Joshua ARMSTRONG
- Details
- Category: Biographies
- Published on Thursday, 19 January 2012 21:09
- Written by Eloine Chesnut
Joshua ARMSTRONG, one of Jay county's well known octogenarians and a substantial retired farmer, and landowner who died at his home in Madison township early in 1922, was a native of the old Buckeye state, but had been a resident of Indiana and of Jay county for fifty-six years. Mr. ARMSTRONG was born on a farm in Licking county, Ohio, December 4, 1835, and was a son of George and Alice ( VANCE ) ARMSTRONG, the latter of whom was born in Virginia but became a resident of Licking county (Ohio) when a child, her parents having settled there upon moving into Ohio from Virginia. George ARMSTRONG was born in Pennsylvania, but became a resident of Licking county, Ohio, where he married and where he made his home until 1853, when he moved with his family to Franklin county, same state, where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. George ARMSTRONG was the owner of a farm of 150 acres in Franklin county and his family was reared in comfort. He and his wife were the parents of ten children, but one of whom is now living, a daughter, Lucinda. The late Joshua ARMSTRONG was eighteen years of age when the family moved from Licking to Franklin county and he took an active part in the work of developing the home farm In the latter county, he and his two elder brothers, Samuel and Charles H. ARMSTRONG, managing the place for their father. After the latter's death the brothers disposed of their interests in Ohio and came over into Indiana and bought a tract of 200 acres in section 2 of Madison township, this county, locating here on November I, 1865. They built a new house on the place in 1875 and in other ways brought the farm up to a high state of development. The brothers farmed the place together for more than twenty-five years and then Joshua ARMSTRONG acquired sole ownership and continued to manage the place until in 1918 when he divided the farm among his children, retaining a tract of thirty-five acres surrounding the home, and had since lived retired from the active details of management, his death occurring there on January 8, 1922. Mr. ARMSTRONG was a Democrat. He was a Freemason, his affiliation having been with the local lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons at Ft. Recovery, and he had for many years taken a warm interest in Masonic affairs. In March, 1863, two years and more before he came to Jay county, Joshua ARMSTRONG was united in marriage in Franklin county, Ohio, to Emeline V. TRISH, who was born in that county in 1845, a daughter of Adam and Elizabeth ( SHEFFER ) TRISH, the latter of whom was born in France in 1825. Adam TRISH was born in Germany in 1818 and when eighteen years of age came to the United States, locating in the vicinity of Tiffin, Ohio. Of the nine children born to Adam TRISH and wife five are still living, Mrs. ARMSTRONG having three sisters, Barbara, Mary and Josephine, and a brother, Adam TRISH. To Joshua and Emeline (TRISH) ARMSTRONG have been born five children, Samuel A., Alice E., Maggie, Emma and Charles, all of whom are living, Alice E. ARMSTRONG continuing to make her home with her widowed mother. Samuel A. ARMSTRONG, a well known teacher in the schools of this county and a farmer of Madison township, married Serena A. WOTEN and has had four children, three of whom are living, Elmira, Ruth and Russell. Maggie ARMSTRONG married Sheridan WHITACRE, a farmer of Madison township, and has seven children, Pearl, Mabel, Earl, Dwight, Charles, Paul and Esther WHITACRE. Emma ARMSTRONG has been twice married. Her first husband, Henry LOWERY, died leaving one child, a son, Cecil LOWERY. By her marriage to John WHITACRE she has one child, Marion WHITACRE. Charles ARMSTRONG, who is now living in the vicinity of Rapid City, Mich., married Margaret EMMONS and has one child, a son, Charles Alva. The ARMSTRONG home place is on rural route No. 3 out of Ft. Recovery, Ohio, ( Mercer County) and has ever been noted for its genial hospitality. SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp.264‑265. Transcribed by Eloine Chesnut