Joseph E. Armstrong
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph E. Armstrong and family and their residence, "Plain View Stock Farm," Van Buren Township.
Joseph E. Armstrong. An enumeration of the men of the younger generation who are worthily representing the agricultural interests of Grant County, Indiana, would be incomplete did it now include the name of Joseph E. Armstrong of Section 6, Van Buren Township, who with his wife owns and operates a farm of one hundred and forty acres of valuable land. The home is situated on sixty acres in Section 6, and eighty acres in Section 5. He is a native of the Hoosier State, having been born in Wabash County, December 11, 1882, and is a son of Gipson and Lavina (Bogardus) Armstrong, natives of Rush and Wabash Counties respectively, and now residents of Lafontaine, Indiana.
The career of Mr. Armstrong from early youth has been one of constant industry. Educated in the Brown School in District No. 10, at the age of fifteen years he began to work in Wabash County, and in the spring of 1904 came to Van Buren Township. At this time, he and his wife are owners of sixty acres in his home place, in Section 6, and also a farm of eighty acres in Section 5 of Van Buren Township, both of which have been brought to a high state of cultivation. By the use of progressive methods and modern machinery, in 1912 he was able to raise 2,000 bushels of corn, 1,000 bushels of oats and fifteen tons of hay, and in addition was successful in his stock breeding operations, selling one hundred and twenty-five head of hogs, and is now raising Poland China hogs of the big type. He has a young fruit orchard, specializing in the small fruits, and has improved his property by the erection of substantial buildings, his neat frame residence being surrounded by a wide well-kept lawn.
In 1908 Mr. Armstrong was married to Miss Lillie C. Landess, a daughter of Oscar E. and Sarah J. (Bradford) Landess, and a member of an old and prominent family of Van Buren Township. Oscar W. Landess was born on the old homestead place in this township, June 10, 1849, a son of Lewis Landess, a pioneer of Grant County, who was born near Danville, Highland County, Ohio, October 17, 1825. he was the son of John and Sarah (Roush) Landess, natives of Kentucky and Virginia respectively, and John was a son of Jacob Landess, a native of North Carolina, who married a Welsh lady and settled in Kentucky from whence both families migrated to Highland County, Ohio. John Landess was twice married and was the father of sixteen children, of whom Lewis was the third of the sons of the first marriage. When sixteen years of age, Lewis Landess left his Ohio home and made the journey on foot to Grant County, Indiana, eventually reaching the home of his uncles Michael and Philip Roush in Van Buren Township. Here he was employed by a Mr. Gardner for seven years, and during this time secured eighty acres of land, on which he settled at the time of his marriage, March 18, 1848, to Phoebe C. Whinnery, daughter of Joseph and Lydia Whinnery, pioneers of Grant County, whence they came in 1837 from Clinton County, Ohio. Lewis Landess spent the active years of his life in agricultural pursuits and was successful in his operations, accumulating 277 acres of land, but in his declining years moved to Van Buren, and there his death occurred in November, 1912. He was married a second time, his wife being a widow, Mrs. Hannah S. (West) Johnson.
The oldest of his parents' children, Oscar E. Landess lived with his parents until he reached his majority, at which time, assisted by his father, he purchased a farm near the old homestead. On this he resided for four years, and then bought the old home place of one hundred acres, of which only thirty-five acres were cleared. He settle down to completing the clearing of the land, and in 1879 built the residence in which Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong now live, and as the years passed added to his land and equipment and became one of the successful farmers of his locality. At the time of his death October 22, 1902, he was the owner of one hundred and seventy acres, of which Mrs. Armstrong inherited ninety-five acres. On October 10, 1872, Mr. Landess was married to Miss Sarah J. Bradford of Washington Township, and to this union there were born three daughters: Mrs. Eva White, who died June 29, 1911; Lillie C., now Mrs. Armstrong; and Myrtle, who died at the age of four years. Mrs. Landess died August 31, 1912, in the faith of the Untied brethren Church, of which she had been a lifelong member.
Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong have one son, Charles Vernon, who was born May 23, 1910. They have also an orphan girl whom they are rearing, Elizabeth Hiatt. They are faithful brothers of the Untied Brethren Church, and have actively supported its movements. In political matters Mr. Armstrong is a Republican. The farm Mr. Armstrong occupies is known and registered as the Plain View Stock Farm, while the farm of eighty acres which he owns in Section 5 is named and registered as the Brown-Mead Stock Farm.
Centennial History of Grant County Indiana 1812-1912. The Lewis Publishing Co., 1914,