[p. 917] a well known
resident of Mahoningtown, living in a
beautiful brick residence which he erected
in 1898, was born July 31, 1832, on Park
Way, Allegheny, Pa., and is a son of
Thomas and Margaret Ann (Logan) Sample.
The great-grandfather and the grandfather of Mr. Sample, both bearing the name of James, served as officers in the Revolutionary War, the former with the rank of colonel and the latter as a captain. The family home was established in Allegheny County, and on the old Sample homestead there Thomas Sample was born January 8, 1791. He was the second male child born north of the Alleghany River, of white parentage. He was reared on the old farm near Millvale, and in early manhood carried on a tanning business with his cousin, Judge William Hays, later of Pittsburg. After his marriage, in 1816, to Margaret Ann Logan, who was born at Logan's Ferry, on the Alleghany River, be moved to Allegheny and established the Sample tannery there. He served as a justice of the peace for Ross Township, which later became a part of the city of Allegheny, for over twenty years, and was the second mayor of Allegheny, Gen. William Robinson being the first. Gen. Robinson was the first white male child born north of the Alleghany River. In 1843 Thomas Sample bought a farm of 100 acres in Lawrence County, which then lay in North Beaver Township, but the city of New Castle encroached more and more until at present a number of the leading industries of that place have sites on this farm. These include the tin mill, the stamping works, the forge and bolt works, the tin can factory, and the box factory. Luther H. Sample at this time was a lad of ten years, one of his father's seven sons, and to the boys was mainly delegated the farming, the father's time during his years of activity being much engaged in public matters and in looking after his Allegheny real estate. He made his home on the farm until his death, which occurred August 9, 1876, when aged eighty-six years.
In early manhood, Luther H. Sample was apprenticed to a carriagemaker, but worked at this trade for only one year and then returned to the farm for several years. His brother, James T. Sample, was in the drug business at Allegheny, and Luther H. joined him and remained interested in the drug business for three years. James T. Sample still survives and resides with a son in England. He was known in Allegheny as the Veteran, having lost a leg in the Mexican War. He still is awarded a pension by his government. On account of his brothers all leaving the farm for other pursuits, Luther H. then went back to take charge of it and to look after their aged parents. In 1877, Mr. Sample was married to Mary J. Shannon, a daughter of Thomas Shannon, and they have had twelve children, namely: Margaret, wife of J. C. Patterson; Mary, wife of Thomas L. Mornes; Walter S., in a hardware business at Mahoningtown; and Robert, Oliver Hazen, Jane Rachel, Clara, Howard, Roy, Ruth and Eliza, the two last named being deceased.
In his political views Mr. Sample is a Republican. For over twenty years he served as a justice of the peace in Taylor Township. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and belongs to Mahoning Lodge, Delta Chapter, Lawrence Commandery, to Hiram Council Lodge of Perfection and Pittsburg Consistory. He belongs to the Presbyterian Church.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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Updated: 31 Jan 2002