James Armstrong and James Armstrong Jr of Falmouth and Cape Elizabeth, Maine

In a previous post, Armstrong Family of Falmouth, Maine - Puzzle Starting to Fall Into Place, I mentioned that it was my belief that James Armstrong arrived in Falmouth with his children in 1718.  We can say confidently that he arrived with his sons John, Simon and Thomas and his daughter Jean who was married to Robert Means.   There is some mentions of James as a brother to John Armstrong and mentions of James as father to John Armstrong. 

In my Armstrong Family of Falmouth post,  I make the point that there are likely two James' (father and son) who arrive in 1718 as records reference a James Armstrong which remarried after his first wife died to a woman named Mary.  The records indicate that they had three children:  Thomas (b. 1717), John (b. 1720) and James (b. 1721).  There is at least one obvious flaw in this assertion....James Sr. already has a living son named John and he is with them in Falmouth in 1718.  I do not know of a circumstance where someone names two of his sons by the exact same name.  Is this is a Scotch- Irish tradition I am not aware of?

I just received a copy of a list of the Heads of Families of Falmouth circa 1733.  Falmouth at this time included Portland, South Portland and Cape Elizabeth, Maine compiled The list was compiled by Peter Walton.  According to Willis in Smith and Deane #8 Walton died in 1733..so he couldn't have compiled it after 1733.

The list enumerates about 200 families living in this area at this time including (here is a group of  my relatives listed):

1. Robert Means
2. James Armstrong
3. Mary Armstrong
4. William White
5. John White
6. Simon Armstrong
7. William Simonton
8. John Barber

The first things I notice is that there is a James Armstrong listed as a head of a family.  We know that a James Armstrong from Falmouth died in May 3, 1724.  Maybe this list was compiled prior to his death.  However, other records indicate James' wife's name was Mary.  The only way Mary would be listed as a head of household is if she is widow.  So to have both James Armstrong and Mary Armstrong listed it would mean that Mary Armstrong's husband is dead and another James Armstrong is still alive.  Therefore this strongly supports the idea that James Armstrong Sr. arrived with a son, James Armstrong Jr and it was the son who died in 1724.  This evidence would appear to be definitive.

Who are these other people?

Robert Means is husband of Jean Armstrong.  Jean Armstrong is James Armstrong Sr.'s daughter.  In a few years, Robert and his family moved to Saco, Maine.  According to some reports, James moves to Saco, too to be close to his daughter and her family.

William White and John White are brothers who are related from the original settlers to Falmouth before that were run out when the local Native American tribe forced them out.  The White family moved to Gloucester, Massachusetts.  They still had claims to the family land there and the White brothers returned to claim that land.  Both men are accepted as Falmouth owner citizens on May 4, 1730.  In addition, I have seen land grants to William White as early as 1728.  William White married Christian Simonton in 1736.  They are my 5th grand parents.

Simon Armstrong is another son of James Armstrong Sr.  Simon married Isabella.  They are also my 5th grand parents.

William Simonton is likely Christian Simonton's brother. 

John Barber (also spelled Barbour) was married to another of James Armstrong Sr.'s daughters, Mary Armstrong.  It appears that John and Mary married in Ireland and may have arrived in Maine after 1718.

This document was helpful in putting final confirmation of my theory about James Armstrong Sr. and James Armstrong Jr arriving together to Maine in 1718.

Simon Armstrong of Cape Elizabeth

When you read about the Armstrongs who arrived in America and specifically Falmouth, Maine you will see several references to John Armstrong and some of James Armstrong.  You don't see hardly any references of John's brother, Simon Armstrong.

In fact, there is not many of records of Simon at all.  Which is too bad as he is my 5th great-grandfather.

Simon Armstrong was born circa 1701 in Ulster, Ireland.  His family was originally from Scotland.

Simon Armstrong came to Falmouth, Maine with his father and siblings in the Winter of 1718.  He married his wife Isabella very soon after he arrived in America.

Simon and Isabella had the following children:

i. Isabella Armstrong:  b. 1719 m. John Jordan 1738
ii. Elizabeth Armstrong: b. 20 Apr 1729
iii. John Armstrong:  b.  Oct 1731 m. Lucy Cop 23 Dec 1755
iv.  Sarah Armstrong:  b. 1736 m. Andrew Simonton Jr. 27 Dec 1754

Based on the gaps in the dates of the birth of Simon and Isabella's children that it is likely we are missing several of their children.

