Joseph S Armey
The well-known subject of this review is one of Jefferson township's highly esteemed citizens and as a fanner occupies a place in the front rank of Kosciusko county's successful agriculturists. In his veins flows the blood of a long line of German, Scotch and Irish ancestors and it can be truthfully said that he combines in his mental and physical make-up many of the characteristics for which those sturdy peoples have long been noted. Family history reveals the fact that the Armeys were among the early settlers of Virginia, in which state the subject's grandfather, Abraham Armey, was born, reared and married. He served in the war of 1812 as private in a Virginia regiment and after the cessation of hostilities engaged in fanning, which vocation he carried on all his life. The maiden name of his wife was Anna France; she was also a native of the Old Dominion. About the year 1825 he left his Virginia home and migrated to Montgomery county, Ohio, where he spent the remainder of his days, dying there at a good old age. The seven children born to Abraham and Anna Armey were as follows: Jacob, John, Henry, Susan, Magdalena, Elizabeth and one that died before receiving a name.
The oldest of the children, Jacob Armey, was born in Virginia and accompanied his parents to Ohio when fourteen years of age. He was reared a farmer and, with the exception of a limited period spent in the tanning business when a young man, made the pursuit of agriculture his life work. In an early day he went to Union county, Indiana, where he met and married Miss Amy Stevenson, who was born in Warren county, Ohio, June 20, 1813. She was the daughter of John Stevenson, who moved from eastern Ohio to Indiana in pioneer times and became a well-known citizen and successful farmer of union county. Jacob Armey continued to reside in Union county until about the year 1838, when he went hack to his old Ohio home, where he remained till 1851, at which time he returned to Indiana and located in the county of Kosciusko. He settled temporarily in Clay township, where he rented land, and also cultivated a farm in Wabash county, living on leased land until 1863, when he moved to Scott township and took possession of a farm which he had purchased the previous year. Subsequently he bought other real estate in section 1 of the same township, to which he removed and on which his death took place in August, 1874; Mrs. Armey survived her husband till 1898. Eight children were born to this worthy couple, namely: Joseph S, Margaret A, William S, Lydia, Hannah J, Susannah, Martha and Abraham.
Joseph S Armey, the first born of the family, is a native of Union county, Indiana, and dates his birth from the 17th day of February, 1836. He attended the schools in the neighborhood of the home farm when a boy, and spent the first fifteen years of his life in the county of Montgomery, Ohio, meanwhile assisting his father with the farm work, not a little of which fell to him by reason of his being the oldest son. He accompanied the family to Kosciusko county in 1851 and, with the exception of a few years, has made this part of the state his home to the present day, the exception referred to being the time he lived in the county of Wabash, which covered a period of nearly ten years.
Mr Armey remained with his parents until of a legal age, but it was not until 1860 that he bought land of his own, which he began to improve in 1863. His first purchase consisted of eighty acres in section 6, Jefferson township, to which he afterwards made an addition of four and a half acres adjoining, the two tracts combined forming the nucleus of his present estate of four hundred acres. From his boyhood Mr. Armey was trained to habits of industry and he found his early lessons of great practical value when he began the work of clearing his land and fitting it for cultivation. He erected comfortable buildings on his place, gradually extended the area of tillable land until he found himself in the possession of a beautiful farm, which for general agricultural purposes is not excelled by any like number of acres in the township in which it is situated.
As a farmer and business man Mr Armey has always been regarded as a representative citizen of his township and county. He is a careful manager and a good financier, and his judgment is seldom wrong on matters coming within his sphere as an agriculturist and stock raiser. His life has been characterized by consecutive toil and well-directed effort and the success which has crowned his labors mark him as a man of sound judgment, keen discernment and prudent forethought. He is methodical in his work, prompt in meeting all obligations, not given to speculation of any kind, but satisfied with the gradual but sure gains which result from legitimate labor. Personally he has many friends in his township and the high esteem in which he is held proves him to be the possessor of those correct moral principles which make men worthy of public as well as private confidence.
Mr Armey has been twice married, the first time in May, 1870, to Miss Thursey E Snyder, who bore him the following children: William W, deceased; Amy C, deceased; Jacob F, Lewis, deceased; Adam and Aaron, twins, the former dead; Eva, deceased; Emma J, Joseph M and Noah E.
The second marriage was solemnized March 5, 1897, with Mrs Sallie M French, widow of the late Cornelius French, a union without issue.
Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B F Bowen
1902
Sallie French - 2nd wife
Family Members
Parents
Photo
Jacob Armey
1811–1874
Amy Stephenson Armey
1813–1897
Spouses
Lucinda Harman Armey
1844–1938 (m. 1914)
Ellen Snyder Armey
1850–1910
Sallie French
1854–1912
Siblings
Susannah Armey
1848–1864
Martha Elizabeth Himes
1849–1914
Children
Infant Son Armey
Minerva E Armey
Amy C Armey
1872–1872
Frank Armey
1873–1965
William W Armey
1875–1877
Aaron Armey
1878 – unknown
Adam Armey
1878–1959
Eva May Armey
1883–1892
Emma Jane Armey Caswell
1884–1960
Joseph Melvin Armey
1887–1943
