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Below is a family biography included in the History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania published in 1889 by A. Warner & Co.   These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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GEORGE BRATTEN ARMSTRONG, farmer, post office Logan’s Ferry, was born in Plum township in 1834, a son of Samson and Sarah (Bratten) Armstrong, who were also natives of this county. Samson was a carpenter, and also owned farms, but in his later days abandoned his trade and attended solely to farming. He was an old-time whig, later a republican, and held several township offices. He died Feb. 13, 1885, aged ninety-one years; his widow died in 1887, aged eighty years. James Armstrong, father of our subject, was of Scotch-Irish descent, and came from the north of Ireland. George B. received his education in the common schools of this county, and started for himself in 1855, farming on leased land until 1876, although he had bought a farm in Westmoreland county in 1870. In 1876 he bought his present farm, and in 1887 sold the one in Westmoreland county. In 1872, in company with others, he bought a lot in Parnassus, and built the Odd-Fellows’ hall, which he still owns. He married, Oct. 12, 1854, Nancy Elliott, of Plum township, a daughter of Robert and Margaret (Fryer) Elliott, natives of this county. Mr. Elliott was born in 1800, and died in 1869. Mrs. Armstrong died in September, 1884, the mother of twelve children: James Calvin (professor in Pittsburgh Academy, formerly principal of Oakdale Academy, and a graduate of Millersville State Normal School), Robert Elliott (died Feb. 24, 1877, aged twenty-one years), Minerva Jane, Maggie E. (a teacher), Samson (at Duff’s College, also a teacher for four years), Sally M. (a dressmaker at East End), John Lincoln, Rebecca, George Edward, Nanna A., Lizzie S. and Gertie. All are members of the Presbyterian Church at Parnassus, of which Mr. Armstrong is an elder. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and has been for six years representative to the Grand Lodge. He is also a member of the Sons of Temperance, and has been school director, supervisor and judge of election. His maternal grandfather, George Bratten, was a farmer, and a trader between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, transporting salt one way and spices the other. He was a native of Pennsylvania, of Scotch-Irish descent, and died about 1858.

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This family biography is one of 2,156 biographies included in the History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania published in 1889 by A. Warner & Co.

View additional Allegheny County, Pennsylvania family biographies here: Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Biographies

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