The Detective
William Armstrong
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William Armstrong has been one of the more difficult subjects to research. If not for his career as a police officer and detective, very little of his life would have been preserved. A few details of his life have been communicated by his grandchildren. Everything else we think we know of him comes from the census, voter registrations, and newspaper articles.
Almost no information of William's life before 1880 has been preserved. A letter, now lost, tells us that he came from county Fermanagh in what is now Northern Ireland. (A recent visit by his grandson John T. Armstrong found that there are no longer any Catholic Armstrong's left in the area.) From early twentieth century censuses, it is known that he arrived in California in about 1872 at about age twenty. William was naturalized on July 13, 1880 at the Superior Court of San Francisco, and he registered to vote for the first time on October First of that year. Towards the end of his career, a brief tribute was published in the San Francisco Chronicle which claimed he had worked as a coachman and as an "upstate milk rancher" before he joined the SFPD. I am doubtful of these claims. There was another William Armstrong that worked as a coachman in the city in the 1870's, and his grandson John T. Armstrong doesn't recall anything of this nature. Maybe it's true, or maybe it was just shoddy journalism. |
William Armstrong - circa 1885
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The Orphanages
Mt. St. Joseph Infant Asylum - SF Call 9/12/1909 page five - From the series Inside San Francisco's Orphanages
San Francisco Call - 9/12/1909 page 5
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A family anecdote goes that William and his wife Margaret met in an orphanage, and thus were the first welfare family in California. A more serious version is that William worked as a gardener at the All Hallows Orphan Asylum, where Margaret Shelley had been placed by her father after the death of her mother (Kate Connell or O'Connell). City directories and old maps of the city more or less validate the second tale. City directories from 1879, 1881, and 1882, list Margaret Shelley as a cook at the Saint Joseph's Infant Asylum which was located on Silver Street. The 1883 directory lists her as a cook living on Silver Ave. between Sumatra and Lahaina Streets. William is listed in the 1880 and 1882 voter registrations as living on Silver Ave. between 17th and 19th. Bancroft's Map of San Francisco 1891 shows the north south streets in that area as having two names. 17th and 19th are indeed Sumatra and Lahaina streets. So, it is true that the two did indeed meet in an orphanage. However, both of them were gainfully employed.
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San Francisco City Directory - 1881
California Voter Register - 1880
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San Francisco City Directory - 1883
California Voter Register 1882
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Early Police Work - Starting a Family
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At some point after October of 1882, William left the orphanage for a new career. He was appointed to the San Francisco Police Department on October 31, 1883, where he would serve for 42 years. He was thirty one at the time of his appointment. A year later, on January 24, 1884, he married his former orphanage colleague, Margaret Shelley. I have been able to uncover very little about Margaret. At that time, women could not register to vote, and typical of the times, she would have been referred to as Mrs. William Armstrong. Other than a letter from her uncle, one photo, and the city directory listings, there is virtually no record of her existence. We do know that, by 1886 the voter registration role lists William as living at 2628 Sutter Street (near Presidio Avenue). The 1896 voter registration is also interesting in that it provides a physical description. William was 5'8 1/4" tall, which was a little taller than average for the time. He had blue eyes, brown hair, a ruddy (or pail as listed in a later registration) complexion, and his face was pockmarked.
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Margaret Shelley Armstrong
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California Voter Register - 1896
San Francisco Call 7/28/1893
San Francisco Examiner - 12/27/1885
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William started his police career at the North End Police Station. San Francisco was a fast growing and wild town at that time. Working as a beat cop could get rough. Two incidents early on in his career illustrate the working conditions at the time.
In one, he escaped being the victim of an unruly mob by the use of his wits and revolver. On a summer afternoon in 1893, William and his partner were on the beat in the North Beach area. Two local "social clubs" were having picnics at neighboring venues. Since beer was a little cheaper outside of the picnic grounds, members of each of the rival groups were meeting at a bar and several fights broke out. Armstrong and his partner stepped in and made an arrest. Soon, both groups turned their attention and surrounded the two officers. Both were hit by cobblestones, and Armstrong was forced to fire his revolver into the air in order to hold back the mob. The arrival of reinforcements from the local station saved Armstrong and his partner from the mob. (More on the riot here.) In another incident, (December 1885), he was savagely beaten and ended up off the job for weeks. He had received reports of two gang members ordering drinks in bars and refusing to pay. He tracked them down to a bar on Webster Street and took one of them into custody. As he was walking his prisoner down the street, he was attacked from behind by the other hooligan. The attacker used a hammer to William's head, and caused significant damage. Fortunately, the attack occurred outside a medical college, and William was given medical attention immediately. He ended up being off the job for weeks.
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Police work in San Francisco was dangerous work for a family man. Nine months before the second incident described above, Bill and Margaret became parents for the first time. Their first child, Rose, was born on 3/12/1885. She would be the first of five children. Daughter Margaret, nicknamed "Toots" arrived on 1/5/1888, and son William followed in February of 1892. Helen was born on 11/21/1897.
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Detailed to Chinatown
At the turn of the century. William was still a beat cop, and was a father of four. However, the new century was to bring new opportunities. The first indication of a brighter future was his assignment to a new neighborhood. He was selected to join an elite group of officers that were tasked with addressing the gambling and prostitution problems in Chinatown. In one incident, William was on hand to assist in the escape of a young woman who had been sold into prostitution by her mother (article at right). The temporary assignment of the group was considered very successful.
Chronicle 1/18/1990
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San Francisco Call - 4/4/1899 (Images)
San Francisco Chronicle - 5/2/1890 - Part One
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San Fransisco Call - 4/4/1899 (Text)
San Francisco Chronicle - 5/2/1890 - Part Two
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Detailed to the Secret Service
May of 1901 just six weeks after the birth of his fifth child (Edward 3/29/1901) William was selected to serve along with a very small group of elite police officers assigned to the Secret Service to protect president William McKinley's during the president's visit to San Francisco in 1901 (see article here).
