James Francis Armstrong (April 3, 1750 – January 19, 1816) was a chaplain from

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister for 30 years in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.West Nottingham, Maryland Colora is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in western Cecil County, Maryland, Cecil County, Maryland, United States, near Conowingo, Maryland, Conowingo and Port Deposit, Maryland, Port Deposit. The ZIP code of this area is 21917, ...

. He attended the College of New Jersey (now

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

), living with the family of college president

John Witherspoon John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794) was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister, educator, farmer, slaveholder, and a Founding Father of the United States. Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense real ...

. Armstrong graduated in 1773 with future notables such as Henry Lee, Morgan Lewis, and

Aaron Ogden Aaron Ogden (December 3, 1756April 19, 1839) was an American soldier, lawyer, United States Senator and the fifth governor of New Jersey. Ogden is perhaps best known today as the complainant in '' Gibbons v. Ogden'' which destroyed the monopoly ...

. A younger classmate was Aaron Burr. After graduation, he continued to study

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

under Dr. Witherspoon. He was preparing to enter the ministry in

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

in 1776, but the arrival of the British Army in New Jersey disrupted those plans. Armstrong took up a musket and served as a private in the

New Jersey militia The New Jersey Line was a formation within the Continental Army. A "New Jersey Line" was the quota of numbered infantry regiments that the Congress of the Confederacy assigned to New Jersey at various times. New Jersey Line, 1776 The first two ...

, but he was soon thereafter ordained a minister and obtained a post as a regimental chaplain in the Continental Army. He was promoted to brigade chaplain of the Second Maryland Brigade in May 1777. After the war, he served from 1782 to 1783 as pastor at the church in Elizabeth, New Jersey, a position that had become vacant following the murder of the Rev.

James Caldwell James or Jim Caldwell may refer to: Politics * James Caldwell (Ohio politician) (1770–1838), U.S. Representative from Ohio, son on James Caldwell (1724–1804), an Irish emigrant who founded Wheeling, West Virginia * James Caldwell (Missouri spe ...

during the war. He was married to Susannah Livingston in August 1782, with the Rev. Witherspoon conducting the ceremony. He was minister of the First Presbyterian Church at Trenton for 30 years, from 1786 until his death. Revered Armstrong was admitted as an original member of The Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey in 1789 and served as Secretary of the New Jersey Society from 1790 to 1797. He was also a trustee of the College of New Jersey from 1790 until his death.

References

*Hall, John. ''History of the Presbyterian Church in Trenton, N.J...'' New York: 1859. Accessed vi
Google Book Search

''The Magazine of American History with Notes and Queries''
6. New York: A.S. Barnes, 1881.

External links

The Society of the Cincinnati

The American Revolution Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, James Francis 1750 births 1816 deaths American Presbyterians Continental Army officers from Maryland New Jersey militiamen in the American Revolution People from Trenton, New Jersey Princeton University alumni Presbyterian Church in the United States of America ministers American Revolution chaplains American military chaplains