Page 7 - Armstrong Bloodline - ebook_Neat

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my great-great-great-great-grandfather Martin Armstrong . Not only was I introduced to Martin and his son
Elliot, but I also verified that David W. Armstrong and Alva David Armstrong were, in fact, my ancestors! Also
included was extensive information concerning other branches of the family. The feeling was one of wonder
and excitement and no less enthralling than reading one of today’s best adventure novels. I was totally
engrossed, and went through each page over and over noting geographical verification of my own research,
discovering information that was completely new to me, and clarifying, verifying or disproving previously
obtained family folklore. For example, I learned for the first time that my great-grandfather Alva was born on
August 4, 1842, in West Haven, VT and died on July 21, 1884, in Shenandoah, Page County, IA. I learned that in
some instances my great-grandmother Mary's last name is shown to be Colton, not Cotton, and that she was
born in Elkhart, Elkhart County, Indiana. I learned that Alva's second wife was named Maria S. Call and that
they were married in Shenandoah, IA on November 8, 1881. In addition, I learned that the oldest daughter was
named Lillian and that a younger daughter named Mary had been born in 1876 (perhaps she had been called
Mamie?). The information submitted, also indicated that she was born in Elkhart, IN that, if true, meant that
they moved from South Dakota back to Indiana sometime between 1874 and 1876 (this, among other things I
later found to be incorrect).

After my initial good fortune with the Armstrong Clan, a number of sources opened to me. I was able to locate
a distant relative, M. Virginia Armstrong, a granddaughter of Jerome B. Armstrong, who was living in
Vancouver, Washington with her nephew. She proved to be an enthusiastic genealogist as well as an
exceptionally painstaking researcher and was able to provide much of the information that is included in this
narrative. She had also developed much of the information that I had been provided by the Armstrong Clan. In
addition, she provided me the name of additional reference sources and I subsequently purchased two
genealogical source books that provided even more information. Two other sources had apparently submitted
data to the Clan – Mrs. William West of La Habra, CA, and Reta I. Phelps of Prineville, OR. I was fortunate
enough to locate Kay West and her daughter, Cathy Owens, but was not successful in locating Ms. Phelps.
Virginia also gave me the name of another distant relative – Mrs. Gloria McKie, who I also corresponded with.
She was a retired school teacher who proved to be the great-granddaughter of Ellen Albana Armstrong, one of
my great-grandfather Alva's older sisters. From her I obtained photographs, copies of family letters, and
additional genealogical information that have been included in this narrative.

In 1996, the year after I first connected to the Internet, I established the Armstrong Genealogy & History
Center (AG&HC) web site. Though the Web, I came in contact with several amazing Armstrongs such as Joe
Armstrong of Gateshead, U.K, the editor of the Clan Armstrong Trust’s Milnholm Cross publication, who also
contributed an ongoing series of entertaining articles to the AG&HC. He and his Belgian fiancé also favored my
wife and me with an enjoyable visit at our home in Merritt Island, FL. I gave them both a tour of the Kennedy
Space Center where I worked, and he created considerable interest among the others visitors, dressed in full
Scottish regalia and tartan. The witty, ex Navy Chief John D. Armstrong of Alaska also contributed significantly
to the web site, and opened the door to a long-term genealogy relationship with Bill Armstrong of the
Armstrong Clan Association, the Clan Armstong Trust of Scotland, and Armstrongs residing from Australia to
Jamaica, and everywhere in between. Even more importantly, I soon came in contact with a fellow genealogy
researcher who also proved to be a distant cousin named (Nancy) Kaye Powell, with whom I continued to
correspond regularly over the years. She was followed by several others cousins - Bill Spencer, Judy Walgren,
Glenda Kleppin, and Nancy Thaut.

I began this rewrite in 2000 and nearly a decade passed before I worked on it again or regularly corresponded
with my genealogy-researching cousins. During the summer of 2009, my sons and daughters finally convinced
me to create a Facebook page, and I soon reestablished contacts with Kaye, Judy, Glenda, and Nancy. Perhaps,
this is what finally pulled me back to the formidable task of organizing my reference materials and completing

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