John F. Armstrong’s Obituary in the Augusta Chronicle, November 10, 1893, Page 4

July 10, 2018

Below is a transcription of John F. Armstrong’s obituary that was published in the Augusta Chronicle on November 10, 1893. I haven’t been able to find a digital copy of this obit online. For some reason, Genealogybank is currently missing editions of the  Augusta Chronicle between the dates of March 31, 1891 to October 1, 1897.

As a well-known leader in the Irish home rule movement in the United States in the 1880s, JF’s death was announced in newspapers throughout the country. Most of them used a portion of the Augusta Chronicle’s obituary and cited JF’s work on behalf of Irish home rule.

The transcription of JF’s obituary in the Augusta Chronicle has been shared in my family for several decades. I have no idea which relative to credit for it, but the content matches that of a photocopy of the original obituary, which was shared by my great aunt Frances “Frankie” Armstrong Casey (1893-1988).

According to Aunt Frankie, JF’s obituary was written by her father, William “Dick” C. Casey (1867-1896). The managing editor of the Augusta Herald, Dick was married to Mary “May” Ellen Armstrong Casey Morrison (1870-1950), JF and Sarah McAndrew Armstrong‘s oldest child.

Some of the information in this obituary is similar to the oral stories passed down by JF’s descendants. One mistake, however, was that that he was prominent in the Irish National Land League of America. Although he was a member of the Land League, JF was nationally and internationally known for his work in the Irish National League of America (INLA). He was a founding member of the INLA in 1883, when, at the request of Charles Stewart Parnell, it was founded to replace the Land League.

The Chronicle‘s obituary backs up family stories about JF’s incarceration in Britain in 1892 and/or 1893. His daughter May told her children and grandchildren that British agents came to the family home in Augusta, Georgia. They told her that JF was a subject of the British crown and, as such, all of his assets were to be seized. Once she provided them with his US naturalization papers, so the family story goes, he was released and allowed to come home. This story lines up with the information in his obit.

There are several pieces of information in JF’s obituary that I had never heard before. I didn’t know his birth month, which was given as September, or that he had been educated at home. Nor did I know that his first job in Augusta was with the grocers O’Dowd & Mulherin.

I also learned some details about JF’s illness. Although he had been sick for several years, his health deteriorated quickly after he returned to Augusta “…with his whole mental powers wasting until he seemed again to become a child.”

I am not sure if JF’s children fully understood the extent of his involvement in the affairs of the Irish National League of America and the militant Clan na Gael (CNG). A faction of the CNG funded a series of dynamite bombings in Britain in the early 1880s. By the late 1880s both organizations were breaking apart due to allegations of gross financial mismanagement, the neglect of the families of the dynamitards killed or imprisoned in Britain, and the murder of Dr. P.H. Cronin in Chicago in 1889.

Keeping that in mind, though, it is interesting that JF’s dedication to Irish nationalism was cited as the root cause of his illness and death. Perhaps his children did understand the depth of his involvement in the INLA and the CNG. Either way, his obituary clearly conveyed that he was admired and respected by his family and friends as a business man, community leader, and for his work on behalf of Irish freedom.

For more information and a list of sources, see John Francis Armstrong (1845-1893): A Short Biography.