Samuel Sampson from Duxbury, Mass., died 1675 in King Philip’s War

Samuel Sampson (sometimes Samson), was born early- to mid-1640s in Duxbury, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. He was the son of Abraham Sampson and _____ Nash whose first name is unknown. Samuel is my 10^th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Davis’ side of the family.

Samuel married a woman named Esther, probably Esther Delano, about 1669.  Esther Delano was born 6 March 1640, daughter of Philip Delano and Hester Dewsbury of Duxbury. The Mayflower Families book on George Soule states Esther who married Samuel Sampson is most probably daughter of Philip Delano. The circumstantial evidence of her identity is that Esther Delano is the only Esther/Hester of the right place and age to be Samuel’s wife.

Samuel and Esther had two sons born in Duxbury:
Samuel born 1670

Ichabod born about 1675

I descend from their son Samuel who married Hasadiah/Assadiah Eddy.

Lt. Samuel Nash of Duxbury made his will 2 June 1681, leaving bequests to Samuel and Ichabod Samson, sons of deceased grandson Samuel Samson.

In 1675 Samuel died as a young man serving in King Philip’s War.

There is some confusion on my part about the year of Samuel’s death. It has been published as 1675 and 1678. According to a transcription in The American Genealogist, on 4 October 1675 the court granted ten pounds to “Ester,” the widow of Samuel Sampson “whose husband was alsoe slayne in the countryes service.” (PCR 5:177) I have not seen the original document. The war ended in 1676, so the 1678 cannot be accurate but likely based on his inventory date of 28 June 1678. As “the children were small and the estate little,” the court assigned the property valued at 27 pounds and change to the widow, except one acre to be reserved for the sons.

Esther married, second, John Soule, son of Mayflower passenger George Soule.  She died 12 September 1733, aged 95. She is buried at Myles Standish Burying Ground in Duxbury.  I also descend from John Soule by way of his first marriage to Rebecca Simmons.

Esther Soule's gravestone, Myles Standish Burying Ground, Duxbury source: wikitree.com

Note: There has been information published that Samuel Sampson married Esther Nash, but this is based on misinterpreting Samuel Nash’s will.

Sources:

Torrey’s New England Marriages

Clarence A. Torrey, A Nash-Sampson-Delano-Howland Problem, The American Genealogist, vol 15 (1938),

Mrs. John E. Barclay, The Early Sampsons, The American Genealogist, vol 28 (1952),

Casualties in Philip's War, The American Genealogist, Vol 60 (1984:

William Richard Cutter, Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, Volume 3

George Soule of the Mayflower and his Descendants for Four Generations, Mayflower Families in Progress, General Society of Mayflower Descendants