth of rich black hair and dark eyes, she was called a princess. Until this time the Armstrongs carried the blue eyes and fair hair of the Norse race and were often called Fair Johnnie, Fair Billie, etc., but after this there were Gentle James, who, when he came of age he succeeded to the ownership of Terwinney.

His father, Edward, was early identified in the French and Indian war and was commissioned a Lieutenant in Captain Edwards Ward's company, May 22, 1756. In July following, his company was stationed at Fort Granville and on the 30th of July Captain Ward marched out from the fort, which soon afterwards was surrounded by a hostile force who, after a siege of several days succeeded in setting fire to the timber defenses, killing Lieutenant Armstrong and several of his men, capturing others who they burnt at the stake, while women and children were taken to Ohio.

Back to the second General John Armstrong, Jr., born 1758, while a student at Princeton College, left early to fight for eight years in the Revolutionary War with Britain, returning a Lieutenant Colonel and was swiftly given high civil military office in Pennsylvania, being appointed Brigadier General at the very early age of 25. He was elected by the State of Pennsylvania to two Continental Congresses. He then married Alidia Livingston, a member of a well known and wealthy New York family and he was then elected a US Senator. President Jefferson appointed him his Envoy to Napoleon, a position lasting six years. He returned a national hero and President Madison, 1809-1817, appointed John Armstrong, Jr. as a General and United States Secretary of War in 1813.

As a senior military officer from a very young age, this John Armstrong's exploits were legendary and his skills and energy were of a high order. Family life and farming had always been his joys and he retired early from military and public life and settled in the Hudson Valley where he had erected a grand home with a splendid library which remains today in the hands of his descendants.

Question 2 : Did this General John Armstrong, Jr. leave any male descendants, and what, if any, is the historic relationship between these Armstrongs after John and Alidia's daughter, Margaret, married the wealthy John Jacob Astor's son and heir, William Blackhouse Astor?

William N. Armstrong

King Kalahau, the last Sovereign of Hawaii, was the first to travel around the world which journey started on January 20th, 1881, aboard the steamer "The City of Sydney" sailing from Honolulu Harbor attended by great fanfare of music, dance, and quite naturally sheaths of sweet smelling flowers heaped around the neck of the royal party. A twenty-one-gun salute followed by strains of "Auld Lang Syne" and "Hawaii Ponoi" filled the air.

The king's decision to make a Grand 9-month tour around the world was first announced to his cabinet on January 11th, 1881 and nine days later he was on his way.

Having been elected King during a hotly contested campaign in 1874, Kalahaua had learned not to maneuver between the powerful, predominately American interests that controlled the kingdom's sugar based economy - and the prerogatives of a Polynesian Sovereign, although by no means plain sailing for Kalahaua as he had been in danger of being toppled on more than one occasion.

The purpose of the tour was, ostensibly, to promote immigration to Hawaii from the many nations of Asia and Europe that were included in the king's itinerary. The native population, like those in New Zealand around the same period, were in the decline, and the importation of young men were required to work in the sugar-cane fields, and to bolster the population.

The cabinet, recognizing the expense of such a lengthy tour, decided that King Kalahaua would be accompanied by only two government officials: Chamberlain, Colonel Charles H. Judd, and Attorney General, William N Armstrong. Promoting Mr. Armstrong to a Minister of State, King Kalahaua also designated the Attorney General to be the Royal Commissioner of Immigration. The only other person in the royal suite was the Valet name Robert, who in reality was a German Baron Von Ochihoffen, who turned out to be an alcoholic who created some embarrassment along the way! Kalahaua's only surviving sis­ter, Lili'uokalani, was to reign during her brother's absence during his world tour (she was destined to succeed her brother fol­lowing his death in 1891)

Question 3:    How did this William N. Armstrong come to be a member of the Royal Hawaii cabinet? Was he a Diplomat in the USA Foreign Service, or was he born and raised in Hawaii which was a great many years prior to Hawaii becoming the 49th State of the Union?