Richard Armstrong (Hawaii)

Richard Armstrong
Born	April 13, 1805 McEwensville, Pennsylvania
Died	September 23, 1860 (aged 55) Honolulu, Hawaii
Resting place	Kawaiahaʻo Church cemetery
Alma mater	Dickinson College Princeton Theological Seminary
Known for	Missionary Educator
Religion	Presbyterian
Spouse(s)	Clarissa Chapman Armstrong (1805–1891)
Children	Caroline Porter (1832–1905) William Nevins I (1834–1835) William Nevins (1835–1905) Mary Jane (1836–1920) Richard Baxter (1837–1871) Samuel Chapman (1839–1893) Clarissa Hannah (1840–1904) Reuben Chapman (1842–1843) Ellen Eliza (1844–1924) Amelia (1845–1923)
Signature

Clarissa Chapman Armstrong

Richard Armstrong (April 13, 1805 – September 23, 1860) was a missionary from Pennsylvania who arrived in Hawaii in 1832. Along with his wife Clarissa, he served in mission fields of the Marquesas Islands and in the Kingdom of Hawaii. He established several churches and schools, and was Kahu (shepherd) of Kawaiahaʻo Church after the departure of Hiram Bingham I. Kamehameha III appointed him Minister of Public Instruction, and his accomplishments established an educational system that earned him the nickname "The father of American education in Hawaii".

Background

Richard Armstrong was born in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania on April 13, 1805, to James Armstrong and his American-born wife Eleanor Pollock. The elder Armstrong had been born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, and in 1786 emigrated to the United States, where he married Eleanor. The family were Presbyterian. Richard was the youngest child of the union. He was educated at Milton Academy in Massachusetts, furthering his education at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, and graduating from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1831.^[1]

Nuku Hiva and Hawaii

Princeton president Archibald Alexander provided a letter of recommendation In 1831, when Armstrong made the decision to join the next contingent of missionaries being sent to Hawaii by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He received his ordination on October 27, and Armstrong and his new bride Clarissa departed with the other missionaries aboard the Averick on November 26. The ship docked in Honolulu on May 17, 1832, with Clarissa seven months pregnant.^[2] Daughter and first child Caroline Porter was born in Honolulu on July 17.

The board sent the Armstrongs to minister to cannibalistic tribes on Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands July 2, 1833 through May 12, 1834,^[3] serving alongside missionary couples the Rev. William Patterson Alexander and his wife Mary,^[4] and the Rev. Benjamin Wyman Parker and his wife Mary Elizabeth.^[5] The first Armstrong son William Nevins was born on Nuku Hiva on January 2, 1834. The Nuku Hiva mission field was abandoned as futile.^[6]

The Armstrongs were reassigned to the Island of Maui, where the infant William Nevins died March 17, 1835 in Lahaina. Their second son had been born two days before on March 15, and he was given the name of his brother William Nevins.^[7] In July of that year, the Armstrongs were assigned to Wailuku. Three more children were born during this assignment. Mary Jane was born June 2, 1836 in Honolulu. Two sons were born in Wailuku, Richard Baxter on August 15, 1837, and Samuel Chapman on January 30, 1839. During his assignment on Maui, Armstrong established churches at Waihee, Wailuku, Ulupalakua, and at Haiku, where he also became an 1858 founder of Haiku Sugar Company on land he owned.^[8][9]

In 1840, Armstrong was appointed Kahu (shepherd) of Kawaiahaʻo Church to replace Hiram Bingham I.^[10] On August 26, 1854, he was licensed to perform marriages in Hawaii. Armstrong officiated at the June 19, 1856 wedding of Emma Rooke and Alexander Liholiho in Kawaiahaʻo Church.^[11] Additionally, Armstrong served on the government Privy council and the House of Nobles.^[12]

The father of American education in Hawaii

Under Kamehameha III, the position of Minister of Public Instruction of the Kingdom of Hawaii was created. On April 3, 1846, William Richards was appointed to fill the new position.^[13] When Richards died in 1847, Armstrong was appointed to fill the position.^[12] Armstrong held the position until 1855, when he became President of the Board of Education. The educational model he established in the kingdom earned Armstrong the sobriquet "The father of American education in Hawaii". He created a structured environment that was financially supported by a school tax. With Armstrong at the helm, curriculum was standardized, and the responsibilities of faith-based citizenship became a part of it. The kingdom's teachers were given extended training. Land grants were implemented for additional and improved facilities, and the kingdom began issuing its own textbooks. The public school system accommodated the majority of the students, but Armstrong also chartered private educational institutions.^[14]

