Little information is available on John Samuel's life. He was born in Wales in 1817, was a glass blower by trade, and immigrated to Philadelphia in 1832. Here he participated in the Philadelphia general strike of 1836, helped organize the glass blowers in 1857, and, shortly after the Civil War, helped found a Philadelphia trades assembly.
By 1873 Samuel had moved to St. Louis and become a journalist. For the next twenty-five years he was concerned primarily with the Knights of Labor and co-operation. In 1881 he was appointed a Knights of Labor organizer, and in November 1884 became a member of the Knight's Co-Operative Board. By the early 1890s Samuel's formal connection with the Knights seems to have lapsed, but his interest in co-operation continued. He became general secretary of the Co-Operative Union of the United States and Canada in 1894.
Samuel remained in St. Louis at least until 1903, but by 1907 was living with a grand-daughter, Jessie L. Lane, in Woodlawn, Illinois. Sources vary on Samuel's death date, listing it either as 1907 or 1909; however, there is correspondence between Samuel and Richard T. Ely in the Society's Ely collection, at least as late as January, 1911.
