William Samuel Armstrong was born in Philadelphia on July 13, 1846, the son of Andrew Armstrong and Margaret Boyd.
Entering in the freshman class of 1862, Armstrong graduated with the Class of 1865. During his College years, he was a member of the Philomathean Society. According to the yearbooks of 1865 and 1867, he was also a member of Penn’s cricket team, the University Eleven, and as such would have been involved in Penn’s first intercollegiate cricket match in 1864. The yearbook of 1863 also lists him as a member of the Sophomore Cricket Eleven.
He received a medical degree from the Medical School in 1868, but died in Philadelphia on June 8 of that same year.