Return to the El Dorado County Page Return to El Dorado County TalesWritten by Joanne Burkett from research taken from Paolo Sioli's History of El Dorado County California, from El Dorado Co. birth, marriage, death and land records and often from interviews.
Tom Armstrong must have been proud of his Scottish heritage because throughout his life in El Dorado County he sometimes claimed to have been born there.
Actually, it was his parents, Thomas and Jane (Bell) Armstrong who were born in Glasgow, Scotland, close to that country's western coast. The young couple immigrated to the United States around 1829, perhaps because of increased competition for jobs. Glasgow's population was increasing enormously during the 1820s due to an influx of hungry Highlands immigrants who were arriving every day to offer their unskilled labor for smaller wages.
Tom was born and christened Thomas Z. Armstrong two years later on Feb. 28, 1831 while his parents were living on a small farm in West Union, the county seat of Adams County, Ohio. Tom Senior had found work as a contractor on nearby toll roads and pikes. The country was growing by leaps and bounds. It had been less than 40 years since Adams County had been part of what was then known as the Northwest Territory. But, although opportunity for success was available for the taking, life was not any easier in this new country than it had been in Scotland. In fact, it got worse for the Armstrongs when, in 1840, Tom Senior died, leaving his family without a husband and father.
There must have been other family members living nearby, though, because when Tom was six years old, he left with an uncle and traveled to Whiteside County, Illinois where he lived until he was 19.
Whiteside, located in the northwestern part of Illinois near the Mississippi River, was proving to be productive farming country. It was a young county, having been cut from Jo Davies and Henry counties in 1836. It took its name from the revered General Samuel Whiteside, who had passed through the area four years before in hot pursuit of Blackhawk, a mighty Indian chief.
In the spring of Tom's 19th year, he left for California, arriving in Placerville on Aug. 22, 1850. He hardly had enough money to buy himself a meal. But, gold mining offered salvation from his plight and he immediately went in search of a claim of his own.
He found it first at Fort John, located along Dry Creek. Months later, in 1851, Tom took his gear and traveled into Placer County, where he mined at Volcano canyon for a short time before returning to El Dorado County. He settled in Coloma, the county seat at the time, where he remained for several years. His name is listed on the town's 1860 census.
He had found work operating the toll bridge across the south fork of the American River at the bustling little town as well as finding employment as a ditch agent for a prominent gentleman named Thomas Williams and his "Williams Ditch."
Over the next years Tom accumulated some cash and in 1867 he departed for Jones' Hill, near Georgetown, where he purchased a mining claim, which he would operate somewhat successfully for more than 12 years.
In May 1880, he officially became a resident of Georgetown and appears on the census of that year. On June 1, 1881, he shelled out $200 of his savings for a partnership with Amos Baldwin, a long-time California gold seeker, in the Rich Gulch Mine. It was a brilliant move. In just over two months, they took out almost $18,000 in gold, a tremendous sum in those days.
Money bought him status and a gentrified life. He became a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the International Order of Odd Fellows and was considered a man who was a "fair dealer." In 1892, he shows up in the county's Great Register and elsewhere as a member of the El Dorado County Pioneers Association.
He had come a long way from the teenager who had crossed the prairie 30 years before without enough money to buy himself a decent meal.
Permission is granted by the author to use or republish this article, but proper attribution to the author -- Joanne Burkett -- is requested.
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Last Updated on: 10 October 2003