Page 47 - Armstrong Bloodline - ebook_Neat
P. 47
162
His account book also provides one of the few remaining records of the names of the residents of that era. On
several occasions he treated other members of his family who resided in or passed through the area such as:
His older brothers, Chester and Ransom Armstrong 127a
His younger brother, Elliot Orlando Armstrong
His brother's children - Solon, George and Charlie
Also listed is Trumbull Goold who first married David’s daughter Ellen and later another daughter Olive,
Trumbull’s father Elihu and several other Goold family members. Also listed are several other surnames such as
Derby, Griswold and Wright – all names that we have seen mentioned before in connection with our Armstrong
bloodline.
Although a professional business record, there are occasions where we are permitted a glimpse of an event of
personal significance in David's life. For example, on Sunday, 1 February 1853, he writes Sarah Ann attended
163
prayers locally in the family for the first time may her God keep her in his work for life. More than three years
later while attending his dying wife in Nov. 1856, he takes a few moments to write in a hand that is barely
164
decipherable – A dreadful blow. ____ the last date the loss of wife's health. Spirits low. Everything seems lost.
During the final three years of his journal, it is clear that he was beginning the process of putting his affairs in
order and gradually bringing his medical practice to closure. In the fall/winter of 1863, he writes that he has
sent his account of money to his son Rolla. Most of the remaining entries document the sale or purchase of
food stuffs such as sugar, flour and potatoes. On 18 June 1864, he documents the sale of his mare to a member
of the Griswold family. But he also documents more family-related events. For example, on 21 December 1864,
165
he writes that his daughter Olive departed the area but makes no mention of where she may have gone. One
family researcher 9, C-15 believes she went to live with her sister Ellen and her husband, Trumbull Goold in
Galesburg, IL, and that she met Sidney Heath while living with them when he returned from active duty after his
Civil War discharge in 1865. The following year, he mentions that his oldest daughter, Sarah, departed on 17
165
August 1865 (this was seven months after her husband, George M. Lewis, died from injuries sustained in the
Civil War). She later lived in Chelsea, MI with her younger brother, Rolla, but it is not known exactly when this
happened - perhaps after his graduation from medical school in 1868?
On June 5, 1859, he married a woman by the name of Marietta Brown. It is believed that Marietta was a widow
and may have been the daughter or relative of Dr. Brown, the first doctor to practice medicine in Parma.
While all weddings are of interest (at least to family members and friends), this ceremony was of particular
interest because it was a double wedding and the grooms were related. Also married on June 5, 1859, at the
Presbyterian Church in Parma, was Dr. Charles Truman Armstrong, David's 28-year old nephew, (his brother
Chester's youngest son) and his fiancée Lucy LeSeur. Officiating at the ceremony was another nephew, the
166
Reverend Charles Solon Armstrong (his brother Chester's oldest son).
David and Marietta had one daughter who died at only three months of age. Although somewhat unusual, this
167
baby girl was not buried in a separate grave, but in the same grave as David's first wife, Sarah Treadway. It is
believed that Marietta died in May 1869 in Parma and two months later, David also passed away – just over a
168
month before his sixty-second birthday. It is interesting to note that David died in Corunna, MI – possibly
169
while on a visit to his eldest son Jerome, daughter-in-law Louisa, and his three granddaughters. David was
buried in the same cemetery as his wives Sarah and Marietta, in Parma, MI.
46