ARMSTRONG, John (Rev.) 1825 - 1879

ARMSTRONG, ROWLAND

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 1/10/2011 at 12:12:20

"The Fairfield Ledger"
August 13, 1879
Page 3, Column 8

Our whole community has met with a severe loss in the death of the Rev. John ARMSTRONG, D.D., which occurred last night. Parsons College, of which he was president, has lost its most faithful friend and counsellor, and the Church of Christ has lost from its work on earth an earnest and scholarly preacher of the Gospel..... The funeral services of the Rev. John ARMSTRONG, D.D., will be held at his late residence in this city tomorrow, Thursday, August 14th, at 3 o'clock p.m. The friends of the family and the college are invited to attend.

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"The Fairfield Ledger"
August 20, 1879
Page 3, Column 7

.... Rev. John ARMSTRONG was born at Oxford, Pa., March 11th, 1825, and was therefore in his 55th year when death cut short his active and useful career.... The sorrowing widow who survives him is the daughter of Samuel ROWLAND, late a prominent business man of Rowlandville, Cecil County, Maryland. She was married to Mr. ARMSTRONG in 1855.... The body will be taken to Pennsylvania for interment.

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"The Fairfield Ledger"
September 3, 1879
Page 3, Column 8

Mrs. ARMSTRONG has consented to the burial of the remains of Rev. John ARMSTRONG, D.D., late president of Parsons College, in the college campus. The Ex. committee of the Board of Trustees will meet this afternoon, and the probability is that Tuesday, Sept, 9th, will be selected as the day for interment.

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"The Fairfield Ledger"
November 10, 1880
Page 3, Column 5

THE ARMSTRONG MONUMENT.

This week we are pleased to note the completion of the ARMSTRONG monument, and its erection over the last resting place of the dead president on the campus of the College. It is a substantial structure of American gray granite, and although of rather plain design, is elegantly finished. The dimensions on the ground are about 5 x 6 feet, and the total height from the ground to the head of the statue, which surmounts the whole, is about 16 feet. The monument faces west, and on the die, -- which is about 2 ft. 3 in. by 2 ft. 9 in., the four surfaces being highly polished, with a raised column at each corner -- is the following inscription, "Rev. John ARMSTRONG, D.D., First President of Parsons College: Born March 11, A.D. 1825, at Oxford, Chester County, Pa., Died August 12, A.D. 1879 at Fairfield, Iowa." And on the second base is the word "ARMSTRONG" in raised letters. Above the die comes the cap, of finish in keeping with the rest of the monument, and on this rests an Italian marble figure of "Grief," with head bowed down and a garland of flowers as a tribute to him who has gone. The monument will weigh nearly twenty tons.... It was erected by Mrs. ARMSTRONG in memory of her husband, and is a fitting tribute to a good and noble man, whose works will live long after time has effaced the inscription on the stone which marks his grave. The erection of this monument is gratifying to our people, who knew John ARMSTRONG for what he was worth, and who appreciate so highly his meritorious and self-sacrificing services in connection with the building up of our young college.

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"The Fairfield Ledger"
October 30, 1895
Page 3, Column 7

THE ARMSTRONG OBSEQUIES.

.... Rev. H. B. Knight of Chicago, Ill., who had been a lifelong friend of Mrs. ARMSTRONG and a co-worker with her husband in the early days of Parsons College, paid a deserved tribute.... Upon the conclusion of services a procession was formed for the march to the grave.... The active pall bearers were selected from the students--Messrs. S.F. Stitt, H.H. Craig, F.S. Magill, V.L. Hague, Donald McElderry and W.L. Pugh. The students marched past the grave when the remains were deposited and each dropped a sprig of evergreen on the coffin.

.... They removed to Iowa in 1860, and from that time to 1874 Dr. ARMSTRONG was pastor of the Presbyterian church of Muscatine. Upon his election to a chair in Parsons College, in the latter year, he removed to this city, where he resided until his death..... Much of Dr. ARMSTRONG's work was done without salary, and he was also a liberal contributor to the funds of the college. Mrs. ARMSTRONG was likewise a zealous friend of the young institution, and contributed to his work in many ways to her legacy of $10,000 for the endowment of the Armstrong professorship....

*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I am not related to the person(s) mentioned.