Agnes (Mitchell) Armitage recorded that she was born Aug 15, 1822 in Ayr, Scotland. In her own hand she spelled her name Agness. Born in the parish of Loudoun, she lived in the small town of Darvel with her family until coming to the US with her parents and siblings, and settling in the region of Auburn, Onondaga County, New York in the early 1830s. The siblings that are known to have come to the US include Robert (unsure which one), James, Elizabeth, and Margaret. The fate of the rest is unknown.
Agnes was described in a letter of 1844 as a "very handsome young Scotch woman, quite a beauty." She met David Armitage (1817-1849), a young wool-dyer from Yorkshire, England, and married him September 24, 1843 in Auburn, New York. Shortly thereafter, the couple moved to Contreras, Mexico, in connection with the business activities of Sir Archibald Hope, where David became involved in silver mining. (It is noted that Archibald Hope had interests in fostering the Mexican woolen industry, a deal that fell through due to political changes. David may have been along on account of his expertise in wool manufacture.) Agnes bore her first two children in Mexico -- John in 1844 in Contreras, and Agnes in 1846 in Calaya. They fled during the Mexican-American War which took place in 1846-1848 and involved their town of Contreras.
On the trip back to New York, the family was held up by highway robbers, and lost their gold, which had been sewn into the women's petticoats.
In 1848 the couple headed West to settle in Milwaukee, in the new state of Wisconsin. This date is established from a letter written by Agnes' father, John.
In 1849 David left to prospect in the Gold Rush in California. He set out with a neighbor named William Price (a tailor), prospecting in the area of the Feather River in Yuba. In December he fell ill and died of uncertain causes, although the official death records indicate Typhus or Typhoid. A letter from William Price to Agnes documents the events of the journey and his death.
Being left a widow at age 28 with three children, Agnes somehow survived the next decade living in downtown Milwaukee, on Virginia St., near the 5th Ward Public School (which at least her daughter Jennie later attended) and the Congregational Church.
In 1860 at the age of 38, she married again, this time to Jared Thompson Sr. (1805-1890), an itinerant Methodist Minister and farmer who had been residing in the town of Lake, Milwaukee County. She bore him two children, Albert M (Thompson) Armitage (1862-1928) in 1862 and Jennie Isbell (Thompson) Binney (1865-1950) in 1865.
By 1870 she had divorced, and later changed her son Albert's name to Armitage. According to family recollection, she declined to change Jennie's name, since she counted on her name being changed by marriage. One can only speculate on her reasons for the change in name. She is found on the 1870 census and later still in 1880, residing at her home on Virginia St, in the 5th Ward of Milwaukee. She is consistently listed as "keeping house" as an occupation.
Sometime after her daughter Jennie's marriage (1886) Agnes followed Jennie to Kansas City, where she lived until her death in 1893.
Letters of correspondence between her and her children remain from this time. Her body was transported back to Milwaukee for interment alongside her son John in Forest Home Cemetery.
Agnes was described in a letter of 1844 as a "very handsome young Scotch woman, quite a beauty." She met David Armitage (1817-1849), a young wool-dyer from Yorkshire, England, and married him September 24, 1843 in Auburn, New York. Shortly thereafter, the couple moved to Contreras, Mexico, in connection with the business activities of Sir Archibald Hope, where David became involved in silver mining. (It is noted that Archibald Hope had interests in fostering the Mexican woolen industry, a deal that fell through due to political changes. David may have been along on account of his expertise in wool manufacture.) Agnes bore her first two children in Mexico -- John in 1844 in Contreras, and Agnes in 1846 in Calaya. They fled during the Mexican-American War which took place in 1846-1848 and involved their town of Contreras.
On the trip back to New York, the family was held up by highway robbers, and lost their gold, which had been sewn into the women's petticoats.
In 1848 the couple headed West to settle in Milwaukee, in the new state of Wisconsin. This date is established from a letter written by Agnes' father, John.
In 1849 David left to prospect in the Gold Rush in California. He set out with a neighbor named William Price (a tailor), prospecting in the area of the Feather River in Yuba. In December he fell ill and died of uncertain causes, although the official death records indicate Typhus or Typhoid. A letter from William Price to Agnes documents the events of the journey and his death.
Being left a widow at age 28 with three children, Agnes somehow survived the next decade living in downtown Milwaukee, on Virginia St., near the 5th Ward Public School (which at least her daughter Jennie later attended) and the Congregational Church.
In 1860 at the age of 38, she married again, this time to Jared Thompson Sr. (1805-1890), an itinerant Methodist Minister and farmer who had been residing in the town of Lake, Milwaukee County. She bore him two children, Albert M (Thompson) Armitage (1862-1928) in 1862 and Jennie Isbell (Thompson) Binney (1865-1950) in 1865.
By 1870 she had divorced, and later changed her son Albert's name to Armitage. According to family recollection, she declined to change Jennie's name, since she counted on her name being changed by marriage. One can only speculate on her reasons for the change in name. She is found on the 1870 census and later still in 1880, residing at her home on Virginia St, in the 5th Ward of Milwaukee. She is consistently listed as "keeping house" as an occupation.
Sometime after her daughter Jennie's marriage (1886) Agnes followed Jennie to Kansas City, where she lived until her death in 1893.
Letters of correspondence between her and her children remain from this time. Her body was transported back to Milwaukee for interment alongside her son John in Forest Home Cemetery.
