Page 41 - Armstrong Bloodline - ebook_Neat

his family was composed of his wife Mary, age 32, his fifth daughter, Helen, then 18, Airela M. Church (possibly
Mary's daughter, younger sister, or some other relative on her mother’s side?), age 17, Elena, age 5, Cordelia,
age 3, and of course, the baby Ransom Jr.

Missing is the seventh child Emmett, who died in 1839, and the sixth daughter Arlotta, who died in March 1841.
1839 through 1841 must have been a very rough period for Ransom and his family, as his first wife also died in
that timeframe. It is not known exactly when his eighth child, Eliza, died, but she does not appear in the 1850
census, and she may have died as a baby, around the time of her mother's death. Young Ransom, as the only
Armstrong male, must have received plenty of attention from his mother and older sisters.

Ransom probably corresponded with his brothers Chester, David, and Elliot Orlando who had moved west to
Michigan, and like his father Elliott, must have been intrigued by the possibilities offered by settlement in this
developing new territory. Although Ransom was by then in his 50s, he decided to follow his brothers to this
spacious land of opportunity. It is unknown exactly when he left Vermont and settled in Michigan, but an R. S.
Armstrong is mentioned twice in his younger brother David’s medical account book; first on Dec. 15, 1855 when
he attended to his wife, and again on Jan.13, 1856 when he visits “Airela.”

By 1860 he was already well established several miles to the west of where his brothers settled, in Antwerp
Village Township, Van Buren County, Michigan. Apparently he prospered in Michigan, purchasing a hotel in the
vicinity. In the 1860 Census, the value of his real estate had grown to $10,000, and his personal property is
valued at $1,450. Only his wife and three youngest children - Elena, age 15, Cordelia B., age 13, and Ransom S.
Jr., age 10 remained at home. The Census also indicates that each of the three children had attended school
within the past year. Helen M. and Airela, are no longer members of his household and Helen, who married in
1845, may have remained in Vermont. In the 1869 Census, 12 people are shown to be in residence at his hotel.
They are also described as being employed in a variety of occupations such as clerks, a cook, a merchant, a
teamster, laborers, and two barbers. Perhaps one or more of them were employed by Ransom at his hotel.

While the name was correct, the family relationship of Ransom Armstrong appears to be one element of
Armstrong folklore that my father had a bit garbled. Although my great-grandfather Alva did appear to have a
special relationship with his Uncle Ransom, as we shall see later, he did not have a brother named Ransom as
my father had remembered. It also appears that Ransom Sr. was a pretty established family man and not a likely
candidate to be hung as a horse thief. In fact, he met his maker in Lawton, MI by a more conventional illness in
1863. Could his son Ransom Jr. have been the ill-fated horse thief that was hung in the Northwest Territory?
While this story of the hanging of a family horse thief was handed down through my grandfather Frank, it is
interesting to note that this same story was also related by Frank’s older brother Rolla to his branch of the
family.

References of interest for Ransom:
121
Ransom S. Armstrong, A Genealogical Register of the Early Families of Shoreham, Vermont, pages 279 – 280
122
Ransom Armstrong and family info with references from Virginia Armstrong
123
Ransom S. Armstrong and Family, Church of the Latter Day Saints, LDS Archive Record #1
124
Ransom S. Armstrong and Family, Church of the Latter Day Saints, LDS Archive Record #2
125
Demings Civil Officers of Vermont, West Haven, Rutland County
126
R. S. Armstrong – 1840 U.S. Census, Westhaven, Rutland County, Vermont
127
Ransom S. Armstrong – 1850 U.S. Census, Westhaven, Rutland County, Vermont
127a
Dr. D. W. Armstrong Account Book – mentions R. S. Armstrong medical visit and the name “Airela”
128
Ransom S. Armstrong – 1860 U.S. Census, Lawton, Michigan

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