Samuel and Alice L. Armor papers, 1876-1938

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Summary

Creators:

Abstract:

The papers of Samuel and his wife Alice L. Armor of Orange, California include incoming letters and postcards, miscellaneous Orange County ephemera, photographs of family and friends, and essays by Samuel on topics such as flood control and politics. Also included are a history of the First Presbyterian Church of Orange, California, of which the Armors were members, and an oversized city plan in manuscript, ca. 1900, of portions of the cities of Orange and Santa Ana.

Extent:

0.7 Linear Feet (1 box and 1 oversize folder)

Language:

English .

Preferred citation:

Samuel and Alice L. Armor Papers. MS-R12. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.

For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

Background

Scope and content:

The papers of Samuel and his wife Alice L. Armor of Orange, California include incoming letters and postcards, miscellaneous Orange County ephemera, photographs of family and friends, and essays by Samuel on topics such as flood control and politics. Also included are a history of the First Presbyterian Church of Orange, California, of which the Armors were members, and an oversized plat map in manuscript, ca. 1900, of portions of the cities of Orange and Santa Ana.

The collection has been organized into four series:

Series 1. Correspondence, 1898-1938. 0.2 linear ft.
Series 2. Orange County materials, 1876-1934. 0.2 linear ft.
Series 3. Topical materials, 1899-1927. 0.2 linear ft.
Series 4. Photographs, undated. 0.1 linear ft.

Biographical / historical:

Samuel and Alice Armor played an important part in the early history of Orange County, California. Samuel was one of the original Orange County supervisors, served on a number of organizations' boards of directors, and also edited two editions of the first major history of Orange County in 1911 and 1921. Alice Armor owned and edited the Orange Post newspaper from 1890 to 1915.

Samuel Armor was born in Essex County, New York on March 20, 1843. In 1854 he and his family moved to Iowa. In 1861 he moved to Illinois, where he attended high school in Kewanee. In the spring of 1865 Samuel and other classmates enlisted in the Ninth Illinois Cavalry and served in the Civil War. He was discharged in September at the end of the war and began classes at Knox Academy and College in Galesburg, Illinois. He transferred to Oberlin College in Ohio in his freshman year and graduated from there in 1871, having paid his way by working odd jobs as well as teaching school. Also in 1871, he married Alice L. Taylor.

After Samuel and Alice married, they taught at Indian schools in Minnesota and Dakota until the failure of his health made it necessary to move to California in 1874. After a year in Los Angeles, the couple moved to Orange.

For several years after moving to California Samuel worked at outdoor jobs, both as a carpenter and on the improvement of thirteen acres of his own land on North Main Street in the city of Orange; he sold this property in 1881. He taught school for several years in Orange and then clerked for W.B. Forsythe before starting his own book and stationary store. Later he also sold shoes in this store. Shortly after being elected as one of the first Orange County Supervisors in 1889, he closed the store and never reopened it.

Samuel was reelected supervisor three times, serving for nearly ten years. In 1892 he was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Board of Directors of the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company. He served this organization for thirteen years, ten of them as president. In 1900 he was elected a member of the Board of Trustees of Orange Township and served in this capacity for eight years, two of them as president. Later in life Armor served several terms as a justice of the peace. He also was an associate editor of the Orange Post during the time his wife Alice owned it. In 1911 he edited the History of Orange County, a second edition of which was published in 1921. Samuel Armor died on April 1, 1933.

Alice L. Taylor was born August 20, 1848 in Stockholm, New York. When she was three years old the family moved to Ohio, where her father was pastor of the Congregational Church. She and a sister attended the Lake Erie Female Seminary at Painesville, Ohio. In 1865 Alice moved to Iowa and taught for two years in country schools. Soon thereafter, as an employee of the American Missionary Association, she taught in black schools in Lexington, Kentucky. In 1867 she entered Oberlin College, teaching to pay her way, and graduated in 1871.

Following her marriage to Samuel Armor in 1871, Alice taught school with her husband in Minnesota, the Dakota Territory, and in California in Orange, Garden Grove, and Tustin. In 1890 she gave up teaching and became an editor for the Orange Post. Mrs. Armor bought the paper in 1892, serving as editor and publisher until she sold it in 1915. During that time she was one of five women in the area involved in running newspapers. After selling the paper, she devoted her time to volunteer work with the Presbyterian Church, King's Daughters and Women's Relief Corps. Alice Armor died on September 13, 1939.

Missing Title
Date	Event
1843	Samuel Armor born.
1848	Alice Taylor born.
1865	Samuel enlists in Ninth Illinois Cavalry, served in the Civil War, and was discharged at end of war. He begins classes at Knox Academy and College in Galesburg, Illinois.
1866	Samuel transfers to Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio.
1867	Alice enters Oberlin College.
1871	Samuel and Alice graduate from Oberlin College and are married.
1874	The Armors move to Los Angeles, California.
1875	The Armors move to Orange, California.
1889	Samuel elected Orange County Supervisor.
1892	Samuel appointed to the board of Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company.
1892	Orange Post
1900	Samuel elected to board of trustees of Orange Township.
1911	History of Orange County
1915	Orange Post
1921	History of Orange County
1933	Samuel dies.
1939	Alice dies.

Acquisition information:

The Armor papers were acquired with the Don Meadows Papers, MS-R01, in Spring 1973. They were identified as a discrete collection of personal papers and separated from the larger collection in April 1996.

Processing information:

Processed by Mary Ellen Goddard, 1999.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:: Photographic prints -- California -- Orange County -- 20th century.
Plats -- California -- Orange County.
Photographic prints -- California -- Orange County -- 19th century.
Names:: Armor, Alice L. -- Archives
Armor, Samuel -- Archives
Places:: Santa Ana (Calif.) -- History -- Sources

Access and use

Restrictions:: Collection is open for research.
Terms of access:: Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.