Robert Armstrong^[1]

1700 - 1754  (54 years)

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

  
  

  Father	John Armstrong,   b. 1664, Thorngrafton, Northumberland, Ireland ,   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 ,   d. 12 Nov 1753, Augusta, Virginia, United States  (Age 48 years)
  Married	1728	Ulster, Antrim, Ireland
  Children	+ 1. John Armstrong,   b. Abt 1729, Ulster, Antrim, Ireland ,   d. 28 Apr 1788, Franklin, Georgia, United States  (Age ~ 59 years) + 2. Robert J. Armstrong, Lt.,   b. 1731, Ulster, Antrim, Ireland ,   d. 28 Feb 1798, Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee, United States  (Age 67 years)   3. James Armstrong,   b. 1733, County Antrim, Ireland ,   d. 1774, Louisiana, United States  (Age 41 years)   4. Benjamin D. Armstrong,   b. 1735, Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States ,   d. 1798, Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee, United States  (Age 63 years)   5. Katherine Armstrong,   b. 1737, Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States ,   d. Laurens, South Carolina, United States   6. Hannah Armstrong,   b. 1739, Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States ,   d. Kentucky, United States   7. Margaret Armstrong,   b. 1741, Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States ,   d. North Carolina, United States   8. Alice Else Armstrong,   b. 1746, Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States ,   d. 1794, Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee, United States  (Age 48 years)   9. Elizabeth Armstrong,   b. 1748, Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States ,   d. 1794, Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee, United States  (Age 46 years)
  Last Modified	4 Aug 2015
  Family ID	F1465	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Died - 12 Nov 1754 - Augusta, Virginia, United States  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Photos

  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

  [S60] Pedigree Resource File CD 39.