Samuel emigrated to Buffalo around 1885 where he met Rose Logan, another recent emigreé from County Antrim.
Three years after marrying in 1888, they returned to Ireland with their first two children. Five more children were born during the 14 years they lived in Belfast and Bray. In 1905 they returned to Buffalo with letters testifying to Sam's carpentry skills, which he put to use on such projects as the Hotel Statler and St. Joseph's Cathedral in Buffalo. Sam and Rose had their eigth and ninth children in Buffalo before Sam became a naturalized American citizen on October 4, 1911 in Buffalo. Rose outlived her husband by 17 years and died in 1967, having lived just 434 days short of a century.