The reasons for the Scotch Irish exodus from Ireland were numerous and complicated. Loss of the one hundred year leases they were originally granted by the King of Ireland, high taxation, fever and sickness and, most importantly, religious persecution, combined to make their adopted homeland a less than hospitable host. The 18th century witnessed a steady migration of the Protestant inhabitants of Ulster, and by estimation a third of the population crossed the Atlantic between the years 1718 and 1758. This exodus was led in large part by several energetic and non-conformist Presbyterian ministers who maintained ongoing communications with supporters in New England from as early as the 1630s (see Reference Listing, #38). In fact, the first Armstrong I know of in America was a man named Gregory Armstrong who arrived in Plymouth in 1630. This man later married the widow of Mayflower passenger John Billington in 1638 (see Reference Listing, #39). On the map of Ireland the province of Ulster gathers into a circle nearly a quarter of the territory of the island. Its southerly boundary runs from Donegal Bay on the west to Carlingford Bay on the east. In the center of Ulster lies County Tyrone, with the counties of Donegal, Londonderry and Antrim along its northern borders to fend the sea. This is the heart of Scotch Irish country. South of County Tyrone are Fermanagh, Monaghan and Armagh, counties not so closely associated with the early Protestant migration. South of Monaghan, bordering the Roman Catholic province of Leinster, is Cavan, and to the east touching Armagh, lies County Down whose shores are less than a dozen miles from Ayrshire in Scotland (see Reference Listing, #38).

Throughout the reign of Charles II, the harshness of the law in Scotland and Ireland led to many plans for removal to America, and it is known that small settlements of immigrants from these countries were established in Maryland, Pennsylvania and the Carolinas prior to 1685. Under Queen Anne (1702 - 1714) the Presbyterians in Ireland again lost almost every advantage that had been gained, and became by the Test Act of 1704 virtually outlaws. Their marriages were declared invalid and their chapels were closed. They could not maintain schools nor hold office above that of a petty constable. During these years the Rev. Cotton Mather was in close touch with religious and political affairs in both Scotland and Ireland. At the time, he was the leading clergyman in Boston where religion was the foremost force in education, society and official life. It was his plan to settle hardy families on the frontiers in Maine and New Hampshire to protect the towns and churches of Massachusetts from the French and Indians. With the support of Mather in New England and fellow Presbyterian ministers in Ulster, interest in emigration to America began to build. By 1718, it raced through Ulster like a fever and five ships with 200 emigrants were known to have arrived in Boston harbor between July and September of that year. Cotton Mather's dream of a great migration from Protestant Ireland was coming true.

As in several such great adventures, Armstrongs were very much in evidence as related in the following narrative (see Reference Listing, #38, Chapter 8): Ferguson, captain of the Robert, was in town October 7th to attend court; and this suggests that he may have lain in the outer harbor during the time intervening between his clearing from Boston and his attendance at court. With him on the voyage from Ireland came John Armstrong, his wife and five children, who were unable to convince the authorities in Boston that they were self-supporting. Captain Ferguson was ordered before the Court of General Sessions of the Peace to answer "for bringing in his vessel and landing in this Town John Armstrong, his wife and five children who cannot give Security to Indemnify the Town as the Law requires." Ferguson's explanation that three of the children were servants by indenture did not entirely satisfy the Court, and it was Ordered that the said Ferguson carry the said Armstrong wife and two youngest Children out of the Province or Indemnify the Town." Finally the Captain and William Wilson, at whose wharf they probably landed, became sureties in L100 each that the Armstrong family, would not come back upon the town for support. If this is the same John Armstrong who later in the year heads a petition from the Scotch Irish settlers at Falmouth, this is very good evidence that he, who certainly came over from Belfast in the brigantine Robert, soon after went in her to Casco Bay with the little company from the Bann Valley (Ireland)..

Later, the author goes on to say The party that left Boston for Casco Bay, arrived there late in the season, and it proving to be a very early and cold winter, the vessel was frozen in. Many of the families, not being able to find accommodations on shore, were obliged to pass the whole winter on board the ship, suffering severely from the want of food, as well as of convenience of situation. Prior to this period, the village of Falmouth, located on the site of the present city of Portland, Maine, had suffered from Indian raids, intense cold in winter, and the poverty of its fishing population.

Upon their arrival at Falmouth, John Armstrong and others at once sent a petition to the government at Boston. This John Armstrong is no doubt the indigent voyager on the Robert; in the wild life on Cape Elizabeth his ability brought him forward.

Unfortunately, his petition was denied, and the development of Falmouth languished. History and tradition have left some record of those who remained in Falmouth after the winter sojourners had gone on to Nutfield. John Armstrong, signer of the petition, with Robert Means, who had married his daughter, were certainly there, and Means settled at Stroudwater, a village near Falmouth. The descendants of Means became very prominent later in Massachusetts. Armstrong is said to have had brothers Simeon, James and Thomas, who had grants in or near Falmouth before 1721.

John Armstrong had an infant son, James, and a son Thomas, born in Falmouth in 1719. His brother, James, had Thomas, born in Ireland in 1717, as well as John, born in 1720, and James, in 1721, both in Falmouth.

As is apparent from the above, the "welcome" received by our ancestors was not always a warm one (either figuratively or literally).

Early Scotch Irish settlements were established at Worchester, MA, at Falmouth, and at nearby Merrymaker Bay, which is formed by the Androscoggin River entering the Kennebec. Several of these immigrants faced extreme hardships from weather, low provisions and unfriendly townspeople. While some took up permanent residence, several of these early settlers are believed to have moved on to places such as Londonderry in New Hampshire, Sutton, MA, Charleston, SC, and elsewhere throughout Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut and North Carolina. Several Scotch Irish settled in areas where few of their countrymen lived and merged with the more English Congregationalists (see Reference Listing, #38,).