Duff Armstrong

William "Duff" Armstrong (1833–1899) was an American Union soldier and the defendant in an 1858 murder prosecution in which he was defended by Abraham Lincoln, four years before he was elected President of the United States. The case would later be portrayed in the 1939 film Young Mr. Lincoln.

William Armstrong
Born1833
Died1899
Other namesDuff Armstrong
Known forMurder trial and defense by Abraham Lincoln

Early life

Armstrong was born to Jack and Hannah Armstrong. Jack died in 1857. Abraham Lincoln was a friend of the Armstrongs and regularly visited and would cradle baby William.[1]

Murder trial

Armstrong was charged with the August 29, 1857, murder of James Preston Metzker in Mason County, Illinois. His father, Jack Armstrong, had been a friend of Lincoln while he was studying law in New Salem, Illinois. When Lincoln heard of the murder charge, he wrote to Jack's widow, Hannah, and volunteered his legal services pro bono. The trial was moved to Cass County and held at the courthouse at Beardstown, Illinois.

“I have just heard of your deep affliction, and the arrest of your son for murder. I can hardly believe he can be capable of the crime alleged against him. It does not seem possible. I am anxious that he should be given a fair trial at any rate; and gratitude for your long-continued kindness to me in adverse circumstances prompts me to offer my humble services gratuitously in his behalf. It will afford me an opportunity to requite, in a small degree, the favors I received at your hand, and that of your lamented husband, when your roof afforded me a grateful shelter, without money and without price.

— Abraham Lincoln's letter to Hannah Armstrong, [2]

Witness Charles Allen testified that he saw Duff Armstrong strike Metzker with a slungshot. Under cross-examination, Lincoln pushed for further detail and Charles Allen testified that he was at a distance of 150 feet, but could clearly see the act by the light of the moon. Abraham Lincoln used judicial notice, then a very uncommon tactic, to show Allen lied on the stand when he claimed he had witnessed the crime in the moonlight. Lincoln produced an almanac to show that the moon on that date would not have provided enough light for the witness to see anything clearly. Based on this evidence, the jury acquitted Armstrong after only one ballot.[3]

Service in the Civil War

Armstrong went on to join the Union forces in the American Civil War. He became ill in 1863 and, at his mother's request, Lincoln arranged for Armstrong's discharge.[4]

Death and burial

Armstrong lived long after the war; his death was reported in The New York Times on May 14, 1899.[5]

William Duff Armstrong is buried in the New Hope Cemetery in Mason County, IL. A small informational plaque is erected at his gravesite which reads, "WILLIAM DUFF ARMSTRONG accused slayer of Preston Metzker, May 7, 1858 freed by Lincoln in Almanac Trial".

References
  1. "Hannah Armstrong (1811-1890) - Mr. Lincoln and Friends". Mr. Lincoln and Friends. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  2. www.mrlincolnandfriends.org/the-women/hannah-armstrong/
  3. , "2009 Illinois State Bar Association High School Mock Trial Invitational"
  4. Lincoln's letter to Hannah Armstrong, reporting Duff's discharge, is quoted in several Lincoln biographies. See, e.g., Alberg J. Beveridge, Life of Lincoln.
  5. Death of William Armstrong: Was once held for murder and Abraham Lincoln defended him. The New York Times, May 14, 1899.
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