{{Short description|American Wyandot merchant (1810–1865)}} {{Infobox officeholder | birth_date = January 3, 1810 | death_date = {{Death date and age|1865|12|14|1810|01|03}} | birth_place = Near Upper Sandusky, Ohio, US | office = Wyandotte Nation | order = Head Chief of | term_start = 1858 | term_end = December 14, 1865 | children = 13 | image = Silas Armstrong.jpg | caption = Daguerreotype of Armstrong, {{Circa|1850}} | resting_place = Huron Cemetery, Kansas City, Kansas, US | preceded = Matthew Mudeater }}
'''Silas Armstrong''' (January 3, 1810 — December 14, 1865) was an American Wyandot merchant and politician. As a leader of the Wyandots, he had a major role in founding part of Kansas City, Kansas after the Wyandot were removed to Kansas from Ohio.
== Biography == Armstrong was born on January 3, 1810, near Upper Sandusky, Ohio, and was raised in a Bear Clan community. In 1832, he married Sarah Preston. His family's farm, known as the "Armstrong Bottom", was run by Armstrong.<ref name="ArmstrongKCKPL">{{Cite web |title=Silas Armstrong |website=KCKPL Gallery |publisher=Kansas City, Kansas Public Library |url=https://www.kckpl.org/gallery/silas-armstrong |access-date=2026-02-16}}</ref>
In 1843, Armstrong and his family moved to the Town of Kansas. There, Armstrong began trading in a rented building in modern-day Westport. He worked as a merchant, sawmill operator, land speculator, and farmer, later forming a partnership with Hiram Northup.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hiram Northrup |url=https://www.wyandot.org/hiram.htm |access-date=2024-05-18 |website=www.wyandot.org}}</ref> He also worked as an interpreter for Nathan Scarritt.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Image 29 of The Methodist missions among the Indian tribes in Kansas |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassbookdig.methodistmission00lutz/?sp=29&st=text |access-date=2024-05-09 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref> He was president of the Wyandott Town Company. The town of Armstrong, Kansas was named after him; it later merged with Kansas City, Kansas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Armstrong, Kansas – Absorbed by Kansas City – Legends of Kansas |url=https://legendsofkansas.com/armstrong-kansas/ |access-date=2024-05-09}}</ref>
Armstrong served as Head Chief of the Wyandot Nation from 1858,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-23 |title=The centuries-old fight to save a piece of the Wyandot tribe's history in Kansas |url=https://martincitytelegraph.com/2020/11/23/the-centuries-old-fight-to-save-a-piece-of-the-wyandot-tribes-history-in-kansas/ |access-date=2024-05-09 |language=en-US}}</ref> until he fell ill and died in office<ref>{{Cite web |title=Silas Armstrong |url=https://kchistory.org/islandora/object/kchistory%3A95951 |access-date=2024-05-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=How Was the Non-River State Line That Divides KCK and KCMO Selected? Your KC Q Answered {{!}} Kansas City Public Library |url=https://kclibrary.org/news/2019-02/how-was-non-river-state-line-divides-kck-and-kcmo-selected-your-kc-q-answered |access-date=2024-05-09 |website=kclibrary.org |language=en}}</ref> on December 14, 1865.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Silas Armstrong Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=69393 |access-date=2024-05-09 |website=www.hmdb.org |language=en}}</ref> Over 1000 people attended his funeral at Huron Cemetery.<ref name="ArmstrongKCKPL" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:1810 births Category:People from Upper Sandusky, Ohio Category:Businesspeople from Kansas City, Missouri Category:Wyandotte Nation people Category:1865 deaths Category:Native American people from Ohio Category:Native American people from Missouri Category:Merchants from Missouri