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Note: rmstrong - Born 1792 - Died Oct 1876. Left Ireland in 1845 to immigrate to Canada due to financial embarrasement brought on by backing a business partner's note. The partner skipped I remember hearing. Mrs. Foster Armstrong - Born 1795 - Died 1885 Nee: Mary King - ? Mrs. Foster Armstrong came from a wealthy family named Mulligans who were opposed to the marriage and the financial situation. They home-steaded in Hastings county and lived in Mill Bridge. Mrs. Willman- No given name listed. Died quite young and left family- Jim Willman and Mrs. Hutton. Mrs. Gunter - (Sarah). Mrs. Ray - (Kate). Aunt Matilda - Maiden aunt who lived at Mill Bridge near Granddad. Mary Jane. William - Died at age 25, well educated young man. John - born Oct. 4, 1841 - Died Mar. 1935 - was age 3 when brought to Canada. About this time lots of people left Ireland due to potato famine. I have heard him (John) mention - Spidau (Spidan) and county Carry (Kerry) in Ireland as birth place. In his (John's) early years he was brought up some where around Toronto. Then he helped survey Hastings County - and later homesteaded in Mill Bridge in 1857. He (John) was a farmer and carpenter". Earlene McCowan stated: "I lived with my grandfather (John) for several months in 1919 and went to the Millbridge school. After that, grandad came to live with us ". Book: "Descendants of James and George Wellman In Canada & the United States, 1849-1970", co-authored in 1970 by Nellie Greenwood & Ruth E. Reaman, pg. 16 & 17: "The first information we have about the Armstrongs is that they were native to Ireland. One descendant's records indicate Belfast while another record has it written down as County Cavan. They had operated a linen mill there employing quite a number of men. In Ireland, they had enjoyed the luxury of being wealthy but they had backed a note for a friend, a common mistake, which suddenly left them financially embarrassed. Rather than suffer the ignominy of living in reduced circumstances among their friends, they decided to emigrate to Canada. They came to Markham Township, York County, about 1850--an area where many other Irish Armstrongs had previously settled. The 1861 Enumerator, James Gormley, listed them in District 7 of Markham Twp., i.e. Lot 26-35, Con. 3 & 4 as follows: Foster Armstrong, occupation- Weaver, born in Ireland, age 56, religion- Church of England; Jane Armstrong, wife, born in Ireland, age 56, religion- Church of England, (her maiden name- Jane Mulligan and she later lived at Millbridge where she died aged 90 yrs.); Mary Jane Armstrong, born in Ireland, age 26; Matilda Armstrong, born in Ireland, age 16, religion- Evangelican; Catherine Armstrong, born in Canada West, age 11. They lived in a one story frame house. Their daughter, Margaret A. was by this time married to James Wellman, Coe Hill, and son, John (Jack) Armstrong was a farmer near Millbridge. At Madoc his son, Jack, became a blacksmith & later operated a garage. Mary Jane, a spinster, kept house for her Mother's brother. Another sister, Sarah, became Mrs. Gunter and lived at Gunter. Matilda never married but lived with her Mother at Millbridge. Kate married Wm. Ray & lived near Millbridge. One other sister, Phoebe, married a Loutitt and lived at Springbrook. Another brother, George Armstrong, a bachelor, became a minister for the Church of England in Toronto. Listed with the Armstrong family, in 1861, was James Wellman, age 36, born in England, Church of England, perhaps a cousin of Margaret's husband, James". 1851 Census on film #C11759, page 85 for the enumeration district 1, of the Twp. of Markham, in the county of York. Foster Armstrong (56) - Jane (45) - Sarah (15) - William (13) - John (11) -Matilda (8) - Phebe (6) (born in Canada) - Catharine (2) (born in Canada). Foster listed as Weaver, William, John & Matilda attending school. All except Phebe & Catharine born in Ireland. 1861 Census on film #C-1088 page 71 for the enumeration district 7 of the Twp. of Markham, in the county of York. Foster Armstrong (66) - Jane (56) - Mary Jane (26) - Catherine (11) - Matilda (16) - James Wellman ( 36) Non Member. Foster listed as Weaver, Catherine attending school. 1871 Census Index, Microfilm C9994, Hastings Co., Tudor Tp., Dist. 62, G1, pg. 17: Foster Armstrong, age 86, born Ireland, Irish origin, Weaver; Jane Armstrong, age 65, born Ireland; John Armstrong, age 23, b. Ireland, Carpenter; Matilda Armstrong, age 22, born Ireland; Phoebe Armstrong, age 21, born Ontario Death Certificate: Hastings County, Division of Tudor, Wollaston, Limerick & Cashel: Foster Armstrong, died 11 October 1876, male, 84 years, Weaver, Born County Cavan Ireland, died of Inflamation of the Bowels, 3 days, Dr. Leomis, Witness: John Armstong, Farmer, Tudor, Signed: 12th October, 1876, Methodist, Registrar- Chas. Donaldson. Millbridge Cemetery, Tudor Tp., Hastings County, Ontario- ARMSTRONG:- Foster - Died Oct. 11, 1876 - Aged 84 years - Spouse Jane ARMSTRONG (Note: I have used this record to estimate his year of birth being 1792 which agrees with his death certificate) Tombstone photo: http://www.gravemarkers.ca/ontario/centont/hastings/tudor/millbrid/armstro1.jpg
Note: Source: Earlene McCowan - Info as her Father has written it: "Foster A
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