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| John Armstrong was born around 1820 and probably died
between 1850 and 1854.
We know very little about him. He married Nancy Anne Hikes about 1847 in Louisville, Kentucky. Their only child was John Andrew Armstrong, born October 11, 1848, who married Nancy J. (Nannie) Hikes on December 23, 1875 in Jefferson County, Kentucky, at the home of Nannie's parents, Edward Jones Hikes and Paulina Kellar Hikes. It gets a little confusing because the senior John married a Nancy Hikes and their son, the junior John married a Nancy Hikes. We estimate the senior John Armstrong's death between 1850 - 1854 because he appears on the 1850 census and in 1855 his wife married her second husband. Divorce was rare, but always possible. The 1850 1850 Kentucky Census of Jefferson County, District 2, is
enumerated as follows:
Anne, 20, is Nancy Anne, the wife of John Armstrong although she is listed under her parents which makes her appear to still be a Hikes. Two year-old Andrew Armstrong is their son, John Andrew. On the 1880 census, John Andrew reports that his father was born in Canada. With such a common name and no further information, it is challenging to figure out which John Armstrong he can be. Many thanks to sister Melody Greenwood Coffey who has the original photo in an album of tintypes and other old photos. It was given to her by our grandmother, Maud Armstrong Goodman. |
Nancy Anne Hikes was born on July 26, 1830, in Jefferson
County, Kentucky. She was the daughter of Andrew Hikes I, and Paulina White.
Nancy Anne married John Armstrong and had one child, John Andrew Armstrong,
who was born on October 11, 1848.
We presume Nancy's first husband died before her second marriage. She married her first cousin, once removed, William Levi Oldham on July 4, 1854, in Jefferson County, Kentucky. We found their original prenuptial agreement among our parents' important papers. It provided for John Andrew to inherit equally with any children that Nancy and William Levi might have. They had three children who are listed in the Conway Oldham Bible which we now have. They are Frances "Arabell" Oldham, Elora Oldham, and Cornel John Conway Oldham, which is sometimes spelled "Colonel." Elora died at age one. We have no further information on the other children except that they were alive on June 19, 1860, the date of the enumeration of the Louisville census for District 2. Nancy's gravestone is inscribed "Mother - Mrs. B. W. Thomas" 60 years, April 30, 1890. Burial arrangements were made by her first son, John Andrew Armstrong, who is buried beside her at Cave Hill Cemetery. For a long time we didn't know who B. W. Thomas was. Now we believe he is Benjamin W. Thomas, born ca. 1827 in Kentucky. We know he died after Nancy. There is a child named Alexander W. Thomas with them on the 1880 census of Jeffersontown, Jefferson Co., KY. He was eleven years old at the time and born in Kentucky. Perhaps he is from a first marriage of Benjamin's, or he could be a later son of Nancy, if her second husband died before Alexander's birth. Nancy is listed as Nannie on the 1880 census, the name Gordon's mother always used when she referred to her grandmother Hikes. In the Bible of John & Nancy "Nannie"[Hikes] Armstrong, now in
possession of Dr. Gordon E. Greenwood, there is a Marriage Certificate
that shows B.W. Thomas was a witness at the 1875 wedding of his wife
Nannie's first-born son, John Andrew Armstrong and Nannie Hikes. This is
a different Nancy (Nannie) Hikes, born November 15, 1855, the daughter
of Edward Jones Hikes and Paulina Kellar.
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