Robert Armstrong[1]

Male 1700 - 1754  (54 years)


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  • Name Robert Armstrong 
    Born 1700  Ulster, Antrim, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 12 Nov 1754  Augusta, Virginia, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I3774  My Family Tree | Armstrong-Bird
    Last Modified 25 Nov 2015 

    Father John Armstrong,   b. 1664, Thorngrafton, Northumberland, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Family ID F1472  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Martha Holmes 
    Last Modified 4 Aug 2015 
    Family ID F1471  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 2 Alice Calhoun,   b. 1705, Strabane, Londonderry, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 12 Nov 1753, Augusta, Virginia, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 48 years) 
    Married 1728  Ulster, Antrim, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
    +1. John Armstrong,   b. Abt 1729, Ulster, Antrim, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 28 Apr 1788, Franklin, Georgia, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 59 years)
    +2. Robert J. Armstrong, Lt.,   b. 1731, Ulster, Antrim, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 28 Feb 1798, Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 67 years)
     3. James Armstrong,   b. 1733, County Antrim, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1774, Louisiana, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 41 years)
     4. Benjamin D. Armstrong,   b. 1735, Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1798, Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 63 years)
     5. Katherine Armstrong,   b. 1737, Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Laurens, South Carolina, United States Find all individuals with events at this location
     6. Hannah Armstrong,   b. 1739, Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Kentucky, United States Find all individuals with events at this location
     7. Margaret Armstrong,   b. 1741, Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. North Carolina, United States Find all individuals with events at this location
     8. Alice Else Armstrong,   b. 1746, Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1794, Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 48 years)
     9. Elizabeth Armstrong,   b. 1748, Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1794, Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 46 years)
    Last Modified 4 Aug 2015 
    Family ID F1465  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsDied - 12 Nov 1754 - Augusta, Virginia, United States Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Photos
    Old Augusta
    Old Augusta

  • Notes 
    • Robert Armstrong was an immigrant from Northeast Ireland around Londonderry. He arrived in Chester County about 1735 and migrated further west to Lancaster County. Then he traveled down the Shenandoah Valley to Augusta County, Virginia. He died there and left a will. From Kyle Armstrong (314) 423-6810. Robert immigrated from Province of Ulster, County of Antrim, Ir. in 1735 with wife Alice, & 2 sons John & Robert. With them were the McBrides, Cunninghams, Bounds, and Calhouns.

      General reasons for Migration of Non-English to Colonial America:

      1. Blacks introduced, first as indentured servants, then as slaves, after
      1619.
      2. Dutch and Swedes are incorporated as New York and New Jersey become
      english colonies.
      3. Huguenots (French Protestants) permitted by English to settle after
      forced to leave France.
      4. Lowland Scots settle in northern Ireland, then shortly after 1700 come
      in large numbers to the English colonies, settling on the frontier and
      becoming known as the "Scotch-Irish."
      5. Germans, largely from the Palatinate, settle on the frontier at same
      time as the "Scotch-Irish" and become known as the "Pennsylvania Dutch."
      6. After 1750, signficant numbers of Highland Scots are permitted to
      leave Scotland to settle in the English colonies, with the promise they will
      never fight against the (English) Crown.
      From: Richard Hakluyt's "Discourse of Western Planting" provides an
      intellectual rationale for colonizing of the Scots both in Ireland and the New World.

      Reasons Why The Scots of Ireland Migrate to the Colonies

      As their numbers increased, some of the more venturesome fourth and fifth
      sons who had no hope of inheriting any of their father's skimpy land
      holdings, began heading abroad. But it was not until Queen Anne came to
      the throne of Great Britain in 1702, that the exodus of Ulster Scots
      began in earnest.

      Queen Anne was by all accounts a compassionate, pious woman, but
      unfortunately her principal advisors were conservative Tories and
      reactionary High-Church Anglicans. On one hand, she was of great
      assistance to the Huguenots - the French protestants who were being
      severely persecuted by Catholic zealots on the continent. But at the
      same time she was aiding them, she was persuaded to clamp down
      mercilessly on Britain's non-Anglican "dissenters" or "nonconformists." .

      In 1704, her advisors influenced the passage of the Sacramental Test Act
      which excluded Nonconformists from public office. In 1714 came the
      Schism Bill which prohibited them from teaching school. Aimed primarily
      at Catholics, this legislation was equally devastating to Presbyterian
      Scots. Thousands of Scottish teachers and bureaucrats began moving to
      the continent in search of jobs. Some of the displaced professionals
      also began heading across the Atlantic - particularly those living in
      Ulster. Fresh impetus was given to the exodus when the linen trade
      collapsed because of the war. Ulster farmers who grew flax suddenly had
      no market. Now all the Scotch Irish were looking toward North America.