Agnes (Mitchell) Armitage recorded that she was born Aug 15, 1822 in Ayr, Scotland. In her own hand she spelled her name Agness. Born in the parish of Loudoun, she lived in the small town of Darvel with her family until coming to the US with her parents and siblings, and settling in the region of Auburn, Onondaga County, New York in the early 1830s. The siblings that are known to have come to the US include Robert (unsure which one), James, Elizabeth, and Margaret. The fate of the rest is unknown.
Agnes was described in a letter of 1844 as a "very handsome young Scotch woman, quite a beauty." She met David Armitage (1817-1849), a young wool-dyer from Yorkshire, England, and married him September 24, 1843 in Auburn, New York. Shortly thereafter, the couple moved to Contreras, Mexico, in connection with the business activities of Sir Archibald Hope, where David became involved in silver mining. (It is noted that Archibald Hope had interests in fostering the Mexican woolen industry, a deal that fell through due to political changes. David may have been along on account of his expertise in wool manufacture.) Agnes bore her first two children in Mexico -- John in 1844 in Contreras, and Agnes in 1846 in Calaya. They fled during the Mexican-American War which took place in 1846-1848 and involved their town of Contreras.
On the trip back to New York, the family was held up by highway robbers, and lost their gold, which had been sewn into the women's petticoats.
In 1848 the couple headed West to settle in Milwaukee, in the new state of Wisconsin. This date is established from a letter written by Agnes' father, John.
In 1849 David left to prospect in the Gold Rush in California. He set out with a neighbor named William Price (a tailor), prospecting in the area of the Feather River in Yuba. In December he fell ill and died of uncertain causes, although the official death records indicate Typhus or Typhoid. A letter from William Price to Agnes documents the events of the journey and his death.
Being left a widow at age 28 with three children, Agnes somehow survived the next decade living in downtown Milwaukee, on Virginia St., near the 5th Ward Public School (which at least her daughter Jennie later attended) and the Congregational Church.
In 1860 at the age of 38, she married again, this time to Jared Thompson Sr. (1805-1890), an itinerant Methodist Minister and farmer who had been residing in the town of Lake, Milwaukee County. She bore him two children, Albert M (Thompson) Armitage (1862-1928) in 1862 and Jennie Isbell (Thompson) Binney (1865-1950) in 1865.
By 1870 she had divorced, and later changed her son Albert's name to Armitage. According to family recollection, she declined to change Jennie's name, since she counted on her name being changed by marriage. One can only speculate on her reasons for the change in name. She is found on the 1870 census and later still in 1880, residing at her home on Virginia St, in the 5th Ward of Milwaukee. She is consistently listed as "keeping house" as an occupation.
Sometime after her daughter Jennie's marriage (1886) Agnes followed Jennie to Kansas City, where she lived until her death in 1893.
Letters of correspondence between her and her children remain from this time. Her body was transported back to Milwaukee for interment alongside her son John in Forest Home Cemetery.
Agnes was described in a letter of 1844 as a "very handsome young Scotch woman, quite a beauty." She met David Armitage (1817-1849), a young wool-dyer from Yorkshire, England, and married him September 24, 1843 in Auburn, New York. Shortly thereafter, the couple moved to Contreras, Mexico, in connection with the business activities of Sir Archibald Hope, where David became involved in silver mining. (It is noted that Archibald Hope had interests in fostering the Mexican woolen industry, a deal that fell through due to political changes. David may have been along on account of his expertise in wool manufacture.) Agnes bore her first two children in Mexico -- John in 1844 in Contreras, and Agnes in 1846 in Calaya. They fled during the Mexican-American War which took place in 1846-1848 and involved their town of Contreras.
On the trip back to New York, the family was held up by highway robbers, and lost their gold, which had been sewn into the women's petticoats.
In 1848 the couple headed West to settle in Milwaukee, in the new state of Wisconsin. This date is established from a letter written by Agnes' father, John.
In 1849 David left to prospect in the Gold Rush in California. He set out with a neighbor named William Price (a tailor), prospecting in the area of the Feather River in Yuba. In December he fell ill and died of uncertain causes, although the official death records indicate Typhus or Typhoid. A letter from William Price to Agnes documents the events of the journey and his death.
Being left a widow at age 28 with three children, Agnes somehow survived the next decade living in downtown Milwaukee, on Virginia St., near the 5th Ward Public School (which at least her daughter Jennie later attended) and the Congregational Church.
In 1860 at the age of 38, she married again, this time to Jared Thompson Sr. (1805-1890), an itinerant Methodist Minister and farmer who had been residing in the town of Lake, Milwaukee County. She bore him two children, Albert M (Thompson) Armitage (1862-1928) in 1862 and Jennie Isbell (Thompson) Binney (1865-1950) in 1865.
By 1870 she had divorced, and later changed her son Albert's name to Armitage. According to family recollection, she declined to change Jennie's name, since she counted on her name being changed by marriage. One can only speculate on her reasons for the change in name. She is found on the 1870 census and later still in 1880, residing at her home on Virginia St, in the 5th Ward of Milwaukee. She is consistently listed as "keeping house" as an occupation.
Sometime after her daughter Jennie's marriage (1886) Agnes followed Jennie to Kansas City, where she lived until her death in 1893.
Letters of correspondence between her and her children remain from this time. Her body was transported back to Milwaukee for interment alongside her son John in Forest Home Cemetery.
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