Biography

Edward “from the Border” Armstrong was born in Gilnockie, Dumfriesshire, Scotland.[1] His parents were William ‘Christie’s Will’ Armstrong and Margaret Elliot.

He married Margaret ‘Mary’ Maguire, daughter of Thomas Maguire. Together they had the following children:

1. John Armstrong (?29 Jun 1622 - 1701),
2. James Armstrong (abt 1645 - 1 May 1745), ??
3. Francis Armstrong (1648 - 1726),

He died after 1650 in Ederney, Terwinney, County Fermanagh, Ireland.

Notes

• ‘Edward from the Border’ settled in North Ireland at a place called Brooksboro.
• Ancestor of Armstrongs of Terwinney Co., Ireland
• Edward moved from Brooksboro, Fermanaugh Ireland to Ederney Ireland about 1650, and took possession of an estate called Terwinney, Fermanaugh Co.,Ireland.
• (John Taylor-Hi storian) Source-Armstrong House of Langholm Item 6. Source-Chart of the Ten Lords of Mangerton Castle Compiled by W.L.A.(Az.)

Comments

• Birth: 1604 • Gilnockie Tower, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland. Gilnockie is not a town, closest towns are Canonbie, Rowanburn and Evertown in Dumfries & Galloway County, Scotland.

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Origins

Chronicles of the Armstrongs’ edited by James Lewis Armstrong (online at https://archive.org/details/chroniclesofarms00arms/page/n7/mode/2up)

“Pedigree VI: Descendants of William Armstrong, younger son of Christopher Armstrong”. (p. 321) It looks like as if these pedigrees are to be found in the Gamble MSS, which should now be in the National Library of Ireland, but I have not identified them. From (p. 328) < Archive.Org >

About 1650 Edward from the Border, son of Christie's Will, went from Brookboro, Fermanagh, to a place near Ederney in the same county, and took pos- session of an estate then called Terre Whinny, which had been granted either to him or his father for mili- tary service. He did not remain there long. Afterwards his grandson Edward, son of James of Brookboro, set- tled there and built a large house, with byres, walls, dykes, and even a moat. He "married a dark-eyed lass of great beauty and with a wealth of rich black hair. She was called a princess at that time, being a daughter of the great house of Maguire, which down to the close of the reign of Elizabeth bore rule in Fermanagh. Un- til this time the Armstrongs carried the blue eyes and fair hair of the Norse race, and they were called such names as Fair Johnie or Fair Billie, but after this we had Black Armstrongs and White Armstrongs." Ter- winney, which means The Land of the Cow, is in a beau- tiful valley surrounded by ten hills, not far from Lough Earne. When Edward of Terwinney, son of James of Brookboro, died, the estate was leased for a few years to a family by the name of Graydon, Edward's son. Gentle James, not being of age. Edward was killed in the wars of Pennsylvania (see 1744). Gentle James was buried at Templemaghey, not far from Terwinney. He and several of his descendants lie there.

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Family

“The Family of John Armstrong, Sr. (1717-1795) of Carlisle, Pennsylvania” Journal Issue: 1991 Winter, Volume 8, Issue 2 Author: Bell, Raymond Martin.

Pennsylvania

AIthough the record of John Armstrong, Senior, is fairly complete,1 and biographies of his sons James and John are available because, like their father, they both served as Congressman,2 that of his wife and her family, his father, brothers and sisters are sketchy. This paper undertakes an examination of the family with emphasis on those members.

According to his tombstone in the Old Carlisle Cemetery, John was born in 1717 at Brookeborough, County Fermanagh, in the Ulster portion of Ireland. His father was James Armstrong; his mother's name is not known. In 1895 one James Lewis Armstrong copied a gravestone inscription in Aghavea Parish Cemetery, one mile from Brookeborough:

“Here lies the body of James Armstrong, son to Edward, also son to Margaret, who died Sunday, May 1745, aged 50 years.3“

References

• Chronicles of the Armstrongs; Author. Armstrong, James Lewis. Page 375. Archive.Org Page 319 Archive.Org

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Lineage

Col. William 'Christie's Will' Armstrong and Margret Mary Maguire - 10th
Edward Terwinney Armstrong and Margret Mary Maguire - 9th
James Armstrong I and Jane Ross Beatye - 8th

References

1. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Armstrong-705
2. Armstrong of Ballycumber" Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, Volume 1, pp. 23 ff. A PDF copy may be downloaded from Google Books at this link: link
3. https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L266-9LN/capt.-edward-terwinn..., accessed 19 Apr 2021
4. < AncestryTree >