User:Iazyges/James Armstrong (Georgia)

James Armstrong (c. 1728–1800) was a continental army officer, and a candidate in the United States presidential election of 1788–1789, where he received one electoral vote.

History
James Armstrong was born in c. 1728, in Pennsylvania. Much of his early life is unknown. During the Revolutionary War, starting in 1776, he served as an officer in one of the Pennsylvanian units of the Continental Army, achieving the rank of captain by the end of the war. Armstrong was captured by the British in 1781, in South Carolina, and remained a prisoner until the end of the war. After the war, Armstrong became a member of the Society of the Cincinnati, joining both the Georgia and Pennsylvania chapters. Armstrong settled in Camden County, Georgia, as one of the first settlers of Colerain. Armstrong accumulated 66,000 acres of land by claiming Land bounties offered to war veterans by the state of Georgia. He represented Camden County in the Georgia General Assembly from 1787–1790, and was a member of the Federalist Party. He died in 1800.

Election
James Armstrong was given one electoral vote in the United States presidential election of 1788–1789 by George Walton, one of the five Georgian electors who were selected by the Georgia General Assembly on 7 January 1789. The election resulted in a win for George Washington, who won 69 electoral votes. Other candidates included: John Adams with 34 electoral votes, John Jay with nine electoral votes, Robert H. Harrison with six electoral votes, John Rutledge with six electoral votes, John Hancock with four electoral votes, George Clinton with three electoral votes, Samuel Huntington with two electoral votes, John Milton with two electoral votes, Benjamin Lincoln with one electoral vote, and Edward Telfair with one electoral vote.