As I sat in my little wooden chair, visions of jewels, crowns, castles and coaches rushed through my head but sometimes I didn’t understand the words the teacher read. It seemed that a son who was to be the king had lost his throne because he married a divorced commoner and he had to leave England. If the Royal Family had all the servants that I imagined they had, I would have thought that a group of them could have looked around the palace and found the lost throne.

If I had been a New Brunswick descendant of John Armstrong, who was born on Thursday, January 4, 1819 in County Fermanagh in Ireland, I probably would have understood the History lesson. John was a nobleman and was disowned by his parents when he married Mary Elliott, a commoner in March of 1840. Thus they got on a vessel less than a month later on April 1, 1840 and set sail for Saint John, New Brunswick. They landed on June 3 and lived at Fort Howe where their three eldest children were born.

By trade, John Armstrong was both a shoemaker and a harness-maker. Toward the end of 1842, the family moved from Saint John to Reardon River or Long Settlement where they built their home just beyond the crossroads near the Shepody Road. They were faithful worshippers at the St. Paul’s Church of England at Londonderry, which was seven miles from their home. John was always in his pew leading in the singing.

Their twelve children, William, James, Andrew, Mary Ann, John, Robert, Catherine Jane, Georgianna, Harriet, Sarah Amelia, Henrietta and Augusta were born between 1841 to 1865. They married into the families of Anderson, Buchanan, Loughery, Morrow, McFarlane, Neill, Robinson, Scott, Seely and Whelpley.

John died at the age of 83 years on February 22, 1904 and his widow Mary E. died on June 26, 1908 at the age of 88. They are both buried in the St. Paul’s Cemetery at Londonderry.

The obituary for Mary Elliott Armstrong gave detailed information on her life and family. It stated she was beloved by all and in spite of her great age was of so little trouble and of such sweet gentle disposition that all bewail her loss. Six of her grandsons were the pallbearers. She was survived by nine children, seventy-nine grandchildren and forty-four great grandchildren.
 
The book, “The  Descendants of John and Mary (Elliott) Armstrong” was compiled by Faye Armstrong Pearson, a great great granddaughter and gives the names of more than 3000 descendants.

This publication of 164 pages plus full name index can be ordered from Faye Pearson, 1782 Route 870, Springfield, Kings County, New Brunswick, Canada, E5T 2J2. Telephone (506) 485-2337 or e-mail to faye@nb.sympatico.ca.

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Query 926
Allen - Hazelwood - Munford - Montford: I need any information available on Thomas Allen, whose wife died about 1881. He was a Ship's Carpenter and lived in Indiantown, Saint John. They had the following children: 1) Charlotte Maria Allen 1824 -1897 married William H. Hazelwood, 2) Frances Caroline "Fanny" Allen (my line) 1830 - 1876 was married to  John Alexander "George" Munford or Montford, 3) David Allen 4) Daniel Allen, 5) Hannah Allen and 6) Amelia Allen.
 -Beverly Alexander, PO Box 188, Culpeper, VA, USA, 22071-0188. E-mail to ALEXLARRY@prodigy.net.

Query 927
Birmant: Alfred and Rosalie Birmant came from France to reside in Minto, New Brunswick during the years 1912 to1920. Alfred was a miner there. They had two children Marcelle and Mirella.who was born in Minto on Jul. 05, 1913. I would like to communicate with anyone who may have had contact with them or has information to share with me.
 -Marian Birmont, 5615-120 Ave., Coal Valley, Illinois, 61240,  USA. Telephone  309-787-2473 or e-mail to mirm@excelonline.com.

Query 928
Blades - Thomas: My father’s sister Jennie Blades was born in Forest Glen, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia in 1899. She married Philip Thomas in Saint John on Feb. 7, 1921. I would like to make contact with members of her family as she is the last link to my father.
 - Roseanne Blades, R.R.# 1, Box 44, Tusket, NS., Canada, B0W 3M0. Telephone 902 648-3103 or email to roseannelois@ns.sympatico.ca.

Query 929
Dellazizzo - Greenlaw: I am searching for information on the Dellazizzo family who supposedly landed in Saint John from Italy. Jimmy Dellazizzo may have been born in this city on Mar. 13, 1920. His mother’s name was possibly Macraine Greenlaw, an Acadian. There were eleven other children: Ralph, Daniel, Victor, Fred, Albert, Tony, Michael, Josephine, Gladys, Marryanne, and Youlanda. Does anyone have any information on this family? Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.
 -Judy Archibald, 1059 Route 340, Canobie, New Brunswick, Canada, E2A 5E7. E-mail to
topdog@nbnet.nb.ca

Query 930
Ready: Amongst many unidentified photographs contained in a Ready Family Album in my possession is one which I believe depicts the residence of James Ready which was located on Manawagonish Road on the site currently occupied by St. Rose of Lima School. I should very much like to hear from anyone who has a documented photograph of this home, which has been described as large, gracious and built in the Victorian style, for comparison and identification purposes. I would also be interested in corresponding with others who are related to the Ready family of Fairville.
 -Peter Maher, 52 Elm Park, St. Stephen, NB, Can  E3L 2W8. E-Mail pgmaher@nb.sympatico.ca.

Query 931
Day - Gilles: I am seeking information on Thomas Day, who was married to Jane Gilles. Their two children were William born 1853 (my grandfather) and Rachel born 1867. William Day married Margaret Cooper with one of their children being Florence born in1889. I believe the family moved to the Boston area.
 -R.F. Day. E-mail to rfday@thepierceco.com.
 
 Ruby is a genealogy buff. Readers are invited to send their New Brunswick genealogical queries to her at rmcusack@nbnet.nb.ca. When E-Mailing please put Yesteryear Families in the Subject line. Please include in the query, your name and postal address as someone reading the newspaper, may have information to share with you but not have access to E-mail. Queries should be no more than 45 words in length.