Brig. General John Armstrong, Sr. (Continental Army) - Parents of General John Armstrong, Sr.

I agree. Likewise, there is no proof given for his wife, Rebecca LYON, being the daughter of Archibald Armstrong.

Furthermore, his 'brother' of the of the same name (and dates, apparently), but different wives -- is another MP.

John ‘Jack’ Armstrong

I'm very interested in the Armstrong genealogy, but everywhere I look I just keep finding serious problems. Mostly caused by lack of reliable sources.

Cumberland Historical society has a genealogical biography for their General here: https://gardnerlibrary.org/journal/family-john-armstrong-sr-1717-17...

Also the DAR has his wife as Rebecca "Lyon".

I found the Wikipedia sources given in their bio for him completely disappointing, in this case. Some of their articles are very well sourced, but not this one. I guess naturally it all depends on the author.

Likewise with Findagrave. It's hit or miss and when it hits that's wonderful. But again here, they seem to have gotten it wrong. Archibald Armstrong lived in Delaware, not PA. Not saying it is impossible for a Delaware young lady to marry a PA Revolutionary general, but proof is lacking on these profiles.

I am currently researching the Armstrongs, so maybe I will stumble upon some substantive facts. It's difficult though, because I find so many flaws in the lineage here.

https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclop...

Stating that his wife was Rebecca Lyon.

"Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-899B-JCB3?cc=1999196&a... : 3 July 2014), Cumberland > Wills 1779-1803 vol D-F > image 395 of 542; county courthouses, Pennsylvania.

ARMSTRONG, JOHN (Carlisle township, Cumberland Co., PA.)
-- February 1795. [proved] July 25, 1797.
Wife Rebeccah. [he left her a very generous estate]
Sons James and John.
Rebeccah Turner of Chester Co. [not his wife, she inherited just 50 pounds sterling].
Bro. Andrew of the Kingdom of Ireland.
Plantation in Middleton Twp.
Exs: Wife Rebeccah and sons James and John Armstrong.
Wit: George Patterson, David Lindsay, Willm. Lyon. [Will book for Cumberland Co. PA: Book F. pps 76-77.

http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/wills/willbkf.txt

THE ARMSTRONG PURCHASE. Gen. Armstrong purchased from the proprietors of the then Province of Pennsylvania 556} acres with the usual allowances. The tract was surveyed to him by virtue of a proprietary letter to the secretary, dated May 29, 1771, on November 5, 1794. The patent for that tract bears date March 22, 1775.

https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QadKlNToc...

MAJ. GEN. JOHN ARMSTRONG, the hero of Kittanning, was one of Washington's bravest and most successful generals. He was born in 1725 in the North of Ireland, and some time between 1745 and 1748 became a settler in the Kittanning valley, west of the Susquehanna river, in a region which was then the frontier of Pennsylvania. He was well educated and found plenty to do at his profession of surveying in the new country. In 1750 he and a Mr. LYON laid out Carlisle [township, in Cumberland Co.]...

[In his will he specifically mentioned his "friend", William Lyon, also a witness to the will.]

https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QafGTXG1J...

He was promoted to Major General, as reflected on the DAR site and other sources. I corrected his display name.

He was major general of the PA militia (1778). Brig. general in the Continental Army. Not sure if that matters, since they were all in the same war.

He was major general of the PA militia (1778). Brig. general in the Continental Army [1776]. Not sure if that matters, since they were all in the same war (I think, ?).

I reverted it back to the original display name.

https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2012/115/6664788_133541822305.jpg

For what it's worth, his official tombstone lists his father as "James Armstrong" and his wife as "Rebecca LYON". The stone if very biographically detailed.

The engraving on the stone does not correlate with the claim that she was the daughter of some Archibald Armstrong from Delaware.

LYON OF JUNIATA.

I. JOHN Lyon,' son of William Lyon,*

*REBECCA LYON, sister of John and James Lyon, also came to Pennsylvania. She married Colonel [General] John Armstrong.

https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qadz9U6Se...

