Person:George Armstrong (14)

From “Earliest Armstrong Ancestors” by Kathy Alvis Patterson: Back to My New Jersey Armstrongs Based on the evidence cited above and following, we can assume that these men in the 1800 census were brothers: 1800 Seneca, Ontario Co NY, p 500: Alexander Armstrong, 10001/10201 1800 Seneca, Ontario Co NY, p 500: James Armstrong, 41001/00001 1800 Seneca, Ontario Co NY, p 504: George Armstrong, 10010/12010 A source at Ancestry.com says James was named as witness in his brother George’s Revolutionary War pension application; George served in the Somerset militia. This led to a search for George Armstrong of Somerset Co NJ and Ontario Co NY. History and directory of Yates County : containing a sketch of its original settlement by the Public Universal Friends ... , Stafford Canning Cleveland, 1873, p 220, states George Armstrong married Hannah Riggs and that they resided in Seneca NY. The Honeyman family (Honeyman, Honyman, Hunneman, etc.) in Scotland and America, 1548-1908, A. Van Doren Honeyman, Plainfield, NJ: Honeyman's Pub. House, 1909, page 216 has the following: “MARGARET [Honeyman], of Bedminster township, Somerset Co., N.J., b 1767; d. Jan. 31, 1821; m. (1) Jan. 10, 1799, William Henry, farmer, who was b. Sept. 7, 1765, and d. Aug. 25, 1807; (2) Dec. 28, 1810, George Armstrong, who was b. Apr. 21, 1761 and d. Jan. 7, 1848. William Henry lived at the head of “Homeyman’s Lane,” his residence being close to that of his father-in-law. George Armstrong had previously married, May 17, 1799 Hannah Riggs, who d. June 19, 1808, and by whom he had three children: (1) Martin, b. May 26, 1800; d. Feb. 1814. (2) George Riggs, b. Apr. 5, 1804; d. Feb.. 11, 1812. (3) Mary Riggs, b. Sept. 26, 1806.” Page 117 of the same book reads, “Margaret, as the wife of William Henry, lived in the vicinity of Lamington, but had various reisdences as Mrs. Armstrong.”

George and Margaret had one child, John Honeyman Armstrong, of near Peapack, NJ, b 3 Aug 1812, d Cincinnati Feb 1874. These sources combine to show that George Armstrong went from NJ possibly to KY then to Ontario Co NY and back to NJ. Postings at Ancestry.com agree with this. Nancy Corman wrote that: “Martin ARMSTRONG's grandsons Martin and Daniel McCOY of Bourbon County, KY filed documents (found in the Lexington County Courthouse) stating that their uncle George ARMSTRONG was then (1810) living on land in NY (exact location not given) that they had inherited from their grandfather Martin ARMSTRONG of Somerset, NJ. I don't mean to accuse anyone of duplicitous actions, just that the property was divided among the heirs in advance of Martin ARMSTRONG's death. Uncle George had been living in Lexington KY for a while. He moved back to NY by 1810 and lived in NJ for many years after that.”

And in an email, she added that, “Since the Lexington, KY papers said George was living on the land promised to Daniel and Martin McCoy, it might have been part of a larger parcel originally bought by Martin Armstrong. Another possibility is that Martin Armstrong took over some land held by his BROTHER John. There were some records of Martin Armstrong's brother, John, who lived in the county adjacent to Somerset.  I think he had some financial problems that were recorded so that there were records. He died before Martin and I may have seen a will or land documents. There seemed to have been much more to look at regarding John than Martin. I'll check my files. I believe it was the Agnew cousin through whom I knew of James because he had written to the government as witness to his brother George's service in the Somerset Regiment and George wanted to qualify for a pension. It was denied because he did not serve as a soldier (they had riots for back-pay, so I think that his brothers-in-arms are the best judge of who served and who did not.) George was a long-time active member of the Somerset Rev. War Veterans Assn. Anyhow. George and James were among those listed in the Regiment Muster Rolls. (You probably knew that). I found George Armstrong listed among the residents of Lexington, KY in the post-Revolutionary census records. He may have come with the large group of veterans who settled there and sold off part of their land acquired as remuneration for service. There were many lawsuits over a long period between the settlers and those who were granted the land that had been squatted upon with respect to who had more right to hold it. The squatters lost.”

