William Richard Keys Armington was born in Lansing, Iowa, around 1860. By 1880, he resided in Colorado and worked as a painter, making both signs and landscape paintings. A man of many interests, Armington led the Harvey Light Guards, a military company established in Brighton in 1888. He began pursuing photography in the 1890s and opened the Sunbeam Studio. In the early 1900s, he managed a theatrical company that performed at the Brighton Opera House. He also served as the coroner for Adams County.
Around 1908, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he painted scenery for more than a decade. in 1920, he relocated to Tacoma, Washington, where he continued his painting career. Armington passed away on January 25, 1936, at the age of 74 and is interred at Mountain View Memorial Park in Lakewood, Washington.
Thank you to Bill Armstrong, Museum Specialist at the Brighton City Museum for sharing his knowledge of Armstrong, Denise at the Adams County Historical Society for providing research assistance, and to a local family that gave me access to their Armstrong painting.