Samuel S. Mapes was born around 1800 in New York. He married a woman named Joanna, and they had at least six children, including: Elizabeth, born around 1828; Samuel, born around 1829; Susan, born around 1833; and Sarah, born around 1838. They moved to Mississippi by the early 1830s and then to Arkansas several years later. Mapes worked as a farmer. They moved to Refugio County, Texas, around 1855, and Mapes earned a living as a carpenter. By 1860, he owned $2,000 of real estate and $1,500 of personal property. They moved to Live Oak County, Texas, in the 1860s. His wife died in the 1870s. By 1880, he was living in his daughter Elizabeth’s household in Oakville, Texas. He died sometime after 1800.