author
William Hepburn Armstrong
1824–1919
A Pennsylvania lawyer and Republican congressman, he also left behind a small body of public-minded writing that reflects the civic debates of his era. His life moved between the courtroom, the state legislature, and Washington, D.C., with roots in Williamsport and a Princeton education.
1 Audiobook
Red-tape and pigeon-hole generals : as seen from the ranks during a campaign in the Army of the Potomac
by Henry Morford, William Hepburn Armstrong, Jacob G. (Jacob Gellert) Frick
About the author
Born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on September 7, 1824, he was educated in local schools and graduated from Princeton College in 1847. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and built his career in Williamsport, where public service soon became a major part of his life.
He served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1860 and 1861, then represented Pennsylvania's 18th district in the U.S. House from 1869 to 1871. Sources on his career describe him primarily as a lawyer and politician rather than a literary figure, but surviving publications connected with his speeches show his interest in practical questions of law, government, and public policy.
He died on May 14, 1919, in Wilmington, Delaware. For listeners coming to his work today, the appeal is less about a large authorial canon than about hearing the voice of a 19th-century American public man speaking directly to the issues of his time.