Lewis F. Armbrust and Nannie Speer

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Husband Lewis F. Armbrust ^{1 2 3}

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           Born: 28 Nov 1843 - Adamsburg, Hempfield Twp, Westmoreland Co, PA 1
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           Died: Bef 1918
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         Father: William Armbrust (1818-      ) 2 4 5
         Mother: Margaret Gongaware (      -      ) 2 5

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       Marriage: 14 Oct 1869 1

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Wife Nannie Speer ¹

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         Father: James B. Speer (      -      ) 1
         Mother: 

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Children

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1 M Harrison B. Armbrust ¹

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2 F Lilian Frances Armbrust ¹

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3 F Mary Edith Armbrust ¹

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General Notes: Husband - Lewis F. Armbrust

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He received a fair common school education, and at nineteen years of age entered the Union army. He enlisted in Co. I, 168th Reg. Pa. Vols., on the 16th of October, 1862, and served until his regiment was discharged at Harrisburg, Pa., on July 25, 1863. Returning home he assisted his father on the farm and in the flouring mill for about a year, when the roar of cannon came louder and nearer, and the government was calling for more volunteers, which so strongly appealed to his patriotism that he again enlisted, August 31, 1864, as a corporal in Co. E, 206th Reg., Pa. Vols., and served until the close of the war. His regiment helped to dig Dutch Gap canal, on the James river, which was continually shelled by the rebel batteries from the hill above. He also helped to build Fort Brady, which was fre­quently shelled by rebel forts in close proximity, and did picket duty in front of Richmond the last winter of the war, and it is claimed his regiment was the first to enter that city after its surrender. After the close of the war he was discharged with his regiment at Richmond, VA, June 26, 1865. He then returned home and assisted his father two years on the farm and in the mill, when he opened a store at Weaver's Old Stand, which he ran for two years and sold to his brother. He then went to Penn station and purchased a store, which he con­ducted for a year. Here he became acquainted with Miss Nannie Speer, and they were later united in marriage Shortly after marriage he purchased two lots at Turtle Creek, PA, a thriving mining town, where he built a dwelling and store-room, to which he removed in the spring of 1871. He sold his store and property five years later, and on December 22, 1877, he printed the first copy of the People's Independent, a six-column four-page weekly; this he conducted a little over six months; about this time the Greenback party was organized and he was appealed to remove his paper to Westmoreland county, and at a county conven­tion of the Greenback party it was made the official organ for Westmoreland county, and on May 15, 1878, he removed his office and family to Greensburg. The paper was shortly changed in name to The National Issue, which he con­ducted and edited about a year and a half, when he sold out to Col. John T. Fulton and the Rev. Uriel Graves; they managed the paper a short time, when they sold to Brunot & Laux, the present owners of the Press.
In 1881 Mr. Armbrust removed to McKeesport, where he engaged in the mercantile business and contracted in house building. In 1882 he established the McKeesport Tribune and Herald, which he published until January, 1890, when he consolidated it with the Greensburg Inde­pendent, which he had founded August 6, 1887. It was an eight-page five-column paper, and had for its motto “Devoted to the interest of labor and the advancement of thought.” Besides containing local, State and national news, it gave much space to the various reform movements. It was regarded as a champion of labor and political reform. In 1888 he erected the Independent building at Nos. 77, 79 and 81 West Ottoman street, Greensburg, PA; it was a very large and neat structure, which was well adapted for a news­paper office and dwelling. In July, 1888, he removed his family and printing office from McKeesport to this building, not yet completed. In 1880 Lewis F. Armbrust was an elector on the presidential ticket of J. B. Weaver. In 1884, while residing at McKeesport, he was a candidate for the Legislature in the Fifth Dis­trict of Allegheny county, being nominated by the Prohibitionists, Labor party, and endorsed by the Democratic party, and polled more votes than all three parties combined in the district for other candidates, but the district being Re­publican by a large majority, was of course not elected. In 1886 his friends in the Labor party again nominated him for the Legislature, but was not elected and did not expect to be. In 1888 he was a presidential elector on the Union Labor party ticket for Hon. A. J. Streetor.
Lewis F. Armbrust, upon his removal to Greensburg, was made County Chairman of the Union Labor party; he was a member of the Methodist Epis­copal Church; Gen. John A. Logan Command No. 2, Union Veteran's Union; Gen. Geary Council, No. 342, O. U. A. M.; Daughters of Liberty; and Master Workman of Good Will Assembly, No. 6905, Knights of Labor. He detested hypocrisy, whether found in the church, in political or social life, and does not admire pride anywhere. He did his own thinking and acted from his convictions regardless of public opinion.
As an editor Mr. Armbrust won an hon­orable reputation. He made labor interests and local news the chief features of the Independent, and its success and permanent establishment followed as fruits of his enterprise and sagacity. [BCWC, 41]

1 Samuel T. Wiley, Biographical and Historical Cyclopedia of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: John M. Gresham & Co., 1890.), Pg 41.

2 John W. Jordan, History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Genealogical Memoirs, Vol. II (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906), Pg 420.

3 Fenwick Y. Hedley, Old and New Westmoreland, Vols. III & IV (New York, NY: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1918), Pg 779.

4 Samuel T. Wiley, Biographical and Historical Cyclopedia of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: John M. Gresham & Co., 1890.), Pg 652.

5 Fenwick Y. Hedley, Old and New Westmoreland, Vols. III & IV (New York, NY: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1918), Pg 778.