HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-08-09, Page 13--C-, :wt,w-Ur' we - sr
August 9, 1995
James Armstrong came from Ireland to Stanley township
Great grandson James with wife and children still live on the same property
Ross Haugh with information
provided by James and Abby Arm-
strong.
STANLEY TWP. - James Arm-
strong came from Ireland to Stanley
township in 1841 to settle on Lot
19, Concession 12.
Today his great grandson with the
same name, James Armstrong lives
with his wi-
on the same property
fethe former Abby
Champ and children
Emma, Esther and
Eric.
The Armstrong
family originated in
the border country
between England
and Scotland
around the town of
Mangerson. At its
zenith the clan
could put 3,000
men in saddle and
held vast lands in that
Whatever the truth of these sto-
ries, Armstrongs were soon found
in Ireland and lived for many years
around Ballynahinch, not far from
Belfast, so that when James Arm-
strong immigrated to Canada in
1841 he thought of himself as Irish.
After docking at Quebec in June
of that year he journeyed up the St.
Lawrence to Cornwall and visited
his uncle Thomas Lightbody. Here
he joined the Fifth
Battalion Militia as
an invasion, or-
ganized by the se-
cret Hunter's
Lodge, forerunner
of the Fenians, was
feared. James was
discharged the fol-
lowing May, the
danger having
passed for the time
being.
James continued
across Upper Canada, then called
Canada West, to Goderich, mostly
on foot, to take up land from the
Canada Company, stopping enroute
at Fryfogel's Inn.
There were only blazed trails
through the solid tract of woods
south of the small village of Bay-
field. A few journeyed as far south
The large brick house
was built in 1862 by
a group of live-in
carpenters. All the
doors, windows
and frames were
made by hand and
the main beams are
of hewn pine.
area as early
as 1360. A member of note about
that time was Gilbert Armstrong
who was High Stewart of Scotland.
Around the year 1600 many of the
border clans were deported, some to
the continent and others to Ireland
where this branch of the Armstrong
family begins.
Present owners of the farm, James and Abby Armstrong and
their children Emma, Esther and Eric.
as the "16th creek, set down in a
deep valley and deckled no one
would ever go beyond that ob-
stacle.
They came back and James set-
tled on Lot 19, Concession 12,
Stanl;ey and the others, John De-
voy Lot 18, Michael Keough Lots
20-22 and Samuel Goudy Lots 17
and 23. They then walked back to
Goderich and made a deposit on the
land. The contract for each lot was
for 110 pounds sterling, with a
yearly payment. James received the
deed paid in full in 1854.
As it was now October each man
cleared three acres and together
built a small cabin on Michael Ke-
ough's property. James spent the
rest of the winter building roads
near London for wages. He re-
turned the following spring and
cleared more land.
The next year, the spring of 1843,
James planted oats, wheat and corn,
some three acres in all and from
this small beginning the farm pros-
pered.
In 1849 James married Janet
Campbell who had emigrated with
her parents from Scotland in 1843.
The family of James and Janet
prospered as well as the farm, the
couple raising and educating five
sons and seven daughters.
The original farm passed to his
son Archie Armstrong who married
Ruby Whiddon. They raised three
children, Mary, John and Bill.
Mary married Dr. Gordon Lea and
lives in P.E.I. Their children are
Bill, Jim, Janet and Frances.
John married Dorothy Crowe. He
served in the R.C.A.F. as a nav:4
igator, was shot down over Ger-
many and spent 18 months in Sta-
lag Luft IVB prisoner of war camp.
After the war John and Dorothy
farmed on Lot 24 with their family
of four girls: Judy, Janet, Linda and
Pauline until John's death in 1965.
The old homestead was farmed
by Archie's younger son Bill until
the present occupants took over in
1987. Bill married Maude Mac -
Math in 1949. Their children are
Alan, Douglas, Winnifred, Julia
and James.
Alan, an engineer with Northern
Telecom, Bramalea died in 1981
leaving his wife Shirley and daugh-
ter Charlene who are living near
Ottawa.
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Original Armstrong home built in 1862.
Douglas married Brenda Tyndall
in 1973. Their children are Scott,
Timothy and Lea Anne. Later
Douglas married Susan Carradine
and their children are Bronwyn and
Alan: Douglas studied stationary
engineering at Fanshawe College
and worked at Canadian Canners in
Exeter and is now chief engineer at
Domtar evaporating plant in Gode-
rich and lives next door to the old
homestead.
Winnie married Gary Darn-
hrough and they live in Bayfield
with their son Devan. Winnie stud-
ied at John Brown College in To-
ronto for a child care worker. She is
now a correctional officer at the
Bluewater Centre, Goderich.
Julia married John Drahushchak
and is head physioptherapist at St.
Marys. They have two sons, Alex
and Aaron.
James graduated from Ridgctown
College of Agricultural Technology
and was farm manager for the fami-
ly until moving to Lot 19 in 1987
when Bill and Maude moved to
Bayfield.
The Targe brick house was built
in 1862 by a group of live-in car-
penters. All the doors, windows
and frames were made by hand and
the main beams are of hewn pine.
The original James kept a close
record of expenses and the total
cost for labour was $246 and $695
for materials
The building was a land mark for
many years with its flat roof, how-
ever this has been changed to a
gable roof. There have been many
other changes in the farm and farm-
ing over the years. The large silo
was built in 1959 and the imple-
ment shed in 1980. A herd of Lim-
ousin cattle is kept and the prin-
cipal crops are wheat, white beans,
soybeans and corn.
The Armstrong family's ambition
is to carry on the tradition of pro-
gressing farming established so
many years ago and to survive in
an ever changing farm environ-
ment.
James Armstrong
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