The Missing Cross: Photos of the Grave of John F. Armstrong & Sarah McAndrew Armstrong
April 24, 2017
Image courtesy of Keith Watson, 2017
Image taken in 2007 by Michelle Woodham, Courtesy of Findagrave.com
John F. Armstrong died at the Georgia State Lunatic Asylum on November 9th, 1893 after a long debilitating illness. His body was brought by train to Augusta the next day and, after a funeral mass at Sacred Heart Church, he was buried at Magnolia Cemetery.
JF was buried in the Michael Battle plot in the same grave as his wife, Sarah McAndrew Armstrong, who had died in January of 1887. It is possible that their infant son, Luke Parnell Armstrong, was also buried in the same grave.
The Headstone’s Deterioration and the Missing Cross
JF and Sarah’s gravestone originally depicted a cairn – a pile of stones – with a cross on top. Cairns were traditional burial markers in ancient Ireland. One of the largest and most famous is atop Knocknarea in County Sligo, not far from where JF grew up.
About five or six years ago, one of JF and Sarah’s descendants visited their grave and saw that the cross was gone. It has never been found.
Recent photos of the grave also show that the material – cement? – the grave stone is made from is deteriorating, which makes it difficult to read the inscription. Fortunately, photos taken in 2007 and posted on Findagrave.com are readable. The inscription reads:
Jno. F. Armstrong
Died November 9, 1893
Aged 48 years
ALSO
His Wife
Sarah T.
Died January 20, 1887
Aged 40 years
Image courtesy of Keith Watson, 2015
Luke, Frank, and Joe Armstrong and Dick Casey
Baby Luke died in 1883 at three months of age. Although cemetery records list him as being buried in the Battle plot, there is no known headstone for him and he is not mentioned on JF and Sarah’s gravestone.
Two other children of Sarah and JF are buried in the Battle Plot: Francis “Frank” Bernard Armstrong (1872-1884) and Thomas Joseph “Joe” Armstrong (1880-1938). Their daughter May’s first husband, William “Dick” Celestin Casey (1867-1896), is also buried in the Battle plot.
Image courtesy of Keith Armstrong, 2017
Image courtesy of Keith Armstrong, 2017
Image courtesy of Keith Armstrong, 2017
Michael Battle (1790-1869)
JF, Sarah, their children Frank, Luke, and Joe, and their son-in-law Dick Casey are buried in the Michael Battle plot in Magnolia Cemetery. But what’s the connection to the Battles?
Michael Battle married JF’s paternal aunt, Catherine “Kate” Armstrong Battle, in County Sligo, Ireland around 1823. They had three children that we know of: Thomas Battle (1824-1886), Ellen T. Battle (1837-1922), and Richard Battle (1852-1926). Although it’s not known when the family left Ireland, Magnolia Cemetery records indicate that at the time of Michael’s death in 1869, he had lived in Augusta for four years.
Michael, Kate, and their daughter Ellen are all buried in the Michael Battle plot at Magnolia Cemetery in Augusta.
Sources
Burial information for Catherine Armstrong Battle. Accessed in April 2017 at Findagrave.com at Ancestry.com.
Burial information for Ellen T. Battle. Accessed in April 2017 at Findagrave.com at Ancestry.com.
Burial information for Michael Battle. Accessed in April 2017 at Findagrave.com at Ancestry.com.
Burial information for Richard Thomas Battle. Accessed in April 2017 at Findagrave.com at Ancestry.com.
Hudson, Marie Van Sant. “Van Sant-Hudson Family Tree”. Accessed in April 2017 at Ancestry.com.