      From 1725 to 1765, 200,000 Ulster Scots made their way to the Colonies
      via the ports of Belfast and Derry. Most disembarked in the Chesapeake
      Bay region, particularly at Chester, Lewes and Philadelphia. According
      to one historian, nearly 6,000 Presbyterians from Ireland landed in
      Philadelphia alone in 1729 and "before the middle of the century, nearly
      12,000 arrived annually for several years."

      Chester County, Pennsylvania, became core of the burgeoning Ulster Scot
      enclave. Incoming immigrants spilled over into Philadelphia County, and
      southwestern New Jersey, and New Castle County, in what became Delaware in
      1703, and pushed westward as Lancaster County, Pa, was created from
      Chester County. The earliest helped later-arriving kith and kin get
      established. Many came under indenture to local tradesmen and farmers -
      their passage being paid in return for four or five years of work. As the
      Ulster Scots poured in, land values soared and it became difficult to
      even rent a little land on which to scratch out a living.

      For the brave and ambitious, the frontier was the only option. By 1730,
      many had pushed beyond western Lancaster County and turned southwestward
      into the northern entrance to the great Shenandoah Valley.
      By mid-18th century, they were fanning out into North and South Carolina
      as well as western Virginia, spurred on as cheap land became available
      through Indian treaties and the sale by Lords Proprietor of Crown granted
      lands.

      See "Chronicles of the Armstrongs," J. L. Armstrong, 1902; "From Ulster
      to Carolina," Blethan and Wood, 1983; "Historical Sketches of the Holston
      Valleys, " Preston, 1926; "The Scotch Irish, Vol. I," Hanna; "Annals of
      Augusta County, Virginia," Waddell.

      Source-Notable Southern Families by Zella Armstrong(1918)
      Robert of 1700, a descendent, said to be son of John Armstrong of Ireland, D/1775 Abbeville Co., S.C. married in Va. 1728, to Alice Calhoun, B/ 1705, Ulster, Antrim , Ireland or Augusta Co., Va. (The Calhoun family came to America in 1723, settling first in Lancaster Co., Pa., later moved to Augusta Co., Va.

      From Bill Armstrong, billa@ctaz.com we learn the following concerning the Armstrong Family:Lt. Robert Armstrong B/1700 Ulster, Ire. D/1775 Abbeville Co., S.C.
      M/1728 Ireland Alice Calhoun B/1705 Strabane, Donegal Co., Ire. D/11/12/1753
      Augusta Co., Va.(Father-William Calhoun, Mother-Alice Cunningham)
      Children:First 3 born in Ireland, the rest born in Pa.
      Robert, wife Alice and sons Robert & John emigrated America in 1735 and
      lived in Lancaster Co., Pa. where the remainder of his children were born,
      before moving to Abbeville Co., S.C. The migration that Robert Armstrong and his son, John, traveled after they arrived in Philadelthia went along a much traveled route. In the Colonial Roads to 1750 it explains that one of the earliest east-west wagon roads, the Lancaster road linked Philadelphia to Harrisburg before 1730. The Armstrongs went on this connection from Lancaster to Winchester, Virginia, in the early 1740s, created what was either called the Philadelphia Wagon Road or the Great Valley Road. The Fall Line Road crossed Virginia and the Carolinas, and eventually into
      Georgia.
      Note; She states on page 6, par. 6, that only John & Robert were born in Ireland. All the younger children were born in Lancaster Co., Pa.
      Source-My Ancestors Relatives & Decendents by Ruth Ross Curray

      Source-Armstrong/Branyon/Bryson & Allied families of the South by Ethel S.
      Updike

      Wife Alice, was from the family that produced Patrick Calhoun. Alice was a
      sister of James Calhoun, and aunt of Patrick Calhoun.
      Source-LDS Ancestral Files
      Source-Chronicles of the Armstrongs, p. 368

      After Alice's death, it is believed that Robert married Martha Holmes in
      Lancaster Co., Pa. in 1755 children William born 1760, John born 1762 died 8-1-1809 and son Charles born 1783, Joseph born 1764

      Source-Roberts "Will" nameing Martha as his wife, probated in Augusta Co.,
      Va.

      The Calhoun family came to America in 1723, settling first in Lancaster Co., Pa., later moved to Augusta Co., Va. On 3 April 1749, James Calhoun bought 640 acres on Reed Creek, Augusta Co., Va. and his wife Catherine. On 3 Apr. 1749, James Calhoun bought 640 acres on Reed Creek, Augusta Co.,
      Va. In Feb. 1756 the Calhoun family, James, Ezekiel, William, Patrick, and
      sister Mary, widow of John Noble, and their mother Catherine, widow of James
      Calhoun removed to S.C. They settled on Long Cane Creek, about 14 miles from
      Anderson S.C. Some of the family were in the Indian Massacre of Long Cane
      settlement, and a statue marks the spot.
      Source-Notable Southern Families by Zella Armstrong p.p.9,12,16,&20.

      Bill Armstrong
      Kingman, Az.

  • Sources 
    1. [S60] Pedigree Resource File CD 39.