Page 46 - Armstrong Bloodline - ebook_Neat

In 1848 he moved again, this time joining the ever-
increasing number of pioneers moving westward.
He, his wife, and his children took the old Erie canal
to Buffalo and proceeded by way of the lakes to
Detroit and then by railroad to Parma, Michigan,
eighty-six miles from Detroit. This trip by rail
consumed an entire day.

A story about their trip has been handed down
through the descendants of Rolla Silas Armstrong.
The family is said to have traveled by boat until they
came to one of the locks where they were required
to disembark and travel for a distance down a trail
by foot. Apparently they were on the Canadian side Eastbound Erie Canal at Lockport, New York in 1839
of the canal, and while they followed the trail they saw a number of
Indians coming in their direction. They quickly hid in the brush, and
Grandmother Sarah had to pinch the baby's nose (probably Olive
Melissa who was less than 2 years old at the time) to stop her from
crying until the Indians finally passed out of sight. The migration of our
frontier doctor and his family must have been a daunting and exciting
9, CR-10
adventure. According to one Armstrong descendent , at least
three pieces of the furniture that made that trip – a rocking chair, a
dresser/buffet, and a pair of brass candle sticks are still in the
Antique chest from Vermont
passed down from David W. possession of members of her family.
Armstrong, through Howard
Armstrong and in the possession of Initially David and his family settled on his father Elliot's farm, about
Judy Walgren as of 2010. four miles north of Parma, MI. During the winter of 1849 he moved
to Parma where he succeeded to a physician's practice, and in the summer of 1850, moved his family and log
cabin to the plot of land he purchased there in 1849. 158 According to a historical brief on Parma Township, 116 –
92
pages 87 -89 & 159
he was only the second or possibly the third physician to serve Parma and the surrounding area.

Although no written word has survived to describe his life as a frontier
doctor, David Armstrong's medical account book has been preserved. 160 &
161
Covering a 13-year span of his medical practice in Parma, it paints an
intriguing picture of a country doctor who dedicated himself to the medical
needs of his community and the surrounding countryside. This was an era
during which the practice of medicine bore little resemblance to what it is
today. In those days the concept of making a reservation to see the doctor
and long waiting lines in antiseptic waiting rooms filled with magazines and
children's toys would have seems odd indeed. Although grandfather David
had an office in Parma, he carried much of his office with him in his medical
bag. A great deal of his time was spent traveling in his horse and buggy at
all hours of the night and day, treating the ills and injuries of his far-flung
clientele. With a particularly ill patient, he sometimes stayed away from his
Antique “Lady Lincoln” style family
own home for two or more days at a time. He attended to the births of the rocking chair brought from
townspeople's children and the deaths of their loved ones, normally Vermont to Michigan by David W.
charging between $.25 and $2.00 per visit, or accepting chickens, Armstrong and family. Passed
vegetables and/or other fare as full or partial payment. down through Howard Armstrong
to Cherie Holodnick as of 2010.

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