Personal life and death

Richard Armstrong died September 23, 1860 following a riding accident which punctured an artery in his neck. He was buried on the grounds of Kawaiahaʻo Church.^[15]

He married Clarissa Chapman of Russell, Massachusetts. on September 5, 1831 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. She died July 20, 1891 in San Francisco, California.^[16][17]

The Children of Richard and Clarissa Armstrong^[18]

Name	Birth	Birthplace	Death	Place of death	Notes
Caroline Porter Armstrong Beckwith[19]	July 17, 1832	Honolulu, Hawaii	July 18, 1905	Hamakuapoko, Maui	Married Edward Griffin Beckwith of Great Barrington, Massachusetts
William Nevins Armstrong I[20]	January 2, 1834	Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands	March 17, 1835	Lahaina, Maui	Died in infancy
William Nevins Armstrong[21]	March 15, 1835	Lahaina, Maui	October 15, 1905	Washington, D.C.	Given his brother's name Became Attorney General of Hawaii, and accompanied Kalākaua on his 1881 trip around the world[22]
Mary Jane Graham Armstrong[23][24]	June 2, 1836	Honolulu	October 16, 1920	Berkeley, California
Richard Baxter Armstrong[25]	August 15, 1837	Wailuku, Maui	July 29, 1871	Napa Valley, California
Samuel Chapman Armstrong[26]	January 30, 1839	Wailuku	April 11, 1893	Hampton, Virginia	Founder of Hampton University,[27] Union officer of the American Civil War.
Clarissa Hannah Armstrong Banning	June 27, 1840	Honolulu	June 14, 1904	Oakland	Married Frederick Banning
Reuben Chapman Armstrong[28]	October 5, 1842	Honolulu	October 28, 1843	Honolulu	Died in infancy
Ellen Eliza Chapman Armstrong Weaver[29]	August 12, 1844	Honolulu	September 29, 1924	Berkeley, California	Married Philip Weaver
Amelia Hamilton Armstrong[23]	November 1, 1845	Honolulu	August 25, 1923	Berkeley, California

Notes

1. Eng (1999) pp.1,2
2. Eng (1999) pp.2,3,4
3. HMCS (1901) p.35
4. HMCS (1901) p.34
5. HMCS (1901) p.47
6. Armstrong, Armstrong (1887) p.14
7. Armstrong, Armstrong (1887) p.17
8. Armstrong, Armstrong (1887) pp.21,22
9. Kent, Boylan (1993) p.30
10. Ohles (1978) p.50
11. Porter, Kasdon, Rayson (2003) p.105
12. "Richard Armstrong". State archives. State of Hawaii. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
13. "William Richards". State Archives. State of Hawaii. Retrieved May 7, 2012..
14. Porter, Kasdon, Rayson (2003) pp.76,77
15. Armstrong, Armstrong (1887) pp.101,102
16. Eng (1999) p.3
17. Clarissa Chapman Armstrong I at Find a Grave
18. "Armstrong ancestry". Ancestry.com. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
19. Caroline Porter Beckwith I at Find a Grave
20. William Nevins Armstrong I at Find a Grave
21. William Nevins Armstrong at Find a Grave
22. "William Nevin Armstrong Papers". Yale University Library. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
23. "Armstrong Family Papers". Williams College. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
24. Mary Jane Armstrong at Find a Grave
25. Richard Baxter Armstrong at Find a Grave
26. Samuel Chapman Armstrong at Find a Grave
27. "Samuel Chapman Armstrong". Hawaiian Encyclopedia online. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
28. Reuben Chapman Armstrong at Find a Grave
29. Ellen Armstrong Weaver at Find a Grave

References

• Armstrong, Mrs. Mary Frances Morgan (1887). Richard Armstrong. Normal School Stream Press – via HathiTrust.
• American Protestant Missionaries to Hawaii. Hawaiian Mission Children's Society. 1901.
• Ohles, John F (1978). Biographical Dictionary of American Educators. Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-8371-9893-4.
• Kent, N.J.; Boylan, Daniel B. (1993). Hawaii Islands Under The Influence. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-1552-3.
• Engs, Robert Francis (1999). "Richard Armstrong and His Hawaiian Mission". Educating the Disfranchised and Disinherited: Samuel Chapman Armstrong and Hampton Institute, 1839–1893. Univ Tennessee Press. pp. 1–11. ISBN 978-1-57233-051-1.
• Potter, Norris W; Kasdon, Lawrence M; Rayson, Ann (2003). History of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Bess Press. ISBN 978-1-57306-150-6.