Armstrong, Hugh M.

Born: 1809-02-03 Warren County, Kentucky

Died: 1902-09-07 Springfield, Illinois

Flourished: 1834-05-05 Sangamon County, Illinois

Armstrong moved to Madison County, Illinois, with his family in 1816. In 1829 he settled in Springfield, Illinois, where he married Lavina M. Dryer, and the couple had ten children. He was the brother of Jack Armstrong. During the Black Hawk War, Armstrong served as a private in Jonathan R. Saunders's company from June 15 to July 2, 1831. The following year, Armstrong enlisted as a private in Abraham Lincoln's company of the 4th Regiment of Mounted Volunteers on April 21, 1832. When the soldiers elected Samuel M. Thompson of Lincoln's company as the regiment's colonel, Armstrong became Lincoln's first lieutenant on April 30 and served until the company was mustered out on May 27. Armstrong reenlisted as a private in Thomas Moffett's Company from June 4 to August 16, 1832. In 1851, he was a delegate to the Springfield Whig convention. He was a hatter and was in business with his brother Hosea Armstrong in Springfield. Later, he was in the wool carding business with Joseph Thayer and E. R. Thayer.

Gravestone, Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, IL; John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 86; Muster Roll of 4th Regiment of Mounted Volunteers; Isaac H. Elliott, Record of the Services of Illinois Soldiers in the Black Hawk War, 1831-32, and in the Mexican War, 1846-8 (Springfield, IL: H. W. Rokker, 1882), 77; Ellen M. Whitney, ed., The Black Hawk War, 1831-1832: Illinois Volunteers, vol. 35 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Society, 1970), 1:89-90, 177, 413-15; Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 19 March 1851, 3:2; Kenneth J. Winkle, The Young Eagle: The Rise of Abraham Lincoln (Dallas: Taylor Trade, 2001), 115.