Carroll County IAGenWeb

HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY IOWA

A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement

VOLUME II ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1912

Transcribed by Sharon Elijah July 15, 2020

Mr. & Mrs. T. J. Armstrong

A valuable property of Warren township is the homestead of T. J. Armstrong, which is one of the best cultivated farms of the district. Mr. Armstrong was born on a farm in County Fermanagh, Ireland, on the 18th of March, 1846, being the son of Robert and Mary (Irwin) Armstrong. The parents spent their entire lives in the Emerald isle, where the father engaged in agricultural pursuits, the mother having passed away in 1852, on the old homestead. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong numbered nine, the order of their birth being as follows: William, who is a farmer of Ireland; Robert, an agriculturist of Kansas; and James and John, both of whom are deceased; Letitia, now Mrs. Irwin, who lives in Ireland; Matilda, who is deceased; T. J., our subject; George, who is deceased; and Fannie, who lives in the old country.

T. J. Armstrong spent his first twenty years of his life on the farm where he was born, acquiring his education in the common schools of the vicinity. Finishing his studies he gave his entire attention to the cultivation of the homestead until 1866, when he decided to enter the business world. In Belfast he obtained a position in a hardware store where he worked for a year. America had long been his dream, so he carefully saved as much as possible of his meager wages, in order to secure money for his passage to the United States, where he felt assured better opportunities awaited him. In 1867 he crossed the Atlantic, traveling inland until he reached Rock Island, Illinois, which was his destination. For three years thereafter he worked as a farm hand by the month, during which time by means of constant application and rigid economy he acquired sufficient capital to justify his marrying and starting to farm for himself. For the following thirteen years he cultivated rented land, meeting with such success that in 1882 he was able to purchase eighty acres of land in Shelby county, Iowa. He engaged in the cultivation of this farm for thirteen years, at the expiration of which period he disposed of it and removed to Carroll county. In 1895 Mr. Armstrong settled upon his present homestead containing one hundred and sixty acres of land in Warren township. He has ever since continuously resided upon this property, which is located on section 15, and there engages in general farming. His land is all in a high state of cultivation with the exception of two acres which contain a fine orchard. He takes great pride in the appearance of his place, keeping the fences and buildings in good repair and giving the grounds careful attention, thus making his one of the attractive homesteads of Warren township.

On the 5th of April, 1871, Mr. Armstrong was united in marriage to Miss Matilda Holdsworth, who was born near Toronto, Canada, and is a daughter of John and Margaret Holdsworth. The parents were born and reared in Ireland from which country they emigrated, soon after their marriage, to America, locating near Toronto in the early ‘50s. Mr. Holdsworth worked in the lumber camps there for eight or nine years, when he removed to Illinois, locating on a farm in Mercer county, where they resided until 1885. They came to Iowa in the latter year, purchasing a farm in Crawford county, where they spent the remainder of their days, the mother passing away in 1901 and the father about four years later. To them were born eight children: Matilda, now Mrs. Armstrong; Martha, who married Joseph Walters, of Rock Island, Illinois; Letitia, the wife of William Dixon, of Virginia; Sarah, who is now Mrs. Geisinger, a resident of Pennsylvania; Samuel, who passed away at the age of nine years; William, who was forty-seven years old at the time of his demise; Isabella, now Mrs. Stumm, a resident of Minnesota; and George, who is living in Manilla, Iowa. The wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong was solemnized at Rock Island, Illinois, while he was residing at Preemption, Illinois, where he lived for thirteen years prior to locating in Iowa.

Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong, the order of birth being as follows: Robert John, who is at home; Margaret, the wife of Harry Porter, of Manning, Iowa, who has one son, Clarence; Hayes, who is also a resident of Manning; Laurence, who is living with his parents on the farm; William, a farmer of Warren township, who married Sadie Stewart; Edward, Losina and Eva, all of whom are at home.

Having been born and reared in the north of Ireland, naturally Mr. Armstrong is a Protestant and an Orangeman, of which fact he is very proud, holding membership in Lodge No. 132, at Preemption, Illinois. The family are all conformists and affiliate with the Episcopal church, while politically he is a republican. He has always taken an active and helpful interest in political affairs, and has often served his party as delegate in township, county and state conventions, while for two years he was a member of the school board in Shelby county. Mr. Armstrong is one of the progressive and highly estimable citizens of the township, as well as one of the prosperous agriculturists, whose success is the justly merited reward of intelligently directed effort.

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