Sarah McAndrew Armstrong (Abt. 1846-1887)
February 5, 2015
John Francis Armstrong (1845-1893) and his wife, Sarah Theresa McAndrew Armstrong (1845-1887), early to mid-1880s
Sarah McAndrew Armstrong was born in Charleston, South Carolina about 1846. Her parents, Patrick and Ellen Langin McAndrew were Irish immigrants who owned a dry-goods store in the city. They had four children: Mary Ann, Sarah, and the twins James and John.
Patrick McAndrew died in a yellow fever epidemic in 1849 and, around 1851, Ellen married Bernard Geraty. According to family stories, Sarah and her older sister, Mary Ann, attended a convent school outside of Charleston.
Due to the Union blockade and bombardment of Charleston during the Civil War, the family moved to Augusta in 1863 or 1864. On August 11, 1864, Mary Ann McAndrew married Irish-born Patrick Armstrong in Augusta. The Civil War ended in May of 1865 and, during the summer, the firm of Geraty and Armstrong at 337 Broad St., ran ads in the Daily Constitutionalist for groceries and other merchandise.
Sarah “Sallie” Theresa McAndrew Armstrong about 1868, Image courtesy of Armstrong descendant Fran Rhodes
Ellen died of “disability” in the spring of 1868 and, several months later, on August 25th, 1868, Sarah married John Francis Armstrong at the Church of the Holy Trinity. JF was Patrick Armstrong’s first cousin and had arrived in Augusta from Ireland after the end of the war.
Sarah and JF had six children–May (1870-1950), Frank (1872-1884), Jim (1874-1948), John (1876-1961), Joe (1880-1938), and Luke Parnell (1883-1883)–but only four of them lived to adulthood. Luke Parnell died as an infant in 1883, and Frank died at the age of twelve the following year.
In late 1886, Sarah became ill with pneumonia and never recovered. She died around four in the morning on January 20, 1887. Her death was reported on the front page of the Augusta Chronicle on January 21, 1887. Buried in the Michael Battle plot in Magnolia Cemetery in Augusta, Sarah was survived by JF and their children May, Jim, John, and Joe.
Images
The image of Sarah and JF was found in the photo collection of Patricia Van Sant Real, who inherited it from her maternal aunt, Frankie Armstrong Casey. Aunt Frankie was the daughter of Dick and May Armstrong Casey and the oldest grandchild of Sarah and JF. It’s not known why JF’s left shoulder was cropped out of the picture.
The image of Sarah taken around 1868, the year she married JF, was provided by Fran Rhodes, the granddaughter of JF and Sarah’s son John Luke Armstrong.
References
1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 US censuses, Charleston, SC and Augusta, GA, population schedules, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2014 and 2015; citing NARA microfilm publications.
“Augusta, Georgia Parks & Recreation Graveside Search.” Database. Augusta, Georgia (http://appweb2.augustaga.gov/Graveside_Search/graveside_detail.asp?AdvSearch=30803 : accessed 2015 & 2018), database entry for Ellen Garity (1820-1868). Surname on her gravestone and on other records was Geraty. Her full legal name was Mary Ellen Langin McAndrew Geraty. She was the mother of Sarah Theresa McAndrew Armstrong (1845-1887). According to the cemetery record, she died of “disability”.
“Augusta, Georgia Parks & Recreation Graveside Search.” Database. Augusta, Georgia (http://appweb2.augustaga.gov/Graveside_Search/graveside_detail.asp?AdvSearch=27828: accessed 2015 & 2018), database entry for Francis Bernard Armstrong (August 16, 1872 – August 16, 1884). Cemetery records state that Master Armstrong, now Francis Bernard Armstrong, died of heart disease on the “Georgia Railroad near Barnett”. Marie Van Sant Hudson notified the cemetery of his full name in 2017.
