Lawrence E. Armstrong, actively engaged in the practice of law at Rawlins, was born in Jackson, Ohio, October 21, 1868, and was the eldest of the ten children of Washington and Salletha (Dyson) Armstrong, both of whom were natives of the Buckeve state, where they continued to reside throughout their entire lives. The father devoted his attention to farming, but at the time of the Civil war put aside all business and personal considerations to respond to the country's call for troops, joining the Second Ohio Heavy Artillery as a private for three years' service, thereby demonstrating his unfaltering loyalty. He died in Ohio in 1887 but his widow is still living in Jackson, that state.
    In his boyhood days Lawrence E. Armstrong became a pupil in the public schools of Jackson county, Ohio, and afterward pursued a preparatory course in the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, from which he was graduated with the class of 1891. Later he attended Ohio University and won the Bachelor of Philosophy degree in 1894. He then took up the profession of teaching in 1895 and was identified with the schools of Rawlins and of Carbon county, Wyoming, for three years, but he regarded teaching merely as an initial step to other professional labor and in 1901 completed a course in the law department of Columbia University, which institution in the previous year had conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree. In 1901 he opened a law office in Rawlins and through the intervening period has built up a large practice that ranks him with the leading attorneys of the state. Mr. Armstrong has made steady progress in his law practice and his success in a professional way affords the best evidence of his capability. His devotion to his clients' interests is proverbial.
    On the 29^th of April, 1903, in Denver, Mr. Armstrong was united in marriage to Miss Katherine Bingner, a daughter of H. G. and Anna Bingner. They have become parents of three children: John Reuel, who was born in Rawlins in 1904 and is now attending high school; L. E., who was born in 1906; and Anna, born in 1916.
    Mr. Armstrong is a Mason, connected with both the York and Scottish Rites, and he enjoys the highest regard of his brethren of the fraternity because of his close conformity to its advanced ethical standards. He has social qualities which render him popular and he is held in the highest esteem throughout Rawlins and wherever he is known. For four years he was a resident of Denver, where he was engaged in the investment business, but with the exception of that period he has continuously devoted his attention to his profession since his admission to the bar and his ability has brought him to a creditable standing among the lawyers of his adopted state.