John A. Armstrong, M.D.
JOHN A. ARMSTRONG, A.M., M.D., late of Leechburg, a
distinguished physician and surgeon in practice here continuously for nearly
forty-six years, had not only become prominent in his profession but also made
a name for himself as a good citizen in other activities, especially in his
long and honored connection with the Leechburg school board. It is the
privilege of few men to win such high esteem among their fellows as he
enjoyed, and his death, which occurred July 12, 1912, was regarded as a public
loss.Dr. Armstrong was born Aug. 18, 1838, in Allegheny township,
Westmoreland Co., Pa., son of John Armstrong and grandson of Robert Armstrong,
the latter a native of the north of Ireland who came to this country and
settled in Westmoreland county, Pa., about 1820. He followed farming on land
he purchased in Allegheny township, and was also engaged upon the construction
of the Pennsylvania canal in his section. He died upon his farm and is buried
at Brookland Cemetery in Allegheny township. His wife, Eleanor (McKee), who as
also from the North of Ireland, is buried in the same cemetery. They had the
following children: John; Alexander; Thomas; David; Jane, who married George
Patterson; Margaret, who married John Bole; and Elizabeth, who married William
Copeland.John Armstrong, son of Robert, was born in Ireland in 1796.
There he married Sarah Ann Armstrong (not a member of the same family), who
was of Scottish descent, and they emigrated to the New World before his father
came, crossing the ocean in 1826 and two years later, in 1828, settling in
Westmoreland county. There he purchased a farm in Allegheny township which he
paid for with his earnings as a contractor for excavations on the old
Pennsylvania canal. He was a man of fair education for his day and appreciated
the advantages of schools, and gave all his children good opportunities. HE
was a strict member of the Reformed Presbyterian church and was bitterly
opposed to human servitude, so much so that he would not associate with either
of the great political parties of his day because slavery was tolerated in
this country and sanctioned in some measure by both. He was very well known in
his section. A few years before his death he removed to Leechburg, Armstrong
county, where he died in 1872, at the age of seventy-six years. His wife died
in 1877 in her seventy-fifth year. Both are buried in the Brookland Cemetery
in Allegheny township, Westmoreland county. They had the following children:
Eleanor, married Hugh McElry; Adam C. served as a member of the House of
Representatives from Kentucky , was principal of an academy in that state and
also served as superintendent of schools in Bracken county, Ky. (he was
accidentally killed in that state); Robert was a farmer in Westmoreland
county, Pa., where he died; David, an artist by profession, died in
Westmoreland county in 1909; Elizabeth (deceased) married Hiram Steele; John
A. is mentioned below; Sarah A. (deceased) was the wife of James D. Boale;
Samuel S. lived on the old homestead; Mary J. married Milton Free, who is
deceased; Margaret married William J. Sproull, of Parnassus, Pa., who is
deceased.John A. Armstrong attended public school in his home district,
and later was a student in academies at Leechburg and Pittsburgh, Pa. He then
entered Washington and Jefferson College at Washington, Pa., from which
institution he was graduated in June, 1862, after which he began the study of
medicine. In 1863, however, he joined the Union Army as a member of Company K,
54th Regiment, Pennsylvania Militia, and served about three months
in that command. On Aug. 29, 1864, he enlisted in Company I, 205th
Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, Heavy Artillery, with which he served to
the close of the war, being honorably discharged June 13, 1865, at Vienna, Va.Returning home he resumed his medical studies, in September
1865, entering Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, where he completed
the course, graduating in 1867. In May of that year he opened an office at
Leechburg, where he built up a large practice during his long career. He
supplemented his early preparation by further study, having taken a full
course at one of the leading Philadelphia hospitals after his graduation from
medical college. His literary education was unusually thorough, and he had the
honor of receiving the A.M. degree from his alma mater. Dr. Armstrong showed
his progressive disposition in his connection with various important local
enterprises. At one time he was interested in the steel mill at Leechburg, and
he was one of the pioneers in the natural gas business, being one of the
owners that sunk the first well in this section when gas was used in the
manufacture of steel at Leechburg. For twenty-five years he was a member of
the borough school board and throughout that period served as secretary of
that body, his services being highly appreciated. In 1900 the Doctor took a
vacation abroad, making a three months’ trip, during which he visited the home
of his ancestors in Ireland and attended the Paris exposition.The Doctor’s lovable personality was feelingly delineated by
his local colleague, Dr. Hunter (whose death has occurred since Dr.
Armstrong’s), who wrote of him: “He was a graduate of the Washington and
Jefferson Literary College, at Washington, Pa., then graduated from the
Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia. We practiced here as physicians
nearly forty-six years and while never partners our relations were more like
those of brothers. We would leave our patients to each other during an absence
or when it was impossible for one to visit patients. We never had a
difference. He was an excellent physician and surgeon, honorable and upright
in every way, and greatly deserved the esteem in which he was held by all. He
was a prominent and active worker in the Presbyterian Church and taught the
men’s Bible class in that church for years. Dr. Armstrong had the analytical
mind and was careful in his judgment in all matters.”Of Doctors Armstrong and Hunter it was said: “The medical
profession points to those noble men as the highest and best examples of
medical men and brothers, for they were not only the most admirable type of
the family physician, friend and adviser, but Christian gentlemen and brother
physicians in all that implies. Both are now dead, but their lives and work
will never be forgotten.:On April 2, 1868, Dr. Armstrong married Amanda Catherine
McKallip, daughter of Henry K. and Mary (Keely) McKallip, of Leechburg, and
they had four children: May Blanche married H.W. Beale and resided at
Leechburg after his death until her marriage on Jan. 28, 1914, to George A.
Walker, insurance solicitor of Pittsburgh; Ann Orr is the wife of Lewis Hicks,
a prominent business man of Pittsburgh, Pa.,; Grace Irwin is the wife of Ned
M. Austin of Canton, Ohio; Eleannora Caldwell is the wife of John W. Marshall
of Leechburg.Dr. Armstrong was a member of the Presbyterian Church at
Leechburg, served as elder for several years, and was also a teacher in the
Sunday school. In politics he was a Republican.Mrs. Armstrong’s parents had the following children: Labannah
S., a general merchant, of Pittsburgh, Pa., ; Amanda C., Mrs. Armstrong; Rev.
John K., a Presbyterian minister; Johanna J., wife of Robert Pinkerton, a
farmer in Armstrong county, Pa.; James A., a merchant of Leechburg; Mary H.,
wife of H.M. Caldwell, a merchant of New Kensington, Pa.; and Henry F.,
deceased, who left a wife and two children.Â
Source: Page 497-498, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and
Present, J. H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed August 1999 by Beth Caporali for the Armstrong County Beers
Project
Contributed for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)Armstrong County Genealogy Project Notice:
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