Born in Huron County, Ohio, on the 6th of December, 1831. When a small boy his father removed to Illinois and in 1843 located on a farm in Keokuk County, Iowa. The son worked on his father's farm until he was nineteen years of age, attending the district school winters. He then learned to set type and earned money as a printer to pay his way in the higher schools until he secured a good education. In 1854 he went to Oskaloosa and began the study of law with Enoch W. Eastman and Samuel A. Rice and in the following year was admitted to the bar. He began to practice at Sigourney and in 1856 was elected Prosecuting Attorney. Early in 1861 he helped to raise a company for the Union army and was appointed captain of Company F, which was assigned to the Fifth Infantry. In May, 1862, he was promoted to major of the regiment, serving in that position until 1864, when it was mustered out. In 1865 he was elected to the State Senate and after serving one session was chosen District Judge and remained on the bench by reelection until 1874 when he was elected to Congress. Mr. Sampson served four years in the House of Representatives from the Sixth District, retiring in 1879 and resuming the practice of law. He died at his home in Sigourney on the 7th of October, 1892.