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| The Armstrong house as it looked about 1960. |
Captain William Armstrong was born in Carlisle, England in 1739
and came to Winthrop (now Readfield) by way of Marblehead, MA. He was married
in Marblehead in 1762 to Hannah Baker.[i]
They had four daughters and one son. The girls were born in Marblehead and the
youngest child William was born in Winthrop in 1775.[ii]
Capt. William Armstrong began serving his new community right
away - first as selectman in 1775 and in 1776 he was appointed to the Committee
of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety. His duty in that capacity was to help
determine what purchases were needed in the way of provisions, ammunition and
other necessary stores to ensure the public safety during the Revolutionary War.
Those committee members were also given authority to raise the monies necessary
on behalf of the town, and constables were directed to give them any money they
had collected for province taxes.[iii]
A weighty responsibility to be sure! Armstrong
was given the status of Revolutionary War veteran for patriotic service –
perhaps for having served on this committee.[iv]
Capt. Armstrong died about 1816. His family established a
burial ground near his homestead at that time and he was the first to be buried
there. Future deeds make mention of that cemetery stating “…100 acres excepting
the burial ground which is preserved for that purpose forever and always to be
kept fenced and to be kept from harm…”
The Armstrong family lived on this acreage for 150 years. William,
Jr.’s son Elias built a home not far from here – near Maranacook Lodge in
Winthrop. There is another Armstrong burial ground near Elias’ house where he
and his four children are buried.[v]
William, Jr. lived on his father’s property as did his son
Lewis and Lewis’ son George. When the original homestead changed hands that
fact was noted in deeds as an evident source of pride. In April 1883 when Lewis
arranged to pass it on to his son George L. the deed read “…the Armstrong farm
on which I now reside and which was first settled by my grandfather Capt.
William Armstrong about 1774 was bequeathed to me by my father William Armstrong
Esq. in 1848.…this deed will take effect upon my death…”[vi]
Lewis Armstrong died three months later.
The Martha Washington Inn sat beside and slightly north of
the Armstrong house. All that remains is the chimney.
George L. Armstrong owned this property until 1924 when he
sold it to Caroline and George Nobis.[vii]
They built the Martha Washington Inn near to and north of the Armstrong house. When
it was sold to Louis and Pauline Prohlman in 1946 the deed read “…also conveyed
all furniture, furnishings, plates and plated articles, linen, glass, china,
household effects, fixtures, boats, canoes, farming equipment, tools, pumping equipment,
office equipment and supplies, and fixtures in connection with the operation of
Martha Washington Inn.
The property was sold as Martha Washington Inn for the last
time in 1967 – to Gerard Poulin by the Prohlmans. The inn ceased to operate
soon after and that building is gone now, but Capt. William Armstrong’s house
remains.
The four generations
of the Armstrong family who were born and lived on their homestead were:
Children of William
and Hannah (Baker) Armstrong:
1)
Hannah b.1763 2)
Elizabeth b.1766 3) Sarah b.1768 4) Mary b.1772 5) William, Esq. b.1775Second Generation:
William Armstrong,
Esq. d.1848 and his wife Hannah (Legrow) d.1843. They are buried in Readfield
Corner Cemetery. Their eleven children were born in Readfield:
1)
Elias b.1797 2)
William III b.1798 3) Cyrus b.1800 4) Alvin b.1802 5) Elizabeth b.1803 6)
Elvira b.1807 7) John b.1808 8) Erastus b.1810 9) Lewis b.1812 10) Sarah b.1814 11) Hannah b.1820
Third
Generation:
Lewis Armstrong married
Sarah Ann Jackson. She died in 1855 and he in 1883. Both are buried in
Armstrong Cemetery in Readfield with his grandfather Capt. William and two of
his siblings - Sarah and John.[viii]
Children of Lewis and Sarah:[ix]
1)
William IV b. 1840 d. 1857 2) George Lewis b.1841
3) Sarah Ann b.1845
Fourth
Generation:
George L. Armstrong
moved to Hallowell as a young man where he married Mary L. Ewers in 1871. Upon
his father’s death he returned to the homestead and lived there until near his
time of death in 1927. George and Mary are buried in the Hallowell Village
Cemetery.[x] Children
of George and Mary were:[xi]
1)
Mary b.1875 2)
Cora b.1876[i] Chapman, Joseph Warren, Vital records of Marblehead, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849 (Salem, Mass., The Essex institute, 1903), https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofma02marb, Page 18
[iii] Stackpole,
Everett; History of Winthrop; pub. Merrill & Webber, Auburn, ME 1925; page
118-119
[iv] Fisher, Carleton and Sue, Soldiers, Sailors and Patriots of the Revolutionary War in Maine
(Louisville, Kentucky, The National Society of the Sons of the American
Revolution, 1982), Personal library of Dale Potter Clark, page 19
[v] Clark, Dale Potter, To Those Who Rest in Peace in Readfield Maine
(www.readfieldmaine.blogspot.,com, self-published, pending)
[vi] Kennebec
County Registry of Deeds Book 344 Page 169 4/23/1883
[vii]
Ibid Book 632 Page 338 8/14/1924
[viii]
Clark, Dale Potter, To
Those Who Rest in Peace in Readfield Maine
(www.readfieldmaine.blogspot.,com, self-published, pending)
[ix]
Clark, Dale Potter; To Those Who Led the Way in Readfield, ME: VR’s 1768-1913;
self pub. 2009; page 2
[xi]
Clark, Dale Potter; To Those Who Led the Way in Readfield, ME: VR’s 1768-1913;
self pub. 2009; page 2
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