Was Elmer J. Armstrong Responsible for the Birth Records of His Children?

     One oral tradition that came down from my father pertained his birth certificate.  My father, John B. Armstrong was born on a military post, Fort Logan, Colorado.  His father, Elmer J. Armstrong was a sergeant in the U. S. Army Hospital Corps at the time of his birth and in that capacity filled out the birth certificate.  

     I decided to see if I could verify that Elmer did in fact fill out the certificate so I took a copy of it and tried to compare the handwriting with a known example of Elmer's handwriting.  The first example is from his Officer's Record Book.  Another example of Elmer's writing is taken from an Officer's Log Book kept by Elmer during World War I.  Keep in mind that these notes were written at different times while on the battlefield.

    I am not an expert in handwriting but to my eye the signature is the same, as well as most of the letters and words that I compared: A, B, M, Ilinois, Mary, F, H,...

    Based on my comparison of these documents and the birth record of Jane Armstrong (Elmer's oldest child), I feel comfortable that the story that Elmer filled out the birth certificates of John and his older sister is true.

Elmer J. Armstrong (right)