John S. Armstrong

John Scarborough Armstrong (November 18, 1850 – April 26, 1908) was an American businessman and real estate developer. He was the co-founder (along with Thomas Marsalis) of the former City of Oak Cliff (now incorporated into Dallas) and founder of the town of Highland Park, Texas.^[1] Armstrong was also a founder of the State Fair of Texas.^[2]

Armstrong was born in 1850, in Nashville, Tennessee, to J. W. and Pauline Armstrong, one of thirteen children. He married Alice J. White in July 1878, in Lancaster, Kentucky.^[3] With his brothers, Dr. V. P. Armstrong and Henry C. Armstrong, he established the Armstrong Meat Packing Company, a wholesale grocery business.^[4] Around 1906, he purchased land north of Dallas which he planned to develop into a municipality. Armstrong died on April 26, 1908, in Dallas, Texas, and is buried at Oakland Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Alice J., and two daughters: Mrs. Minnie May (Edgar L.) Flippen and Mrs. Johnetta (Hugh) Prather.^[5] Armstrong's widow and sons-in-law—Edgar Flippen and Hugh Prather continued his work.