Samuel initially traveled with the Edward Martin Company. After the death of his parents and some of his siblings, he dropped out of the company to return east. However, Endowment House records show that he was in Utah for his 20 December 1862 marriage. He possibly began the westward journey in the same company as his future wife, Ellen Hallett, who traveled in the Ansil P. Harmon Company of 1862, but further research is needed to confirm that.

The family sailed to America in 1856 on the ship Horizon.