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Title proper
George E. Armstrong
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- Textual record
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- Cartographic material
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- Source of title proper: Title based on the contents of the fonds.
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Fonds
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Physical description
58 cms. of textual records, 8 sketches or maps, and ca. 400 photographs : b & w
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Businessman and sports guide, George Elbridge Armstrong, the son of Celia E. Cronk and Theodore Harding Armstrong, was born 14 February 1874 at Perth, Victoria County, New Brunswick. On 1 February 1905 he married Emma B. Bishop (1877-1950) of Victoria County, New Brunswick, and they had at least three children: Edith Ann (Kenyon), Greta, and Gordon. In his youth, George Armstrong worked in Maine first as a potato-picker, then as a lumberman, and, during the summers of 1895 and 1896, as a hunting and fishing guide.
By the late 1890s, he was taking sportsmen fishing and moose hunting in the Nictau, Bathurst Lakes, Trousers Lake, and Gulquac areas of New Brunswick. He built his first permanent or home hunting and fishing camp, Wapske, near the village of Wapske in the Plaster Rock area. Guests of Camp Wapske hunted moose, caribou, deer, bear, and partridge. Armstrong eventually owned a dozen camps along a 40-mile trail. In connection with his business, he built canoes and was involved in the New Brunswick Guides Association, serving as vice-president in 1903.
George E. Armstrong was involved in a number of other business enterprises. He prepared survey sketches or maps of land in the Miramichi, Plaster Rock, and Bathurst Lakes areas for himself and others. In 1904, Mr. Armstrong brought the first motorcycle in Perth, a Thomas Model 36 for $210.00. Beginning about 1910, he owned and operated a public garage at Perth where he sold cars and automotive supplies. This business was destroyed by fire in May 1934, but was soon rebuilt. In November 1942 he sold Armstrong's Garage to J. E. Armstrong. In addition, George Armstrong served as general manager of the Perth Milling Company Limited, incorporated in 1906 for the purpose of operating lumber and grist mills, which produced laths, clapboards, siding, sheathing, and other wood products. George E. Armstrong died in 1968.
Custodial history
Information about the custody of these records prior to acquisition is incomplete.
Scope and content
This fonds documents the business and personal activities of George E. Armstrong and sheds lights on his personal interests. It consists of two scrapbooks, dating from 1910 to 1966, which contain newspaper and magazine clippings of local, national and international events, such as Victoria and Carleton County weddings, deaths, marriages; local tragedies (fires and automobile accidents); provincial and federal elections; Royal Visits; and World War II. They also contain information pertaining to George Armstrong's family and to his business enterprises.
The fonds also contains a history of the Stillman-Armstrong family prepared by George Armstrong, a copy of his personal memoirs, an 1894 photograph of Armstrong with identified Stream Drivers, a brochure pertaining to Armstrong's Camps (ca. 1917), and eight sketches or maps of lands located in northeastern and central New Brunswick prepared by him. These include two sketches of the Bathurst Lakes area and one of the Perth Milling Company Limited lands and timber licenses.
Following a recent acquisition, the bulk of the fonds now consists of the correspondence (1889-1903) of George E. Armstrong, with guides, clients (including taxidermists), suppliers, sporting magazines, various associations, friends and family. From this correspondence, it quickly becomes apparent that Armstrong was an excellent guide and obviously a shrewd businessman for most of his clients return year after year and write to him often -- initially as clients but soon less formally as both friend and client. Few of his clientele were New Brunswickers; most were wealthy American businessmen, as indicated by their letterheads.
The fonds also includes 5 humourous pencil sketches of employees of George Armstrong and his operations by J.H.F. Jr., [1900].
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Part of this fonds was donated to the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick on 3 November 1978 by Greta Armstrong, the daughter of George E. Armstrong, of Perth, NB. In May 2005, another George Armstrong descendant, Wendy Topolski of Fredericton, donated more records, adding the correspondence to this fonds.
Arrangement
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
For photographs, see P645.
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No restrictions
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Finding aids
An inventory is available.