Simon was a corporal in Col Westbrook's regiment between Nov 22, 1724 and May 22, 1725.  While fighting Native American's he suffered a wound to his head, but did survive.

Simon received multiple land grants from the Town of Falmouth and Cape Elizabeth, Maine. In 1733, Simon Armstrong sold a portion of his land to Samuel Waldo.  (York Deeds Book 16, Fol 161 pg 492-493.  Sept 5, 1733.  This land transaction identifies Simon's wife as Isabella Armstrong.

My great grand Aunt, Marion Armstrong, stated that as a young girl she has seen one of the original land grants from 1747.  She incorrectly remembered that it was a land grant to Samuel vs Simon. Unfortunately, those original land grants were lost in a fire.

According to the list of parishioners of the Second Parish of Falmouth in Cape Elizabeth the only Armstrong listed in 1743 is Simon Armstrong.   All of James Armstrong's other children had moved out of Cape Elizabeth by this time and Simon's children are too young to be parishioners.

In a land transaction from March 7, 1772, John Armstrong (Simon's son) sold land to Nathaniel Dyer which was partial from land grants to Simon Armstrong and James Armstrong (John had purchased some of the land granted to James a few years before from another relative).  This land transaction further indicates that this John Armstrong was Simon's son.

In fact, John Armstrong and Andrew Simonton Jr owned several parcels of land jointly.  Which would be unusual except for the fact that John and Andrew were brothers-in-law.

I recently found this document which is Simon Armstrong providing an affidavit in 1770 where he testified to the fact that William Roberts had owned a piece of land which must have been in dispute. Here is a copy of that document.

We don't know exactly when Simon Armstrong died, but I did see a reference to probate of his estate as follows...administration granted to John Armstrong, gentlemen of Cape Elizabeth, on the estate of his father, Simon Armstrong, yeoman.  Dated July 18, 1778.

Talented Tuesday - Professions of the Armstrong's of Cape Elizabeth, Maine

My 3rd Great Grandparents, John Armstrong and Betsey Woodbury Dyer Armstrong, together had at least 8 children:  Simon, Mary, Eben, Lucy, John B., Israel, Arthur and George.

I am interested in the professions of my ancestors and relatives.  It is fascinating to see how occupations change over time and this is what I was able to uncovered about the Armstrong sons professions.

Much of this information is extracted from the City of Portland, City Directory from 1871.

Simon Armstrong (1812-1839) - Simon was a mariner.  The only evidence of this is that he died while traveling by ship in Havana, Cuba.  If he made his living on the sea, it wasn't for long, since he died far too young at the early age of 27.

Eben Armstrong - (1818-1884) - Eben was a cooper.  The profession of cooper is not one you hear about often anymore, but it was an important profession in its day.   A cooper is the traditional occupation of making barrels out of wooden staves.  These barrels would be used to contain dry and liquid goods for storage and sale.  It should not be underestimated the skill required to make these barrels.  Coopers are still used to make barrels for specialty products such as aging wine, but wooden barrel containers have been replaced by pre-made plastic, wood and metal containers.

John B Armstrong - (1822-1900) - John B had a few professions including as a farmer, but in 1871 he was a Ferryman.  Portland, Maine and Cape Elizabeth (Now South Portland) are separated by Portland Harbor.  The most efficient way to go from Portland and Cape Elizabeth was to take the ferry.  John B. Armstrong ran the ferry business bringing people and goods between the two locations.  Eventually, their was a bridge built between the two locations which effectively ended the ferry business.

Israel Armstrong (1824-1892) - Israel is described as a mariner.  I didn't see any evidence of what type of business he conducted on the sea in 1871.  However, I did see that he was involved running the Portland-to-Cape Elizabeth Ferry in 1866.  Making a living from the sea was very popular in coastal Maine.

Arthur B Armstrong (1827-1893) - Arthur was a sparmaker.  A sparmaker is someone who works on building masts for ships.  This was during the time when most shipping was done by sailing ships and making and repairing "spars" or masts would have been a very desirable profession.  As more shipping moved to steam ships, this would have become less in demand.

George Armstrong (1832-1884) - I don't find any records of George in any profession.

Many of these professions would be considered obsolete today.  It is interesting to consider that some of the professions that we take for granted will be obsolete in 100 years.