Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 2087
Samuel Turell Armstrong (April 29, 1784 – March 26, 1850) was a U.S. political figure. Born in 1784 in Dorchester, Massachusetts, he was a bookseller in Boston, and among other works published a stereotype edition of Scott’s family Bible, which was widely circulated. He became a Deacon of the Old South Church, where he fortuitously discovered the original manuscript of the third volume of Governor John Winthrop’s History of New England.
Orphaned at the age of thirteen, Samuel Armstrong attended public school and worked as a printer’s apprentice in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He operated his own printing business and became a Deacon of the Old South Church, where he fortuitously discovered the original manuscript of the third volume of Governor John Winthrop’s History of New England.
Mr. Armstrong entered politics as a Representative in Massachusetts General Court, serving in that body from 1822-1823 and in 1828-1829. He was elected Lieutenant Governor, serving from 1833, until Governor John Davis’ resignation to leave for the U.S. Senate in 1835. He served as the Governor of Massachusetts between 1835 and 1836.
Because Whig party leader, Daniel Webster supported Edward Everett for the governorship, when Armstrong ran for reelection he lost badly to both Everett and perennial gubernatorial candidate Marcus Morton. Armstrong continued in his successful printing business, being elected Mayor of Boston in 1836 and to the Massachusetts Senate in 1839.
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