The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: VA
Qualifying Service: Private / Patriotic Service
Birth: 1759 / Essex / VA Death: 16 Nov 1841 / Johnson / IN
Qualifying Service Description:
In 1777 or 1779, he served as a Private in the company of Captain Obediah "Opie" Davenport, commanded by Colonel Charles Porterfield. He served three years and was taken prisoner by the British in 1781, but he was later exchanged
Enlisted from Essex County, Virginia
Same man as SAR Patriot P-104426, with a different place of death
Work is needed to understand better Ambrose Armstrong, born about 1760 (age 72 in 1832 pension application), and served from Essex County, Virginia.
He filed a pension application from Fayette County, Kentucky, in 1832. His name appears on the US Pension Roll of 1835 as living in Fayette County. Following him after this date is difficult.
The DAR Ancestor file indicates he died in Johnson County, Indiana, in 1841. Other people have asserted he died in Fayette County, Kentucky in 1841. There are no probate records in either state for an Ambrose Armstrong in 1841.
There is a family bible with the following entry: “Ambrose Armstrong the son of Ammbrose [sic] Armstrong & Mary his wife, was born April the 13th 1760.” [Armstrong family Bible at the Virginia State Archives, Acc. 27094]. The date matches his age in the aforementioned pension application.
We also find that Ambrose Armstrong was an heir in the 28 February 1768 Last Will and Testament of his father Ambrose Armstrong. He was to receive a year of schooling and a share of the estate. [Essex County, Virginia, Will Book 12, pages 321–322.]
1816, 1819: Ambrose Armstrong Senior, William Armstrong, and Ambrose Armstrong Junior all appear in the 1819 tax list for Fayette County, Kentucky.
1821: Tax list for Fayette County, Kentucky, lists William, John, Ambrose Sr., and Ambrose Armstrong Jr. This is the first appearance of John, directly under William.
1825: Still in Essex County, we find a document dated 17 December 1825, whereby a man named Ambrose Armstrong witnessed the Last Will and Testament of Thomas Crow. In Essex County. [Essex County, Virginia, Will Book 20, pages 293–294.]
1827: On 19 December 1827, Ambrose Armstrong of Fayette County, Kentucky, purchased land from Richard Garnett of Fayette County. He is referred to in 1827 as Ambrose Armstrong Sr. or Sen.
1830: The Fayette County 1830 census lists John, Ambrose, Will., and Ambrose Jr. Armstrong.
Buried: Ambrose Armstrong died in 1835 and was born in 1761, with burial specifics unknown. This comes to us via Find-a-Grave memorial 184105060. The individual who created this memorial states “Revolutionary War Soldier” with burial in Fayette County, Kentucky. No proof to support this.
1840: Johnson County, Indiana Census lists an Ambrose Armstrong as head of household. The eldest Free White Males was in the age bracket of 50 thru 59, meaning he is not the Pensioner.
1841: William Armstrong of Fayette County, Kentucky, gives permission for his son, Ambrose Armstrong, to marry Mrs. Mary Ann Neal.
Buried: Ambrose Armstrong died on 16 November 1841 and is supposedly buried at Armstrong Cemetery in Amity, Johnson County, Indiana. Find-a-Grave memorial 39421524 lists his year of birth as 1759. He has no information regarding the presence of a stone or other proof of burial, other than a screenshot from what appears to be a rather modern book with the following listing:
“ARMSTRONG, Ambose W.
Armstrong was born in Virginia in 1759. He enlisted in the Army in Essex county, Va., and served nearly three years. After the war, he lived in Johnson county with his wife, Elizabeth and four children, where he was pensioned. He died on Nov. 16, 1841, and is reportedly buried in 'Armstrong' cemetery on the old Cutsinger farm south of Franklin.”
This listing is very problematic. It states he was pensioned in Johnson County, yet the only pension application for Ambrose Armstrong of Essex County, Virginia, was made from Fayette County, Kentucky, in 1832, where he was still living in 1835 in the Pension Roll report. Additionally, there was no record that he transferred his pension out of Kentucky to Indiana. This is complicated by the Last Will and Testament of Ambrose, mentioning wife Elizabeth, in Johnson County, which was signed in 1856, a long time after 1841. The only Ambrose in the 1850 census was born in about 1780, so if it's the same guy as the man who made the Will in 1856, then it's not the Patriot of the War.
1842: Ambrose Armstrong on 23 March 1842, and his wife, Mary A., of Fayette County, Kentucky, sold land “conveyed to said Ambrose Armstrong by his father William Armstrong…”
Burial: Ambrose Armstrong died 6 Sep 1858 and buried at Freeman Cemetery, Edinburgh, Johnson County, Indiana. The age of this individual is below the surface of the ground, so the date of birth listed in Find-a Grave memorial 29346521 is 1759. This is the Ambrose whose will was mentioned above and listing a wife named Elizabeth.
Conclusion. No contemporary records were found to prove the Patriot was in Johnson County, Indiana, nor any proof he died in Fayette County, Kentucky. Nor do we have proof that the Armstrong family in Johnson County, Indiana, came from Fayette County, Kentucky.
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