The Descendants of John Sampson (1724-1800)

John Sampson immigrated to America from County Tyrone, Ireland in the late 1750s, in the wave of Scots-Irish Presbyterians forced to leave their lands in northern Ireland.  It appears that in 1759, during the French and Indian War, he enlisted in the Pennsylvania Regiment at Chester, Pa.  He and his wife, Margaret were to have twelve children.

 Deed transfer records indicate that John and his sons bought and sold a number of parcels of land in Western Pennsylvania before, during, and after the Revolutionary War.  In 1774, he bought a parcel of land in what was to become Patton Township from Robert McCrea, split it, and sold pieces to John Duff and to his oldest son, Thomas. 

 Thomas Sampson (1760-1833), as a young boy had survived a narrow escape from marauding Indians, and would later go on to fight the Indians, serving in a various militia organizations, and  eventually rising to the rank of Major. In 1784, he married Elizabeth Duff from the neighboring farm, and the family became one of the founding members of Beluah Church.  Thomas and Elizabeth Duff Sampson were to have at least eight children (John, Margaret, David, Mary, Alexander, Elizabeth, Thomas, and James).

 Upon Thomas Sampson’s death, his eldest son John (1785-1859) was to inherit some 100 acres along Frankstown road.  During the War of 1812, John served as 1^st Lieutenant in the Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia, taking part in the battle of Black Rock, near Buffalo New York.

 In 1818, John Sampson was to marry Jane Dempster at the Beulah Church.  Later, the family would become part of a splinter group breaking away to form Hebron Church, over a dispute as to whether psalms or hymns should be used in church services.  The couple had nine children, of whom six survived to adulthood (Sarah, Eliza Jane, Mary Margaret, George Washington, Thomas and John).

 George Washington Sampson (1830-1862) was to serve as a Corporal in the Civil War, in the 101^st Pennsylvania Infantry.  He fought in several battles in Virginia, and in April 1862 sent  a letter to his brother, Thomas.

 …the next morning at Newport News we had a view of the Monitor the great Northern gunboat at the fort and also the rebel gunboat Merrimac in the mouth of the James River. ...They commenced on Saturday morning and fought on till Sunday evening. We have not heard what side is victorious.  I have seen what a rebel flag looks like….

 George was stricken with Malaria in Suffolk Virginia and died in December 1862.

 Another of John’s sons, John Jr., went on to marry Katherine Duff in 1862.  Katherine Duff was a great granddaughter of John Duff who, along with Thomas Sampson, had purchased the original homestead along Frankstown Road from John Sampson in 1795.

 The Sampsons went from being landowners to become highly successful builders and developers, and one of their developments, Monroeville’s Garden City was among the first post-war, planned communities in the country, offering some 1500 homes at moderate prices.

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Source:
The Early Sampsons in Western Pennsylvania, Myles Duff Sampson, 1981.