Although George’s Revolutionary War pension application was rejected (Ancestry.com. “American Revolutionary War Rejected Pensions Record, Name: George Armstrong, State: New Jersey, Location: --, Somerset, Reason: Team service.”), his grave is marked as that of a Revolutionary War veteran (Ancestry.com. “Reference: Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots, Vol.1, p.  Serial: 12625; Volume: 4. George ARMSTRONG, Cemetery: Lamington Presbyterian Cemetery, Location: Somerset Co NJ 63.”). The question now is whether George was married before Hannah. If his birthdate of 1761 is correct, he was 38 when he married in 1799. And who were the 3 female children in his household in 1800? At any rate, like his brother James, he had a known son named John (b 1812), so is probably not the father of our John (b 1781-88). The same Ancestry.com researcher stated that George never married, which we might take to mean he married late, and one branch of the family didn’t know about it. By 1810, George had likely returned to NJ, since he is not in the NY census and the NJ census is not extant.

Somerset Co NJ Armstrongs So, this Ontario Co NY family points back to Somerset Co NJ and a Scotch-Irish immigrant named Martin. These are the Armstrongs in that county in tax lists at Ancestry.com: JOHN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bedminster 1775 JOHN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bedminster Twp 1784 JOHN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County W Precinct 1785 JOHN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bernards Twp 1787 JOHN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bernards Twp 1788 JOHN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bernards Twp 1789 JOHN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1789 JOHN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bernards 1793 JOHN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bernards Twp 1793 JOHN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bernards Twp 1796 JOHN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Kingston 1812

MARTIN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bedminster 1775 MARTEN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1784 MARTIN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1786 MARTIN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1787 MARTIN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1788 MARTEN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1789 MARTINE* ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1790 MARTEN* ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1791 MARTEN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1792 MARTEN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1793 MARTIN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1793 MARTIN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1794 MARTIN ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1795

GEORGE ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bedminster Twp 1778 GEORGE ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1786 GEORGE ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1791 GEORGE ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1792

JAMES ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1786 JAMES ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1788 JAMES ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1791 JAMES ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1792 JAMES ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1793 JAMES ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1793 JAMES ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County E Precinct 1794

THOMAS ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bridgewater Twp Se 1786 THOMAS ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bridgewater Twp 1791 THOMAS ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bridgewater Twp 1792 THOMAS ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bridgewater 1793 THOMAS ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bridgewater Twp 1802 THOMAS ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bridgewater Twptx 1808

DAVID ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bernards Twp 1788 DAVID ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bernards Twp 1789 DAVID ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bernards Twp 1790

ABRAHAM ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bernards Twp 1790 ABRAHAM ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bernards 1793 ABRAHAM ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bernards Twptx 1803

ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bernards Twp 1790 ALEX ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bernards Twp 1791 ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG NJ Somerset County Bernards Twp 1792

If these men comprise the same Martin Armstrong and his sons, we can see that the latter included Abraham, Alexander, David, George, James, John, and Thomas. The earliest names are Martin and John in 1775; the other names all appear in the 1780s. James disappears from these lists exactly when the Yates Co NY book says he moved to western NY. George and Alexander were also gone after 1792. David was not listed after 1790. John in 1812 must be a different man. Thomas was still in Somerset Co in 1808, Abraham in 1803. Martin’s will and/or contested estate papers were filed in 1806 In Frankliin Twp, Somerset Co NJ. Son John’s will was dated 5 Feb 1808 in Maidenhead Twp, Hunterdon Co NJ, and mentions the estate of his father, Martin Armstrong. Also, John Armstrong mentions his son, John Armstrong (son of Barsheba Moore), real and residue of personal estate. Said son to be educated and Dr. James Agnew, his Guardian. Inventory was made by James Coleman and William Baker. This becomes quite a family confusion. John Armstrong (s/o John Armstrong, s/o Martin Armstrong) was also the s/o Barsheba Moore who was the d/o John Coleman. Barsheba/Bathsheba Coleman married Nathaniel Moore.

