John Wallace Armstrong ^{1 2 3 4 5}

  General Notes:

John's father was born in Pennsylvania, his mother in Ohio. At the time of the 1900 census, John was a farmer in Rhone Mesa, Mesa County, Colorado. He rented his farm. Two farm laborers were listed with the family, George W. Clough and George Bowers. At the time of the 1910 census, John was managing an orchard in Grand Junction, Mesa County, Colorado. He rented his home. At the time of the 1920 census, he was a janitor at the high school in Grand Junction. He rented his home. At the time of the 1930 census, John was janitor at the court house. His 2 youngest daughters still lived with him in Grand Junction. He owned his home valued at $3000.

Source: "Daily Sentinel"

...Mr. Armstrong resided in this district since 1898 and he was very well known here. In 1898, he and his family moved to a ranch west of this city where they resided for several years before moving to town. Mr. Armstrong was employed at the high school for some years but for the past eight or nine years, he was employed as head janitor at the county court house. He retired about a year ago but had returned several times to work temporarily.

John Wallace Armstrong was born on May 20, 1859 at Georgetown, Ohio. He was 73 years of age. Mrs. Armstrong passed away four years ago last April. Mr. Armstrong married the sister of his late wife, Mrs. Clara George of Rifle. They resided in Rifle the greater part of the summer.

For the past 30 years, Mr. Armstrong had been a member of the local Masonic order. He was a member of the Congregational Church. In both of these groups, Mr. Armstrong was an active worker. He was respected by those who knew him through his 34 years of residence here...

Source: A paper by Georgia (Armstrong) Dyer, 1963

Among the early day residents of the Rifle community were John W. Armstrong, (familiarly known as Jack), and his wife, Minnie and their baby daughter, Fannie. They moved westward from DeWitt, Arkansas, no doubt because a sister of Mrs. Armstrong, Mrs. Clara George and her husband, Alfred George and their family were already pioneer residents, farming in the Rifle Creek area.

Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong lived in a cottage of wood construction on the site where the First National Bank of Rifle now stands (corner of 4th & Railroad).

In 1892 Mr. Armstrong acquired an interest in the Rifle Revelle. In that year also Fanny Blanch Armstrong was judged the prettiest baby in Garfield County at the annual Watermelon Day Festival by judges passing through the crowd and was awarded as first prize an engraved gold medal which is still a prized possession of the second daughter, Georgia, born in Rifle in September 1892.

A couple of years or so later Mr. Armstrong disposed of his interest in the newspaper to Mr. C. L. Todd and the family moved to Ouray where he worked with his brother, Charles A. Armstrong of Denver, who was developing the Bachelor mine near Ouray. Later Mr. Armstrong managed a large apple orchard west of Grand Junction for a number of years. There, their only son, Charles Noble Armstrong, was born, and passed away at the age of two years. In 1898 the family moved to Grand Junction where better schools available, although Mr. Armstrong continued the management of the orchard for a time, later serving as Street Commissioner of Grand Junction. The family maintained their home until 1911. Two other daughters were born, one in 1905 and another in 1909. The eldest daughter passed away in January of 1912, while visiting the George home in Rifle at the age of 21, of an attack of pneumonia. Mr. Armstrong was recuperating in Arkansas at the time from a breakdown suffered at Collbran, Colorado while operating the farm. The family thereafter made their home in Grand Junction, where Mrs. Armstrong died in November 1928 and Mr. Armstrong passed away in October 1932, both loved and respected by many friends in church and lodge circles, and both having belonged to Sunshine Chapter of the Eastern Star organization.

Members of the family remaining are Mrs. U. H. "Georgia" Dyer, of Grand Junction, Mrs. H. D. "Peggy" Stewart of Climax, Colorado and Mrs. A. M. "Edith" Ray of Grand Junction.

Jack married Minnie Noble, daughter of Rev George Washington Noble and Mary Elizabeth Knight, on 14 Nov 1889 in DeWitt, Arkansas County, Arkansas. (Minnie Noble was born on 30 Mar 1867 in Albia, Monroe County, Iowa,¹ died on 27 Nov 1928 in Grand Junction, Mesa County, Colorado ¹ and was buried in Masonic Cemetery, Grand Junction, Mesa County, Colorado ¹.)

Jack next married Clara Vincent Noble, daughter of Rev George Washington Noble and Marietta Woolsey, in Apr 1932. (Clara Vincent Noble was born on 4 Sep 1860 in Albia, Monroe County, Iowa,¹ died on 12 Mar 1942 in Rifle, Garfield County, Colorado ¹ and was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Rifle, Garfield County, Colorado ^{1 6}.)