The death certificate gives Samuel's age as 72 years and 10 month, names his father as Hirschel and places his birth in Altdorf, kreis Pless; all of these details accord with the record of his birth family in the Pless family register. The death certificate names his mother as Anna geb. Rothenstein, and so provides the identity of the Hirschel's second wife and mother to his children whose births are listed in the Pless family register after his first wife's death. Anna would have been his mother figure; his birth mother, Minel, having died when he was 7 years old.

Samuel's death was reported by Minna Brauer, who described Samuel as her father.

Samuel was a carpenter's helper when he married in 1857, a grain trader when Joseph was born in 1860 and an inn lessee when he married again in 1861.

It is likely that his wives were sisters: they have the same surname and both of their marriage records identify the father as inn lessee Joseph. It is likely that Friedericke's death was linked to the birth of their daughter in 1857: the daughter shares her name with her mother, and her half brother was conceived less than two years later.