Interesting confirmation of some parts of this family’s history was published in an issue of Armstrong Bulletin Board, #863, p 8, published by Fred W. Field, Fullerton CA. Not copyrighted.

PIONEER FAMILIES OF NORTHWESTERN NEW JERSEY Beginning in Feb 1934, William C. Armstrong of Blairstown, New Jersey, published a series of weekly articles with the title shown above. They appeared in the Hackettstown Gazette and ran for 94 installments, two installments being devoted to Armstrong. William C. Armstrong died in June, 1936. Later, in 1979, the articles were gathered and republished by Hunterdon House, Lambertville, New Jersey, (same title as above). Mr. Thomas B. Wilson edited the articles for book form and prepared en index and preface. We recently were successful in contacting Mr. Armstrong's granddaughter, Margaret Armstrong Berry and she very graciously gave ABB the family's permission to reprint the two Armstrong-related articles. These will be published in installments. In the preface Mr. Wilson notes that not all the material was original work but that Mr. Armstrong had drawn freely on material published by others (standard procedure in genealogical research). According to information received by Mrs. Berry, Mrs. Armstrong’s GGG-F was Nathan Armstrong, the subject of the first article. The second article seems to have been compiled from correspondence and other sources. It is quite likely that most of the information in the two articles is not available elsewhere.

(First Article: Nathan Armstrong-not copied here)

The second article was published in issue #864, page 6ff. George Armstrong of Rocky Hill--Little is known of the George Armstrong whose name heads this article. His parentage has not been ascertained. We list here three children of an Armstrong household that lived in later colonial times in the lower part of Somerset Co., New Jersey: i. George Armstrong whose name heads this article. He is said to have been a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He died January 7, 1848 in his 87th year, and this would place his birth year about 1762. No further record. [Same date of death as in Honeyman family history.-KP] ii. James Armstrong, who is always mentioned after his brother and is hence thought to have been younger. He also is said to have been a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He lived to be an old man. No further record. [James lived to be almost 90 and died in Geneva NY.-KP] iii. Amy Armstrong, born Apr. 12, 1765, died Apr. 2, 1861, at Franklin Park, New Jersey, aged 96 years. In 1776 and 1777 she was living with a Williamson family. Not far away lived a Scott family, whose son, William Scott, then fifteen years of age, afterward married Amy Armstrong. They were married April 12, 1791; William was born June 11, 1762 and died March 6, 1816, aged 54 years. The record of the descendants of William and Amy Scott is fairly complete and with a little work and patience could be brought up to date; but we will not at this time take up their genealogy. Our present purpose is merely to preserve some traditions of that far away period. We now give in full a letter written by Adrian A. Williamson of Oregon, later of Oakland, CA, addressed to Miss Mary E. Fisher, who at that time, was living at New Brunswick, New Jersey. The former Miss Fisher is now Mrs. Coburn of Fitchburg, MA.

