SAMUEL HINDMAN was born in Richland county, Ohio, January 24, 1834; his father, Elijah Hindman, was born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, November 4, 1798, a son of Samuel Hindman, whose nativity is not positively known; the year of his birth was 1763, and after his marriage he emigrated to Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, where he was one of the pioneers; he was a cooper by trade and followed that vocation until his death; he was married to Letitia M. Clinithan, a native of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania. Elijah Hindman was married in Allegheny county and resided there until 1833; in that year he emigrated with his wife and four children to Ohio, making the journey overland with a four-horse wagon; he located in Richland county, on a tract of timber land which he occupied until 1838, he again started westward, coming to Illinois and settling where Rushville township, Schuyler county, now is; here he improved a tract of land and passed the remainder of his life. He married Anna Mace, a daughter of John Mace, a native of London, England, who emigrated to America and fought in the war of the Revolution. Mrs. Hindman, the mother of our subject, resides with a daughter in Rushville township, at the advanced age of ninety-one years. Samuel Hindman, Jr., was four years old when his parents removed to Illinois. Here he grew to manhood, among the vicissitudes and privations of frontier life; the mother carded and spun the cloth with which the children were dressed, and they lived from the products of their land; Mr. Hindman relates that on one occasion his father sold a load of wheat at twenty-five cents a bushel, and at the same time paid thirty-seven and one-half cents a yard for calico. He received his education in the pioneer schools, the furniture and house being constructed in the most primitive style; in early youth he began to assist in the cultivation of the land, and has since followed farming.

In 1859 he determined to make a trip to Pike's Peak, but at Fort Kearney the party met many returning with discouraging reports; Mr. Hindman then changed his course, going to Coffey county, Kansas, whence he returned home after an absence of three months. He had once before started to the West, in 1855, accompanied by his brother John; their destination was Kansas, and they traveled via the Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri rivers to Richfield, Missouri, at which point his brother died of cholera; Mr. Hindman pushed on to western Missouri, but on account of his brother's death he came back.

He was married November 8, 1876, to Julia (Ward) Mathews, a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of James Ward, and a granddaughter of Thomas Ward, a native of England, who passed his life in the British kingdom. James Ward married Nancy Hamilton, a native of New Jersey and a daughter of Richard Hamilton. Mrs. Hindman was first married in 1853 to Thomas H. Mathews, a son of James and Sarah (McIntire) Mathews; he died in 1873; one child was born of this union, Lemonia H. Mr. and Mrs. Hindman have one child, Juniata. Mr. Hindman inherited a part of the old homestead, and has devoted his life to agricultural pursuits.