The St. Paul window is located in the Great West Wall at St. Mark’s
The window was given in memory of Frank Spears and Jennie DImmick Armstrong and John WInthrop and Florence Patridge Loveland
The window was designed by Cummings Studio, San Francisco and cost $2,885. It was designed in 1965 and installed in 1966.
The third of the three windows in the great west wall features St. Paul. It was given in memory of four people – the parents of a couple who attended St. Mark’s in the 50’s. This week is about his parents…really remarkable people who lived lives most of us can’t even begin to imagine. We’ll profile her parents next week in part 2!
Jennie Dimmick Armstrong grew up in a military family. Her father, Brigadier General Eugene Dimmick, was a famous soldier who fought in the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. He participated in famous battles including Gettsyburg, Bull Run, and the Battle of San Juan Hill. He was a friend of President Lincoln and President Roosevelt. He was in the honor guard for President Lincoln after his assaasination (San Francisco Examiner).
General Dimmick was a career army officer and all the Dimmick children grew up on the frontier at military forts and bases across the west. Jennie was born at Fort Duncan in Texas in 1869 (US Census). Her sister, Estella, remembered that the children loved horses and spending time outdoors on the various army posts they lived at…forts in Texas, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nebraska and more (Palo Alto Times). 1882 was a catastrophic year for 13 year old Jennie. Her 18 year old older brother, Alonzo, died of Typhoid in June. Her mother died six months later in December. Jennie’s father did not remarry for 14 years, so Jennie and her younger brother, Frank were on their own with their father moving from post to post (US Census).
In 1894, Jennie met and married an army officer (of course) named Frank Spear Armstrong (US Select County Marriage Records). Frank Spear Armstrong was born in 1868 in Indiana and grew up in Jeffersonville. His father, a railroad clerk, died when Frank was just 10 years old. His mother, Lucy, returned home to live with her family, the Howards (US Census). The Howards were a prominent Jeffersonville family and included her father, a famous captain and boat builder, and her grandfather, a legendary military veteran and local pioneer. Frank went to school in Jeffersonville, Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky where he graduated from the Old Rugby School (The Courier-Journal). In 1887 Frank was sponsored to West Point by a Howard family member (US Military). This launched his military career.
After graduating from West Point in 1891, Frank was assigned to the 9th calvary and served at various Forts on the Western frontier to “suppress Indian uprisings” (The Indianapolis News). It was while he was stationed at Fort Robinson, Nebraska that he met Jennie Dimmick in 1894. Her family was also at the fort.
Jennie was well prepared for her nomadic life with Frank, who ended up serving in the calvary for 20 years. A few of the places they lived included Fort Grant, Arizona (1898), and Fort Pinal, Arizona (1900), the Philippines (1900-1902), Fort Walla Walla, Washington (1902), Fort Riley, Kansas (1904), and Fort Russell, Wyoming (1910) (US Census).
In 1914 the couple moved to Washington DC where Frank was detailed to the quartermaster troops and wrote a manual for the corps. In 1916 it was back to the calvary in Texas. During World War (1918-19), Frank served in France as commander of the Remount Division. He reportedly felt this was too tame of an assignment and spent most of that time lobbying to be put into an actual combat situation, although it never happened. At the end of World War I, though, he received the French Legion of Honor (awarded by General Petain) and the Distinguished Service Medal (awarded by Congress) for his service (The Indianapolis News). The Remount Division was actually vital because it provided horses and mules for all of the calvary and army so Frank made a huge contribution, although he apparently wished for more.
All of this time Jennie, of course, literally ‘held down the fort,’ moving from place to place, and raising the couple’s two sons. This really was the only life she ever knew….that is until everything changed.
In 1922, by now Colonel Frank Armstrong was assigned as quartermaster and general supervisor of the transport department at Manila in the Phillipines. In November of 1924, a week before he was set to return home, Frank got an attack of “ptomaine poisoning followed by something called gangu fever” (The Indianapolis News). Although he seemed to be recovering, he died suddenly in the hospital. Jennie and her oldest son brought Frank home from the Philippines and he was buried in Arlington Cemetery.
How does this connect to St. Mark’s? It turns out that after his retirement, Jennie’s father, the illustrious Brigadier General Dimmick(see picture above with his two grandsons), decided to spend his golden years in Palo Alto (Palo Alto Times)! After Frank’s death, Jennie and her younger son, Frank, moved to Palo Alto to live with her father and sister. They were all members of All Saints Episcopal in Palo Alto.
Eventually, Frank and Jennie’s son, Colonel John Dimmick Armstrong, followed Jennie to Palo Alto. He and his wife, Helen Loveland Armstrong, were…you guessed it…active members of St. Mark’s. They joined the church in March of 1950 (St. Mark’s Archive). Frank certainly never set foot in St. Mark’s, but Jennie likely joined her son and daughter-in-law for services. Jennie died in 1958. She is buried with Frank in Arlington Cemetery (Find A Grave).
