by Stacy B. C. Wood, Jr.

The Sampson Family – Genealogical Memoirs of the Sampson Family of America From the Arrival of the Mayflower in 1620, to the Present Time Including a Biographical Sketch of Deborah Sampson, the Heroine of the Revolution by John Adams Vinton (Boston, MA, Henry W. Dutton & Son: 1864), 136 pages. Facsimile copy available on line. Also available online with a searchable CD.

This is the earliest published work on this particular Sampson/Samson family. Only 100 copies were printed. This is also found as a “constituent part of the Giles Memorial.” The work includes descendants of both Pilgrim Henry Samson and his “supposed to have been a brother” Abraham who settled in Duxbury, MA, by 1638. It is now fairly certain that they were actually first cousins (see Robert Leigh Ward’s The American Genealogist articles on this subject). Vinton includes many footnotes but few sources.

The Sampson Family by Lilla Briggs Sampson (Baltimore, MD, Williams & Wilkins Co.: 1914), 258 pages. Downloadable from Google and also offered on line with a searchable CD.

This work presents no connection to the New England Sampson/Samsons, the only mention being that of Pilgrim Henry Samson coming with an uncle on the Mayflower. Rather, it is study of the Sampsons of England (not the Bedfordshire Henry and Abraham lines that settled in New England), Scotland, Ireland, Pennsylvania and in Virginia and Maryland.

Our New England Sampsons … and Some Related families … Bradford – Barton – Banks – Batchelder – Walker – Marsh – Appleyard – Loane - Buzzell – Dunham – and Others by Gordon Greenwood Sampson (Diamond Point on Lake George, NY, Private Printing: 1953), map, 198 pages. Available online with a searchable CD.

Although it is primarily the genealogy of the children of Abraham Sampson’s great-great- grandson Nehemiah Sampson, he does include the children of each of those earlier Sampsons and lines to the Pilgrim ancestors Alden, Bradford, Mullins and Standish. Although lacking specific sources he does provide a bibliography. This work is extremely useful as it takes lines up to 1953.

Abraham Sampson in America – Family Genealogy Gathered and Compiled 1961-1969 by Elizabeth Newman Hutchinson (Salt lake City, UT, 1970), 173 pages.
This is a yeoman work even though absolutely no sources are given and the fact that there are many typos. It is especially useful as the Sampson ancestors of Hutchinson’s husband were from Maine.

Sampson by Henry Shepard Wood, Jr. (Greenville, NC, Private Printing: 1993), 262 pages.
This work is about the author’s line down from his ancestor Pilgrim Henry Samson. It is full of photocopies of sources and images of descendants. Through his mother Bertha Sampson, the author was a 7th great grandson of Pilgrim Henry (Henry, Caleb, Joshua, Amos, Joshua, Joshua, William Henry, Horace, Bertha, Henry Shepard Wood). Pilgrim Henry Samson’s most likely first cousin Abraham Sampson does not appear within the work.

The General Society of Mayflower Descendants Mayflower Families Through Five Generations – Descendants of the Pilgrims Who Landed at Plymouth, Mass. December 1620 series in its three part Volume Twenty Family of Henry Samson published 2000-2006. Part 1 covers the first four generations, Part 2 has the fifth-generation descendants of children James, Dorcas, an unidentified daughter who married John Hanmore, and daughters Hannah and Elizabeth, and Part 3 has the fifth-generation descendants of sons Stephen and Caleb. These books do not cover descendants of probable first cousin Abraham unless lines merge. However volumes covering other Pilgrims have much information when their lines merge with descendants of Abraham. Thus the name index of each volume should be examined for Abraham’s descendants.

The Howland Heirs Being the Story of a Family and a Fortune and the Inheritance of a Trust Established for Mrs. Hetty R. Green… - by Emery, William (New Bedford, MA ) 1919. This work, available on Ancestry.com for downloading, deals with the descendants of Pilgrim John Howland’s brother Henry. Henry’s son Samuel married Abraham Sampson’s daughter Mary. Abraham’s daughter Judith married Henry’s grandson Barnabas. This is a major source for Abraham information.

The Abraham Sampson Descendants Report by Stacy B. C. Wood, Jr., Compiler (Philadelphia) 2010, 1,783 pages. This working aid in progress is only available on the Pilgrim Henry Samson Kindred (PHSK) website http://pilgrimhenrysamsonkindred.org. It is updated every three months or so. The information from the above books that feature Pilgrim Henry’s most likely first cousin Abraham, or contain information about Abraham’s descendants, has been entered into an Abraham Sampson descendants database (currently over 27,500 individuals and growing) and they are being “fleshed out” with prime or secondary sources (e.g. vital records, census, SSDI, GSMD Five Generation publications, etc.) when possible. Some lines have 13 generations. It has a 218 page all name index containing dates. Occupations, military service, family census information, etc. is included. Images and sources are not included on line but the report with them is available gratis to PHSK members.