If she was the sister of John and James Lyon, sons of William Lyon -- then William Lyon must have been her father.

William Lyon, remember, was also the General's "friend" mentioned in his will. He stated in the will that he was confident that William Lyon would help the executors (Rebecca and their sons) carry out his wishes.

John Lyon (brother of Rebecca Lyon, John Armstrong's wife) -- m., in Ireland, MARGARET ARMSTRONG, sister of Colonel John Armstrong...

(So here it is established that the two families did intermarry, even before migrating from Ireland to the US.)

https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qadz9U6Se...

How in the world did Rebecca become separated from her family? This is her brother:

John Lyon, I

https://www.geni.com/search/matches?id=323753347310002738&src=p...

A couple of pending merges for James ‘of Paxtang’ Armstrong, Il

WILLIAM Lyon,” (John,') preceded his father and family to the Province, having arrived about 1750, and attained the position of assistant surveyor to his uncle, John Armstrong, deputy surveyor and justice of the peace of Cumberland county, a well educated man, who had arrived from Ireland in 1748. Together, they laid out the town of Carlisle, by order of the Proprietaries, in 1751, and the seat of justice was then permanently established there.

So clearly it states that the William Lyon who helped General John Armstrong with the historically famous Armstrong Land Purchase -- was his and and his wife, Rebecca Lyon's, nephew. This William Lyon was her father's grandson, of course.

William Lyon, b. March 17, 1729, in Ireland; d. in Carlisle, Pa., February 7, 1809; m., first, in 1756, ALICE ARMSTRONG, daughter of his uncle, Colonel John Armstrong, of Carlisle, Pa. They had issue:

THEY WERE FIRST COUSINS. As corroborated by the Geni relationship calculator.

Alice Lyon is Lt. William Lyon's first cousin!
Lt. William Lyon
→ Margaret Lyon
his mother → Brig. General John Armstrong, Sr. (Continental Army)
her brother → Alice Lyon
his daughter

Lieutenant William Lyon

Alice Lyon

Holy cow, General John Armstrong's sister was his mother. And the General's daughter was his first wife. The General's wife was his aunt. And he was employed by the General, as well. :D I call that a tight-knit family.

Archibald Armstrong B: 1698 County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland - D: 09 Apr 1785 Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware, USA Wife: Ann Lyon B: 1698 - D: 1790 Newark, New Castle County, Delaware. Children: Rebecca Lyon Armstrong B: 02 May 1719 Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Ulster, Ireland – D: 18 Nov 1797 Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, USA Rebecca Lyon Armstrong married Nov 1747 John Armstrong Sr. (My 7th Great Uncle) B: 13 Oct 1717 Brookeborough, Fermanagh, Ireland – D: 09 Mar 1795 Carlisle, Pennsylvania, USA. John Armstrong was brother to my 7th great grandfather, James Armstrong. Rebecca’s married name would thus be: Rebecca Lyon (Armstrong) Armstrong.

I have been deeply involved in genealogy for over twenty years. Not just for building family trees but also accumulating history and stories behind the names. So i have accumulated a wealth of documents to substantiate my discoveries, You might say that I am sort of a historian when it come to my ARMSTRONG family line which has been traced and confirmed by DNA going all the way back to Emperor Charlemagne the Great. i have 6 lines going there. I do not incorporate all my genealogy and records on sites like this that I have to pay to do their work for them for which they profit by doing very little, Many times I have had to got to my tree at this site to change back my information that somebody else change with incorrect information. I have had to do this as well on Family Search. But every now and then I will make appearance to make corrections on mistakes that are being discussed without being resolved as is with Rebecca Lyon subject needing corrections.
RESOURCE:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39488764/rebecca-armstrong

I think most serious genealogists and family historians share your frustrations. Collaborating on family trees is one of the most difficult things imaginable. I didn't find a "John Armstrong, Sr. (your 7th Great Uncle)", so if you wouldn't mind linking it here, that would be very helpful. Brig. General John Armstrong is you 6th great uncle.

