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.
Armstrong served as the second postmaster of the post office in Paddytown (present-day Keyser, West Virginia)[a] from October 15, 1814, until April 20, 1818.[1][10] President James Madison appointed him a United States tax collector in the 6th District of Virginia in 1813;[9] he also served in this position in 1818 and 1819.[4][5] In January 1818, Armstrong was unanimously elected as a director of the Bank of the Valley of Virginia's Office of Discount and Deposit in Romney.[11][12] In 1822 and 1823, he served as a member of the Virginia Board of Public Works.[9] Armstrong served as a justice of the peace of Hampshire County from 1820 to 1852,[9][13] and as the sheriff for Hampshire County in 1843.[9][14]
Armstrong first ran for election as a Democratic-Republican to represent Hampshire County as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1811, however, he lost to Federalists Alexander King and Francis White.[15] In 1812, he ran again for election to represent the county in the House of Delegates losing to King and White.[16] In August 1816, Armstrong and John Jack represented Hampshire County at a convention in Staunton to reform the Constitution of Virginia.[17] Armstrong was finally elected to represent the county in the House of Delegates in 1818, alongside White,[18][19] and served his first term from December 7, 1818, until March 13, 1819.[20][21] He was reelected with White in 1819 and served his second term from December 6, 1819, until February 25, 1820.[21][22] Edward McCarty and White succeeded him in 1820.[23]
Following his tenure in Congress, Armstrong engaged in the tavern business.[4] The arrival of the Northwestern Turnpike (present-day U.S. Route 50) to Romney in 1830 created a greater demand for inns and hotels in the town.[31][32] Armstrong and John Kirk, and Armstrong's wife, Jane, and John Baker White were issued two of at least six hotel licenses in Romney within five years after the turnpike's construction.[31][32] Armstrong's hotel, known as Armstrong House, was built around 1800 on Lot 86 at East Main and North Grafton Streets.[33][34][35] Armstrong sold his hotel to Thomas A. Keller in 1848, after which it was known as Keller House or Keller Hotel.[33][35][36] Armstrong remained in Romney until 1862.[4]
Armstrong was a slave owner.[37] He possessed 16 acres (6.5 ha) in Romney, including Lots 81 and 91 near the intersection of present-day Antigo Place and Sioux Lane, where he reserved 0.5 acres (0.20 ha) for an African-American cemetery.[38]
He relocated to New Creek Station (formerly Paddytown, present-day Keyser) during the American Civil War, where he resided at his son Edward McCarty Armstrong's mansion.[39] His son Edward joined the Confederate States Army, while Armstrong remained at the mansion with his daughter-in-law and grandchildren.[39] He died in New Creek Station on May 10, 1865.[4][40] Reverend James H. Leps conducted his funeral service in Romney,[40] and he was interredatIndian Mound Cemetery in Romney.[4][41]
Armstrong was first married to Elizabeth Ann McCarty (June 1, 1786 – July 4, 1843), daughter of Edward McCarty and Elizabeth Millar, from Keyser.[9][42] They had four children together:
Eliza Jane Armstrong Gibson (December 21, 1804 – February 19, 1847), married David Gibson[43]
William James Armstrong (June 28, 1813 – June 19, 1847), married on December 14, 1836, to Susan C. White, daughter of Hampshire County Clerk of Court John Baker White and Alcinda Louisa Tapscott White[41][44][45]
Edward McCarty Armstrong (October 18, 1816 – April 1, 1890), first married to Hannah Angeline Pancake, then married on October 23, 1856, to Louisa Tapscott White, daughter of Hampshire County Clerk of Court John Baker White and Frances Ann Streit White[39][46]
Armstrong and McCarty were married for 42 years.[9] Following Elizabeth's death, he married his cousin Jane Baxter Armstrong (June 7, 1799 – August 30, 1874).[9]
^ abcThe post office for Keyser, West Virginia, was first established as Paddytown in 1811; reestablished as Paddy Town in 1852; then renamed New Creek Depot in 1852; then Wind Lea in 1855; then New Creek Station in 1857; and finally Keyser in 1874, when the city was incorporated.[1][2] Keyser was located within Virginia until the formation of West Virginia in 1863; and it was a part of Hampshire County until the creation of Mineral County in 1866.[1][3]
^ ab"Keller Hotel Register Book Index". HistoricHampshire.org. HistoricHampshire.org, Charles C. Hall. Archived from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
^"Armstrong Colored Cemetery". HistoricHampshire.org. HistoricHampshire.org, Charles C. Hall. Archived from the original on October 13, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
Leps, James H. (1865). A Funeral Discourse, by the Rev. Jas. H. Leps, at Romney, West Va. on the Occasion of the Death of the Hon. William Armstrong, Who Died at New Creek Station, West Va. on the 10th May, 1865. Baltimore: John W. Woods, Printer. OCLC652541197.
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