Received via e-mail from Glenda Kleppin, 5 May 1998.

Alva David Armstrong was born in West Haven Vermont August 4th 1842 and died at the age of 41 at Shenandoah, Iowa. When he was six years old the family moved to Parma Mich where his father was a physician. At the age of twenty he enlisted in the Union Army and six weeks later was shot at the battle of Pittsburg [sp] Landing. He was under Gen'l Prentiss in the 14th Army Corps and 14th Michigan Infantry. He was wounded the first day of the battle about 4 o'clock in the afternoon and carried in an ambulance to the bank of the river where he lay all night in a drizzling rain, the gun boats firing over him from time to time. He received no surgical aid until 10 o'clock the next morning. He was taken on to the Mound City hospital boat to Cairo where Geo Lewis met him and took him to Centralia where he was for six weeks. He was reported among the killed by the Chicago Tribune. After resting at home six months he returned to his regiment and was in the battle of Corinth. In a two day pursuit of the enemy after this battle his wound broke out anew and he returned to camp Monroe Michigan and was discharged.

A few months later he enlisted in the veteran corps and assigned to General Sherman who was preparing for his grand march to the sea. His regiment was cut to pieces at Goldsborough and he was captured and sent to Libby prison. His clothes were taken from him and he was left almost naked. At the end of the war he returned to Michigan.

He married Miss Mary Caroline Colton at Elkart Ind. Where he was engaged as a miller. In 1870 the family emigrated to Vermillion, South Dakota where he lived until the death of his wife. Mr. Armstrong moved to Coin Iowa where he married Miss Sarah McCall.

A.D. Armstrong was taken with internal hemmorages [sp] from his wound on Friday July 18th and died July 21st 1884.

Glenda's Note: This document was attached to the handwritten family tree, and is in the same handwriting. Because of the handwriting, I first interpreted the surname of Mary Caroline to be Cotton. Although there is a loop in the first letter and not the second, the crosshatch intersects both letters. Perhaps this is the source of the other family histories which incorrectly stated the surname.

Another notation in Glenda's e-mail indicates that a note at the bottom of this document states that it was copied from the Coin (IA) newspaper.