I too, have done quite a bit of research recently on my Armstrong ancestors. The Lyon and Armstrong families were allied in marriages for a long time, many generations, before and after their immigration to the US. But my sources suggest that there has been some understandable confusion between "Rebecca Lyon Armstrong" of Delaware and Rebecca Armstrong (Lyon), daughter of William Lyon, of Pennsylvania. I've proved with multiple sources that she existed as such, and married the general. I find the Findagrave and Wikipedia information for them quite erroneous.

Some corroboration of the "Col." [General] John Armstrong / Lyon family of Pennsylvania relationships, indicating that an Irish branch of Lyons settled in the same vicinity of Pennsylvania with the General, from the Lyon Family Memorial. It's a bit sketchy (the wife of General Armstrong is not mentioned), but the basic facts provided are corroborative of the other relationships I described earlier (William Lyon's mother Margaret Armstrong and his first wife, Alice Armstrong -- both immediate family of the General. He is also described here as the General's "nephew"). My position is that not only was William the blood nephew of General Armstrong, he was ALSO the blood nephew of Armstrong's wife, Rebecca Lyon. Evidence for that, I provided above already.

https://archive.org/details/lyonmemorial03lyon/page/322/mode/2up

General Armstrong figured very prominently in colonial and revolutionary Pennsylvania history, so his family received attention from early historians who were far better informed and closer to the primary sources than many modern internet genealogists, amateur or otherwise. In the history text, "Some Pennsylvania Women During the War of the Revolution" (1898) by William Henry Egle a physician, author and historian who served as the State Librarian of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 1887 to 1889:

"Rebecca Lyon, daughter of William Lyon, was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Province of Ulster, Ireland, May 2, 1719. She died at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, November 16, 1797. Her father was a large landed proprietor, who gave to his children all the advantages of a superior education and at his death left them a handsome competency. At about the age of twenty, Rebecca Lyon married John Armstrong, and, a few years after, with him and her little family, came to America. They settled in
the Kittatinny Valley, west of the Susquehanna, then the frontier of the Province of Pennsylvania. During the period of the Provincial wars, and subsequently the war
of the Revolution, Mrs. Armstrong, then residing at Carlisle, became one of the most prominent women of the Cumberland Valley. Apart from her husband's distinguished career, which made her more or less well known, it was chiefly owing to her services during the Indian wars in caring for the settlers, who fled to Carlisle from the distant frontiers, that she became noted for her sympathy and great benevolence."

https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qaf6QNGOJ...

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Some_Pennsylvania_Women_During... (p. 11)

You know, I like Geni quite a lot, and I hope that we can collaborate together, listen and communicate respectfully, and gain curators' cooperation in correcting blatant errors that are occasionally to be discovered, especially among the most significantly historical profiles such as this of General Armstrong, a DAR ancestor. It is very frustrating to see MPs (which I believe are restricted profiles, subjected to formal curation and management) with little to nothing in the way of good source references. It appears that very little real research has actually been done, in many cases. It is worth the trouble to really get to know my ancestors for who they really were rather than how they have been (unintentionally) falsely portrayed by disinterested or only semi-interested parties.

I realize sir that, like myself -- you are far more invested in the accuracy of the Armstrong family history than that. It is quite a complicated history, but fascinating nevertheless.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Egle

He has an extensive bibliography, all historical texts on the subject of colonial Pennsylvania.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Lyon-1294

Not surprisingly, Archibald Armstrong has two daughters named Rebecca and it is very likely only one of them is valid.

Rebecca Rankin

Rebecca Lyon Armstrong

I think the evidence overwhelmingly supports Rebecca Rankin as the daughter of Archibald Armstrong.

https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/literary-cultural-heritage-map-pa/...

"Armstrong married Rebecca Lyon and they had two sons, James in 1748 and John Jr. in 1758."

(No historian or genealogist worth their salt would state a woman's "middle" name in place of her maiden name / legal surname.)