My great-great-great is Giles Martin Samuel.

Giles M. Samuel's father, also named Giles, left Virginia with other Baptist families, in part for religious reasons, but also because
they were into westward migration, and were the embodiment of "manifest destiny."

Giles the elder had brothers, but I am uncertain of exactly how many there were, primarily because of a loss of the Caroline County,
VA records that occurred because the Civil War.

It is even impossible to know if Giles Samuel of Caroline, whose name appears in the Virginia Gazette of November 1, 1772 advertising
for a missing slave named "Ned", is directly connected to Giles Samuel the elder of Kentucky. We do know that Giles of Caroline had
a will recorded in 1775 that mentioned wife Elizabeth, a son Giles and a son Jesse.

By 1792, several Samuel family members are in Kentucky. In a Bond, dated 9 August 1792, eight citizens of Frankfort - Harry Innes,
Nat Sanders, Bennett Pemberton, Benjamin Craig, Jere Craig, Wm. Haydon, Daniel James and Giles Samuel - committed to the
Commissioners $3,000 in specie (gold or silver) in order to bring the Capitol of Kentucky to Frankfort.1

We assume that Giles the elder of Kentucky had brothers named William and Reuben living near Frankfort. Other Samuel men -- Peter
and John - are also living close by. One of the earliest Kentucky records is a Woodford County road order naming four of the five men
named above living near Stamping Hollow, Dry Run, the Frankfort-Lexington Road and Old Leestown Pike. Exactly how these Samuel
men connect is somewhat conjectural, but they do connect. Their names appear as witnesses on one another's legal records. 2

The second census of Kentucky in 1800 lists the following Samuels in Franklin County: Giles, Larkin, Peter, Reuben, William, Jr.,
William, Sr., and Susannah. According to Muriel Hoffman (see below), Peter and Larkin were sons of Jesse Samuel (dec'd by 1794).
Susannah was the widow of Peter (dec'd 1794). Giles, Sr., William, Sr. and Reuben are very likely brothers.

The family of Giles Sr. of Kentucky has been recorded in three books. They are listed in Ermina Jett Darnell's book Forks of Elkhorn
Church, in Muriel M. Hoffman's The Samuel Family Story, and most recently in Dorothy S. Samuel's The Samuell/Samuel Families
of Tidewater, Virginia. 3

Giles Samuel Sr. married twice. His first wife's name is not recorded. However, this writer contends that wife # 1 was Ann Miss Martin,
daughter of William Martin of Virginia. This would explain, Giles Martin's the younger's middle name. Giles the elder's second wife was
Martha Slaughter. After Giles Sr.'s, Martha moved with the others to Missouri.  She died in Boone County, MO. The Samuel Family
Bible, eventually owned by Giles W. Matthews of Missouri and California, notes the birth order of this branch (the names of spouses
and marriage information has been added by the writer):

William E. Samuel born March 13, 1777 in VA (married Susan Ware, December 24, 1806). William eventually moved from Kentucky
to Tazwell County, IL where he is buried.

Sarah Samuel born November 9, 1782 (married Langston Bacon). Sarah S. Bacon lived to be quite old and died in Missouri.  Two of her
sons were named for her brothers William and Giles.

Giles Martin Samuel born April 25, 1785 (married Letitia Cummins in Howard county, MO; marriage announced in Missouri newspaper
7 Oct 1823). Giles and Letitia had at least three children: Napoleon (died young), William Giles Martin (died in Bexar County, TX 1903).
Clintonia Bacon Samuel McDonald, my great great grandmother (died Laredo, TX 1902). 4

Jesse Samuel born December 21, 1787; died before 1819.

Edgecomb S. S. Samuel born November 15, 1792 (married Mary Virginia Carter, Feb. 10, 1817). Edgecomb died in 1846, with leaving two
living children. They are Stephen S. S., who died during the Civil War and Mary Virginia, who married James Grier McDonald in Bexar County,
TX in 1856. James G. McDonald was appointed the first County Surveyor in Los Angeles County, CA. He and Mary Virginia died in CA and
their descendants reside there today.

Betsy Samuel born November 5, 1794 (nothing further).

Presley Samuel born November 21, 1798 (married Sarah Morrison in MO on Nov. 29, 1828). Presley and family moved to Illinois.

Malinda Samuel born February 12, 1801 (married James Sullenger October 11, 1821, in Boone County, MO). Malinda and James had three
children. Giles S., Martha Frances and James Presley.

Francis S(laughter) Samuel born February 20, 1805. Francis never married. His death is mentioned in a letter from Robert B. Bacon
to his brother in 1846.

The Samuel family of Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri may appear to be but a footnote in history.  They were, however, a major cog in the wheel
of mobile commerce and  westward expansion.

These are my people. Of that much I am sure

1. Old Capitol and Frankfort Guide, Federal Writers Project of the WPA, KY Historical Society, Frankfort, KY
2. Woodford County, Kentucky, Surveyors and Roadworkers, 1794
3. Forks of Elkhorn Church, Ermina Jett Darnell, The Standard Printing Co, Louisville, KY, 1946
The Samuel Family Story, Muriel H. Hoffman, compiler (typescript) 1971.
The Samuel/Samuell Family of Tidewater, VA. Dorothy S. Samuel and Leslie T. Samuel, III, compilers,
Montgomery, AL, 1997
4. Make Some Lone Star Your Resting Place, Frances G. Trimble, Houston, TX, LOC 99-97508, 2001.