William Armstrong (Virginia politician)

Honorable
William Armstrong
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 16th district
In office
March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1833
Preceded byJames Stephenson
Succeeded byJames M. H. Beale
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from Hampshire County
In office
1818–1820
Serving with Francis White
Preceded byEdward McCarty
William Naylor
Succeeded byEdward McCarty
Francis White
Personal details
Born(1782-12-23)December 23, 1782
Lisburn, County Antrim, Kingdom of Ireland
DiedMay 10, 1865(1865-05-10) (aged 82)
Keyser, West Virginia, U.S.[a]
Resting placeIndian Mound Cemetery, Romney, West Virginia, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic-Republican
National Republican
Whig
Spouse(s)Elizabeth Ann McCarty
Jane Baxter Armstrong
ChildrenEliza Jane Armstrong Gibson
William James Armstrong
Edward McCarty Armstrong
James Dillon Armstrong
Profession
  • Lawyer
  • civil servant
  • politician
  • businessperson

William Armstrong (December 23, 1782 – May 10, 1865) was an American lawyer, civil servant, politician, and businessperson. He represented Hampshire County in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1818 to 1820, and Virginia's 16th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1825 to 1833.

Armstrong was born in 1782 in Lisburn, County Antrim, Kingdom of Ireland (in present-day Northern Ireland), and emigrated to the United States in 1792. He studied law under Charles Magill, became a lawyer, and settled in Hampshire County, Virginia (present-day West Virginia). Armstrong served in a number of civil service positions, including postmaster of Paddytown (present-day Keyser);[a] U.S. tax collector appointed by President James Madison; director of the Bank of the Valley of Virginia; member of the Virginia Board of Public Works from 1822 to 1823; justice of the peace for Hampshire County from 1820 to 1852; and Hampshire County sheriff in 1843. Armstrong was chosen as a presidential elector for Virginia in the 1820 and 1824 U.S. presidential elections.

He was elected to two terms in the Virginia House of Delegates and four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, two as an Adamsite Democratic-Republican and two as a National Republican. In Congress, he assisted in passing a bill to appropriate funds to construct the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in 1828. Following his tenure in Congress, Armstrong engaged in the tavern business and operated the Armstrong House hotel in Romney. In 1862, he relocated to Keyser, where he died in 1865.

  1. ^ a b "Postmasters by City: Keyser Post Office, Mineral County West Virginia". United States Postal Service Postmaster Finder. United States Postal Service. Archived from the original on October 14, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  2. ^ Wolfe 1974, pp. 4, 8, 12 & 22.
  3. ^ Wolfe 1974, p. 20.


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