Alameda County
Biographies
THOMAS GIBSON ARMSTRONG
THOMAS GIBSON ARMSTRONG. Prominent among the men whose
native ability has placed them among the foremost landscape artists of our
country is Thomas Gibson Armstrong, of Fruitvale, Cal. In his career
he has done much toward affording enjoyment to the masses of the people, and
more especially in developing their power to appreciate the beautiful. Coming
of Scotch ancestry, he was born in March, 1831, in the north of Ireland, a son
of Thomas Armstrong. A native of England, Thomas Armstrong was born
and reared in the southern part of that country, and there grew to manhood.
After learning the weaver’s trade, he removed to the North of Ireland, where he
followed agricultural pursuits for a while, and was afterward actively engaged
in business for many years. He married Margaret Gibson, who was born in
Scotland, and died, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years, in the North of
Ireland. After her death Thomas Armstrong came to the United States and
spent the remainder of his life with his son, Thomas Gibson, in Milwaukee,
Wis., passing away at the age of ninety-nine years.
The third child in a family consisting of three sons and
one daughter, Thomas Gibson Armstrong received his early education in
the public schools of his native land. He afterward served an apprenticeship at
gardening, studying in the Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh, Scotland, and in the
city of Dublin, Ireland. Going into business then for himself, he was head
gardener at Castle Hamilton, County Cavan, Ireland,
for a brief time. Emigrating to the United States in
1854, Mr. Armstrong entered the employ of
Hon. Alexander Mitchell, in New York City, Mr. Mitchell being
then president of the St. Paul Railroad Company, and president of the
Marine and Fire Insurance Company’s Bank of Milwaukee, Wis. When he came to
this country, Mr. Armstrong had letters of introduction to some of the
leading seedsmen and florists of New York City, and
was very highly recommended. Going with his new employer to Milwaukee, he
served as gardener for Mr. Mitchell for three or four years, in which time
he laid out his extensive grounds in a most artistic manner, and planned and
erected his model greenhouses and conservatory. Subsequently establishing
himself as a landscape gardener, Mr. Armstrong designed and carried out
the landscape features of all the large parks of Milwaukee and vicinity, after
which he went to Chicago, Ill., where he assisted in beautifying Lincoln Park
and South Park, being in partnership a part of the time with Mr. Cleaveland. He afterward laid out the principal driveways
of the south side boulevards of Chicago, making them the most attractive
thoroughfares of that city.
Going thence to Wisconsin, Mr. Armstrong laid out
Kenosha Park, his plans and designs being accepted in preference to those of
many other competitors for the honor. From 1879 until 1881 he was employed by
the state of Wisconsin as a landscape gardener, and during the time laid out
the grounds of the State Normal School buildings at River Falls, Oshkosh and
Platteville. In 1894 Mr. Armstrong made a tour of the United States,
visiting all of the principal cities, investigating as
far as possible the different park systems of each. Locating in Alameda county in 1895, he bought four acres of land in the
foothills, near Oakland, and has here improved his present fine residence
estate, which is beautifully located in the Fruitvale district, on Rose avenue,
not far from Mills College. Here he has erected large greenhouses, which he now
leases. As a landscape gardener Mr. Armstrong has achieved a national
reputation, and his services are ever in demand. He made the plans for laying
out Lytton Springs, Cal., and they have already been accepted, and he will have
charge of the laying out of the Vacaville Park.
Mr. Armstrong married first Elizabeth Wilson, who
was born in the North of Ireland, and died in 1865 in Milwaukee, Wis. She bore
him three sons: John Wilson, a railway engineer; George Thomas, a
florist in business with his father, who was accidentally killed while hunting;
and David William, engaged in gardening at Waukesha, Wis.
Mr. Armstrong married second, in Milwaukee, Wis., in 1887, Caroline Laine, a sister of Dr. Joseph R. Laine, late of San Francisco, Cal. She was born in Canada
and died January 21, 1904, in Fruitvale,
Cal. Politically Mr. Armstrong is an active supporter of the principles of
the Republican party. While a resident of Milwaukee, he served one term in the
city council, and for three terms was a member of the
city school board, his services in that capacity being so well appreciated that
at the expiration of his term, in May, 1879, his colleagues presented him with
a gold-headed cane. Fraternally he is a member of Peabody Lodge No. 74,
A. O. U. W., having been the organizer of Peabody Lodge
No. 74, of Milwaukee, in 1879, and was its first past master workman and
represented it in the state Grand Lodge.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard 25 October 2015.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages
819-820. The Chapman Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Marie
Hassard.
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