Brig. General John Armstrong, Sr. (Continental Army) - Famed genealogist claims our Gen. John Armstrong is the g-grandson of "Christie's Will"

Mabel Thacher Rosemary Washburn, author of books and articles for the Journal of American Genealogy, wrote:

Shortly after this "Christie's Will" joined the army of Charles I.

About this period, apparently he left the Border country...and removed, as did his nephew, Andrew Armstrong, to Brookboro, near Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, in Ireland, and in Ireland William Armstrong died in battle, fighting as an officer in King Charles' army.

* His wife is said to have been distantly related to him, named Margaret Elliot.

** Edward Armstrong, son of William of Brookboro, removed about 1650 from Brookboro and settled at Terwinney, also in County Fermanagh. He married "a dark-eyed lass of great beauty and with a wealth of rich black hair. She was called a princess at that time, being a daughter of the great house of Maguire which down to the close of the reign of Elizabeth bore rule in Fermanagh. Until this time the Armstrongs carried the blue eyes and fair hair of the Norse race, and they were called such names as Fair Johnnie or Fair Billie, but after this we had Black Armstrongs and White Armstrongs."

It is stated that Terwinney was bestowed either on Edward Armstrong or on his father, William Armstrong, for military service, and its name signified "The Land of the Cows."

*** James Armstrong, son of Edward Armstrong (known as "Edward from the Border") and the "Princess" of the House of Maguire, succeeded his father in the possession both of Terwinney and Brookboro. He died in 1745, and was the father of the family of Armstrongs who emigrated to Pennsylvania.

**** His children were:

I Edward Armstrong; settled in Pennsylvania ca.1744; became Lieutenant Edward Ward's Company May 22, 1756; killed that year while defending Fort Granville.
II George Armstrong; emigrated to Pennsylvania.
III William Armstrong, of whom subsequently,
IV GENERAL JOHN ARMSTRONG, famous in Pennsylvania Colonial history.
V Margaret Armstrong; emigrated to Pennsylvania.
VI Andrew Armstrong ("Andro"); remained in Ireland,
VII A daughter; married _______Graydon; remained in Ireland.

William Armstrong, son of James Armstrong of Terwinney and Brookboro, emigrated to Pennsylvania and settled on a tract of two hundred acres, west of the Susquehanna, which land he acquired January 13, 1737. He was a soldier of gallantry and renown and served with distinction in the colonial wars. On May 10, 1756, he was commissioned a Lieutenant, and a Captain, December 24, 1757. On July 4, 1764, he was made Major of the Second Battalion of the Provincial Regiment.

GENERAL JOHN ARMSTRONG, in a letter written from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, November 2, 1755, and concerning the depredations of the Indians, recorded the efficiency of his brother's stoppage to these apparently thus: "There are no inhabitants on the Juniata now, nor on Tuscarora by this time, my brother William being just come in."

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I too have read many references in history books showing that Gen. John Armstrong had a brother or brothers who were also American soldiers. What I read did not correlate with the Geni picture of his family group. But I waited until now to bring attention to the matter, because now I find that Ms. Washburn did me the favor of identifying his brothers and connecting them all to a real family.

I would like to see the proper corrections made to this historic profile. Rarely do we find a general or family of gallant soldiers without traceable roots of some sort. Great men are usually or at least frequently, born and raised to be soldiers, professionals, and statesmen. So it only makes sense to me to find that they had ancestors who were also famous soldiers or knights.

(My previous discussions of Gen. John Armstrong were of a slightly different nature. In them, as I recall offhand, I tried unsuccessfully to differentiate him from a man of the same name in Delaware who'd married a woman named Rebecca Armstrong. I also argued unsuccessfully that our Gen. John Armstrong of Pennsylvania's wife Rebecca's maiden name was "Lyon". I recall something about producing a will of Archibald Armstrong, patriarch of the Delaware family.)

pp. 150-52 in The Journal of American Genealogy (images 184-86) Vol. I, Second Quarter, April, May, June, 1921.

https://archive.org/details/journalofamerica00alla/page/n183/mode/1...

There is also a beautifully rendered Armstrong coat of arms (image 149).

https://archive.org/details/journalofamerica00alla/page/n148/mode/1...