“Augusta, Georgia Parks & Recreation Graveside Search.” Database. Augusta, Georgia (http://appweb2.augustaga.gov/Graveside_Search/graveside_detail.asp?AdvSearch=27833 : accessed 2015 & 2018), database entry for Luke Parnell Armstrong (April 1883 – June 1883). Although there is a record of burial for Infant Armstrong, now Luke Parnell Armstrong, in the Magnolia Cemetery records, there is no marker on the plot as to where he was buried. In 2017, Marie Van Sant Hudson provided the infant’s name, Luke Parnell Armstrong, to the cemetery.
“Augusta, Georgia Parks & Recreation Graveside Search.” Database. Augusta, Georgia (http://appweb2.augustaga.gov/Graveside_Search/graveside_detail.asp?AdvSearch=27892 : accessed 2015 & 2018), database entry for Sarah T. Armstrong (abt. 1846-20 January 1887). According to the cemetery record, Sarah died from an eight week bout of pneumonia.
“Augusta News.” Atlanta Constitution. 20 August 1884, online archives (https://www.newspapers.com/image/34217026/?terms=J+Armstrong : accessed 2014 and 30 January 2018), citing original col. 2, p. 835. Please note that while the given database page number is 835, the original page number is not readable.
Cannon, Amanda, volunteer, Diocese of Savannah Archives. “RE: John F. Armstrong and Sarah Theresa McAndrew”; letter to Martha “Tulie” Wheeler Taylor, Tallahassee, FL, 10 March 2017. This letter contains information extracted from the parish marriage registry of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Augusta, Georgia. The registry is now located at the Diocese of Savannah Archives in Savannah, Georgia.
“Death of a Baby.” Augusta Chronicle and Constitutionalist (Augusta, GA). 24 June 1883, online archives (https://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 2014 and 30 January 2018), citing original col. 2, p. 3.
“Death of Mr. Geraty – An Aged Citizen Passes Away After a Short Illness.” Augusta Chronicle (Augusta, GA). 27 April 1890, online archives (https://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 2014 and 31 January 2018), citing original col. 4, p. 4. Bernard Geraty’s obituary states that he moved from Charleston to Augusta in 1863.
“Deaths – Patrick McAndrew.” Charleston Courier (Charleston, SC). 7 May 1849, online archives (https://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 29 December 2014), citing original p. 2.
“For Sale, Two Fine Milch Cows with Calves.” Daily Constitutionalist (Augusta, GA). 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 December 1864, online archives (https://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 29 December 2014), citing originals, all on p. 1.
“Geraty and Armstrong – Grocers and Commission Merchants.” Daily Constitutionalist (Augusta, GA). 24 August 1865, online archives (https://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 29 January 2018), citing original p. 4.
“Local Brevities.” Augusta Chronicle (Augusta, GA). 20 January 1887, online archives (https://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 29 January 2018), citing original p. 8.
“Married.” Daily Constitutionalist (Augusta, GA). 11 August 1864, online archives (https://www.genealogybank.com : 30 January 2018), citing original col. 3, p. 2. Mary Ann McAndrew’s marriage announcement states that she was the daughter of Bernard Geraty of Charleston, SC, although Geraty’s obituary states that he moved to Augusta in 1863.
“Mortuary Notice – Death of Mrs. Armstrong.” Augusta Chronicle (Augusta, GA). 21 January 1887, online archives (https://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 13 January 2018), citing original p. 1.
Rosen, Robert N. “Charleston, Siege of (1863-1865).” South Carolina Encyclopedia. [19 April 2016] 26 October 2016, online (http://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/charleston-siege-of-1863-1865/ : accessed 2016 & 31 January 2018).
Wheeler, Mary Van Sant. Tallahassee, FL. Interview by Tulie Wheeler Taylor, 15 December 2014. Unrecorded conversation. According to Mary, her grandmother May Armstrong Casey Morrison told her that Mary Ann and Sarah McAndrew were boarders at a convent school outside of Charleston, South Carolina. This information has not yet been confirmed by other sources.