San Francisco Chronicle - 5/13/1901
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Edward Aloysius Armstrong's Certificate of Baptism
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Real Estate
San Francisco Chronicle - 1/12/1888
SF Call - 3/19/1902
San Francisco Chronicle - 3/1/1902
SF Call 3/19/1902
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I have found six different addresses for Bill and Margaret from the time they left the orphanage and 1900. Various sources have them living "near Washington and First Avenue" (1885), 2620 Sutter (1886), 2517 California (1888 and 1890), 2628 Sutter (1892), 411 Maple (1896), and 109 Maple (1898 and 1900). The last address played an important role in their lives. The first and last two addresses listed above are located in Presidio Heights. Today, the 109 Maple address is the location of the Koshland Estate. How a beat cop managed to purchase real estate in one of the most desirable neighborhoods of the city is hard to understand. It is possible that in 1888, the young Armstrong's purchased a lot among the sand dunes in the outskirts of the city thinking they would build a modest home on it. Indeed, there was a home on the parcel by 1898. In 1902 the parcel (now about twice as large as the parcel originally purchased by William and Margaret) sold as a lot. Marcus Koshland purchased it from the two for $26,500. Koshland built a twenty thousand square foot mansion on the property modeled after the Louis XV chateau in Versailles. The home still stands, and was sold in 2016 for over 15 million dollars (See Article).
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Detective and Detective Sergeant
 William's SFPD Badge - This shield and the retirement shield below are the only known remaining possessions of William Armstrong.
The family believes that the proceeds from the sale were used to build the flats on Sacramento street. During this time, his career continued to blossom. Some time after 1900 William was promoted to detective.
A short time later, in 1903, he was detailed to the Soeder Murder Case. Soeder had convinced his brother in law Joseph Blase to take out life and accident insurance policies with Soeder as the beneficiary. Blase was found dead at the bottom of a wall on Taylor Street with his throat slit. Armstrong was detailed to the case. The investigation found that earlier, Soeder's wife had been poisoned, and that Soeder had collected insurance on her death. In the end, Soeder was sentenced to death by hanging. Armstrong's handling of the case is credited for his promotion to detective sergeant. As a detective sergeant, the nature of his duties changed considerably. His new position was in the fraud and banking unit. He no longer would be on the beat, and instead was working more cerebral cases. Not all of detective Bill's cases would be so dire. A case in which he arrested a man for stealing a $1.00 umbrella during a rain storm was dismissed by the judge. 
San Francisco Call - 3/24/1904 - "The Umbrella Case"
San Francisco Examiner - 7/7/1903 - "Promotion to Sergeant"
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San Francisco Examiner - 1/27/1904
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Family
Between the flats, and his promotion, William appears to have been able to live a moderately comfortable lifestyle. He vacationed from time to time at Siegler Springs in Lake county. Newspapers of the times listed "arrivals" at hotels and resorts. A few listings include William and his daughter Rosie at Siegler Springs. William's grandson John remembers visiting there with his grandfather.
As the children grew older, their lives would change. Margaret would marry the successful lawyer Edward Ignatius Barry. William emigrated to western Australia as a young man. It is said that his father packed him into a steamer in order to escape legal troubles. I have a vague memory of hearing a letter from William to his mother read. In it he lamented his condition and asked his mother for money. I have not been able to find any details of William's life in Australia. We do know that he predeceased his mother. Helen did not marry or have children, and was living with her parents as late as 1930. The youngest, Edward, married Margaret Salmon and had three children. A heavy drinker and incessant smoker, Edward died at age 48. 
William and Daughter Rose - Circa - Possibly taken at Siegler Springs
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William Armstrong and his daughter Rose. (1904) Possibly taken at Seigler Springs Resort where the two visited in 1903
San Francisco Examiner - 8/27/1905
William Armstrong and Grandchildren
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Political Connections
 San Francisco Call - 6/24/1905
While there is no evidence that William's connections were responsible for his success and good fortune, there is a bit of evidence that suggests he was on the right side as far as the political bosses of the time were concerned. In 1905, detective Bill testified as a character witness for Joe Rebstock. Rebstock had been found guilty of allowing unregistered voters, and non resident voters participated in the 1904 election in an effort to promote the interests of the republican party. Later, William and three other "friends of the administration posted as bond $15,000 worth of their property to bail Rebstock out of the city prison.
Armstrong did not list a party on his 1907 voter registration. In 1908, he was a Democrat and in 1910, he was a Republican. 
San Francisco Index to Voter Register - 1907
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San Francisco Chronicle - 11/17/1905
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Retirement
San Francisco Chronicle - 9/29/1930
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San Francisco Chronicle - 11-8-1931
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By 1920 William was 67 years old and still on the force where he would remain for another 11 years. For the remainder of his career, his duties appear to have been limited to the bad check detail. While the nature of his duties seem repetitive, they did make good newspaper copy. (Click here for more.) In 1932, at age 81 and after 42 years, William finally retired. His retirement was forced by a change in the city charter. With this change, city employees were not allowed to stay on the job past age seventy. Contrary to family stories, he did receive a pension from the city.
Passing
From the time of William's retirement to his death, I have been unable to uncover any details of either his or Margaret's life other than city directory listings. William passed on January 15, 1939. Margaret died a little over a year later on March 20, 1940. William's obituary is below. Margaret's death, just like almost every aspect of her life remains enigmatic. The couple are buried in Colma in a plot along with their children Toots, Helen, son in law Ed Barry, and grandson Ed.
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San Francisco Chronicle - 9/29/1930
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