SAMUEL ALEXANDER MARKS was born October 10, 1849, in Wellsburg, W. Va., and attended the schools of that city during his boyhood. He learned furniture finishing and undertaking, a business he followed in his native town until 1886. He then removed to West Middletown, where he has since been engaged in an undertaking and house furnishing establishment. On March 25, 1886, he was united in marriage with Elizabeth Caroline, only daughter of John Sampson. Mr. Sampson was born in 1811, in Pennsylvania, and when a child came with his parents to Canonsburg, Washington county, where his boyhood was passed. He received as good an education as was obtainable, and then learned cabinet making. In 1834 he was married to Sarah McCauley, of Washington county, and removed from Canonsburg to West Middletown. He immediately opened a modest establishment in undertaking and cabinet making, and by upright dealing combined with perseverance, his trade soon increased. He enlarged his factory, employing a number of young men, many of whom there learned the trade. John Sampson acquired a wide reputation as a manufacturer and undertaker, his custom in the latter department extending many miles in all directions. During his active business career of over fifty years, Mr. Sampson carried over five thousand persons to their last resting place, and in all that time he was never late at a funeral. He was a man of unusual intelligence and rare judgment, always interested in the welfare of the community, in which he was an unassuming but earnest worker. Politically he was a firm believer in the principles of the Democratic party, but was never a politician; however, he served three years as director of the poor. In religious connection he was a consistent member of the Upper Buffalo Presbyterian Church, in which he served many years as a member of the board of trust. Although his home was four miles from church, his pew was never vacant on the Sabbath day, unless he was called upon to perform the necessary duties of his vocation. His wife was laid to rest February 20, 1881, and to her memory no fitter or more tender tribute can be given than the testimony of her relatives and friends: "She was a true Christian wife and mother." Mr. Sampson died February 3, 1886 and was laid to rest by the side of his wife. The life of this well- known and valued citizen is comprised in the simple sentence: "He was a good man and a just," and such lives, we can not doubt, reap their merited reward.

Text taken from page 822 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed March 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL as part of the Beers Project. Published March 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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