William M. Sample
18 December 1883 – 6 March 1944
Son of Wellington Sample
Will Sample was the youngest child of Betsy’s. He was a handsome and wealthy black cowboy. He married a school teacher, Emma Whitby (as did his father, Wellington Sample) and had two children. His descendants still live in Victoria. Will and his kin are buried in the Sample Cemetery.
Will is the only child of Betsy’s to be officially acknowledged by their father. Wellington Sample also fathered children with Dinah Fox — Joseph Phil Sample, Sr. and Mary G. Sample. These children were half siblings to Will.
Will Sample married Emma Whitby (1875 – 1973) probably about 1909.
Their children:
Ruby Willie Sample (1910 – 2002)
Mason Whitby Sample (1916-2017)
As noted, Mason lived to be over 100 years old. When the Matthews family bought the last of Emma Sample’s property on the River Road, OC Matthews noted in the transaction that Mason was to be given lifetime access to the river bottom for hunting, fishing and visiting the cemetery.