Thomas Emmett Armstrong 1893-1961

My grandfather, Thomas Emmet Armstrong was born May 7, 1893 in Canton, Minnesota.  He was the son of Michael Emmet Armstrong (1856-1898) and Emma Catharine Ryan (1869-1954).  He was the fourth of six children.  He was baptized in the Catholic Church in Canton on 25 July 1893.

WW I

On 15 November 1898, Thomas's father, Michael, died, leaving Emma with five living children aged 1-6 years old.  Thomas's brother, Raymond, died in 1891 at the age of 1.  His sister, Leona, died at the age of six, only a few months after their father's death.  After the death of her husband, Emma and the children moved to Harmony, Minnesota where her family lived. Emma's second marriage was to Joseph J. Martin, in 1907.

Thomas Emmett (who was often called Emmet) was living in Harmony and working on a farm owned by Paul Walsh when he registered for the World War I draft in 1917.  He is described as being medium height, medium build, with dark hair and blue eyes.   He served during World War I in the United States Army.  He served from February 1918 until June 1919 in Company B, 139 Infantry, 35 Division.

According to "The Story of the 139th Infantry" by Clair Kenamore (1920), the 139th was involved in the Battle of Argonne in September-November 1918.  They wintered in the Commercy area, living in unheated billets, haylofts and the like.  There was a chronic shortage of clothing. Colds and pneumonia "grew alarmingly."  The soldiers were ordered to LeMans in the spring and returned home shortly afterward.

In the 1920 census, T.E. Armstrong was either living in Harmony, Minnesota or in Minneapolis, Minnesota.   Thomas Armstrong is listed as a "daughter" living with Joseph and Emma Martin.  However, a Thos E Armstrong (born abt 1894) and a William F Armstrong (born abt 1896) were listed as lodgers at the home of W.E. Bowers in Minneapolis.  Thomas had a brother, William Forrest, who was born in 1895.  Thos E Armstrong in Minneapolis was working in the auto industry as a tire vulcanizer.  Thomas Armstrong in Harmony was working as a hardware salesman.  It's possible he lived in both places during 1920.

According to his daughter, he was a mule skinner (mule driver) when the city of Harmony got electricity, and he got the nickname "Skinner"  which stuck for the rest of his life.

I have not been able to find Thomas E. Armstrong in the 1930 census.  His stepfather died in 1929, and his mother was living in Minneapolis with two of his sisters.  In 1934, he married Evelyn Peterson of Lanesboro, Minnesota in Canton, Minnesota.  Thomas and Evelyn made their home in Harmony, Minnesota, where they raised five children:  Thomas, Ann, Kathryn, Jon, and Carroll.

T.E. and son Tom

T.E. and sons Tom and Jon

In the 1940 census, Thomas E. Armstrong was listed as a garage employee.  In the 1942 World War II draft, he was noted to be working at Feda Motor Sales.  At some point after 1942, Thomas and Evelyn established the Armstrong Insurance Agency in Harmony.

In May 1961, Thomas was hospitalized and he died on 1 September 1961 in the Veteran's Hospital in Minneapolis.  He is buried at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis.