One third of all battles fought during the American Revolution were fought in New York … so perhaps the fact that the recording of births and other vital statistics was not deemed a high priority at the time of Isaac Armstrong's 1779 arrival—in the midst of a protracted war of independence—is totally understandable. Fortunately for family history buffs, many God-fearing parents of the day faithfully documented their children's births (and deaths) in the Holy Bible … and, insomuch as this is a book seldom discarded, those notations (in addition to weathered headstone inscriptions) remain some of the best sources of New York's colonial vital records. In the unusual case of Isaac, actually two entries confirmed his date of birth: one Armstrong family Bible was found in Isaac's native New York State, while the other turned up 3,000 miles away in California. Both identified Isaac's birthday as September 18, 1779, with the West Coast discovery clarifying his parents, Daniel and Sarah Armstrong (sorry—no maiden named supplied), plus his standing within the chronology of the clan: the seventh of 11 children … nine boys and two girls.

Isaac's birthplace—noted at the very top of this page—is presented as Saratoga County. The soil on which he was born does indeed today lie within that geographic region … but to be totally accurate, Isaac was born in New York before the County of Saratoga was organized in 1791. Nevertheless, we can safely presume that Isaac was born in the District of Ballston (at that time comprised of ten complete and partial towns within Albany County), due to his father's appearance on a 1779 list of property-holders from that territorial division on whom an assessment was levied. Backstory: Isaac's grandfather, Richard Armstrong, had relocated his family to "Ball's Town" along with many neighbors from Bedford, Westchester County, New York, when the province was still a British colony.

Isaac was a lifelong farmer, having worked the land from one side of the Empire State to the other right into his seventies. He was also a veteran of the War of 1812, and his service to the United States is commemorated by the military marker on his gravesite. Although Isaac's place of death in 1855 remains unknown to his descendants, it's not unlikely that his last days were spent in Allegany County, New York, as he was interred in the family plot at Wellsville, near an infant grandson who had predeceased him one year earlier.

For details regarding Isaac's domestic life, please visit the memorial page of his wife Roxalana (née Hovey) Armstrong.

Also, memorial pages containing unsubstantiated birthplace data have been created for Isaac's paternal grandparents Richard and Abigail Armstrong.