To: Miss Mary E. Fisher New Brunswick, New Jersey

My Dear Niece: Your letter of a remote date was duly rec’d and its contents noted. In reply I would say that so far as the Williamson genealogy is concerned I know almost nothing. I remember hearing my father Abram Williamson telling my mother in the presence of the whole family that his ancestors came originally of a good Dutch family from Holland long prior to the American revolutionary war, that the sons had fought under Generals Israel Putnam and Anthony Wayne, but where and when I never heard him say.… I was married at Portland, Oregon on May 5, 1862.… [His 1910 census shows him born ca 1836.-KP] I know a great deal more about my mother’s branch of our house than about my father’s. I learned these facts when my wife and I were back in New Brunswick in 1867. Mother’s family, especially the Armstrongs, were of good old English and Scotch extraction, having come to America in the early 1700’s sometime. My great-uncles. George Armstrong and James Armstrong, fought in the Revolution under Washington at Princeton, New Jersey, only a few miles from where their father lived at Upper Rock Hill. I have been over the place once or twice when a small boy. The stone milk-house was still there as it was when the Hessians, a part of them, retreated across New Jersey, after being defeated at Trenton and Princeton, soon, I believe, after New Year’s. Great Uncle George Armstrong was 18; James was 16. Both were over 6 feet high. I saw them at our house at Millstone twice, visiting us there. [I surmise this visit, which must have happened after 1830 or so was when James tried to help his brother obtain a Revolutionary War pension.-KP] Amy Armstrong, my grandmother (my mother’s mother) was living with us. She died at my mother’s house in Franklin Park, 96 years of age, which would have been about 1861. When the battle of Princeton was fought (January 1777), Amy Armstrong was a small girl, say 9 or 10 years of age: she lived with us. [This and much that follows must be told in the voice of Amy Armstrong.-KP] William Scott, (her future husband), a boy 15 years old, and who lived a short distance away, was visiting us that forenoon. Well, my great-grandmother Armstrong was frying doughnuts when the boom of the first gun announced the beginning of the battle. As it was cold they put on their overcoats and shawls nd ran up to the top of the highest hill and saw the fighting. Of course it goes without saying, that they had their pockets full of doughnuts. Well, they soon saw that one army was retreating; and in about half an hour they saw it was the Hessians running down the Kingston road to Rock Hill and away down the Millstone River, through Kingston and over the river towards Plainfield, New Jersey. They passed directly through my great-great-grandfather’s place [doesn’t he mean great-grandfather?-KP], tramped down his garden vines, went into the house, stole everything they could carry off, drank up all the milk in the milkhouse, carried off all the butter, vegetables and everything they could lay their hands on and stole all the pigs and hogs on the place. They imprisoned my great-great-grandfather in his own cellar until rescued in a short time by a British officer. I got all this information from my grandmother and her brothers, George and James Armstrong (my great-uncles). It was mighty interesting to me to see those 6-foot-3-inchers march up and down the long entry in the old homestead carrying their guns on their shoulders and telling of their exploits under Washington. They were at Valley Forge that terrible winter, and they simply worshipped the name of George Washington. My grandfather Scott… With best wishes, A.A. Williamson

I have before me another letter, dated May 30, 1911, and written at Oakland CA by Adrian A. Williamson, a few years later than his other letter.… I now relate an anecdote which has been preserved in an old family letter. The place is between Princeton and Rocky HIll, and the time is immediately after the battle of Princeton. By a night march, Washington had outwitted the British at Trenton, had slipped around them, had struck and routed another British force at Princeton and was now withdrawing his victorious troops to Morristown by way of Pluckamin. The country folks were at the roadside to see the troops. Mr. Armstrong took his daughter, Amey, out to see the sight and they saw washington ride by. Amey was seven years of age and she always remembered that sight. That is the setting of the story; now comes the story itself. Sometime late when Mr. Armstrong went to feed his horses, they were all gone, startling discovery. He chased Washington’s army nearly to Pluckamin. reaching headquarters and demanding to see Washington, he debarred by the guard at the door. Dodging under the guard’s arms, he rushed in. Washington granted him an audience. The result was that Washington gave him a carte blanche to take his horses wherever he found them. On the way home he saw a negro leading two horses to water at a ford on the Millstone River. He recognized them as his own. He claimed them, but the negro refused to give them up declaring that his master had bought them from a soldier. Pushing the negro off, Armstrong mounted and rode home.

Over 6’3” according to great-nephew Adrian Williamson. He must have visited Somerset Co NJ about 1830.

Of Seneca NY. 1800 Seneca Two, Ontario Co NY: 10010/12010, four pages away from Alexander and James.

James ARMSTRONG brother of George s/o Martin of Somerset, NJ James is named in George's application for a Rev. War pension as witness to his service in the Somerset militia. That would have made him alive long after the end of the war.

George ARMSTRONG Cemetery: Lamington Pres Cem Location: Somerset Co NJ 63 Reference: Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots, Vol.1, p.  Serial: 12625; Volume: 4

American Revolutionary War Rejected Pensions Record Name: George Armstrong State: New Jersey Location: --, Somerset Reason: Team service.