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William
Henry Armstrong |
William Henry Armstrong was born on July 3, 1861(or 1859) at Cardington, Morrow County, OH, the son of William "Forster" and Elizabeth (Miner) Armstrong. He was an entrepreneuer, founding his own business, and was once called "one of Piqua [Ohio's] most progressive business men."
As a 10-year-old boy, William and his parents moved to Piqua, Miami County. It was there, said the Miami Union, that:
He attended the public schools and was graduated from high school. He left here to accept a traveling position, later engaged in business in Detroit, and in 1896, returned to Piqua and purchased the wholesale business then being conducted by McWilliams & Hollinger. [His] steady devotion in his business was rewarded by unusual success and in 1903, he found it necessary to build a new and larger business house....
On Sept. 18, 1883, in Vermillion County, IN, William married Dorothy V. Malone (1863-1917). They had three children -- Gurudolgn (Gwendolyn?) Armstrong, Harry F. Armstrong and Elizabeth Armstrong. Gurudolgn is thought to have died young.
In the early years of their marriage, the Armstrongs lived in Vermillion County, where at least two of their children were born between 1883 and 1887. Later, they returned to Piqua, where they purchased a house at 325 Riverside Drive, and were members of the St. James Episcopal Church.
One of the ongoing risks of living in Piqua was the annual
flooding in springtime. Seen here is high water in the town's Main
Street, taken on March 25, 1913. It's not known if the Armstrongs were impacted
by the floods or not.
Sadly,
Dorothy died of "an attack of heart failure" on Oct. 3, 1917 at Piqua.
The Piqua Call said that she "had been in poor
health but her last illness was practically only of 10 days' duration. Even then
it was not of a character to cause apprehension to the members of her immediate
family, only at the very last. For this reason the announcement of her death
came as a severe shock to her friends.
Dorothy was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Piqua.
In 1919, William married his second wife, Anna B. Hanlon ( ? - ? ). She was a resident of Louisville, Jefferson County, KY.
William's
health began to fail in his early 60s. In January 1922, at the age of 61, he moved to
Miami Beach, Dade County, FL "to regain his health," said a newspaper. "Within the
last week, he seemed to be greatly improved, and physicians thought him well on
the road to recovery." Sadly, however, he died there on May 6, 1922. His
remains were returned to Piqua for interment..
Unfortunately, Anna's fate is not known.
Copyright © 2001, 2005, 2009 Mark A. Miner