Samuel Walker Spruiell attended school through the fifth grade, probably when the Spruiell family moved from Newnan, Coweta County, Georgia to Wolf Creek in southern St Clair County, AL about 1854-1855.
Samuel married Susan Winchester in the early 1860's, no record has been found of the marriage.
Samuel joined Co D 8th Alabama Cavalry Oct 18, 1863 as a private on the porch of Nancy Neal in Cedar Grove, now part of Leeds, St Clair County, AL. June 1864 he was promoted to a sergeant and served as such until his discharge May 24, 1865 at Coosa Valley, St Clair County, AL.
Not found in the 1870 census.
1880 Samuel Spruiell and family were in Branchville, St Clair County, AL. He was a blacksmith.
In 1881 he was listed as living in Wolf Creek.
1882 he was living in Eden.
During his first marriage to Susan Winchester, Samuel studied for the Presbyterian ministry.
Perhaps he was living away from St Clair County in 1870 for this purpose. His wife opposed him and he gave it up. In later years he and most of the Spruiells attended
the Methodist Church in Eden and in Leeds.
Susan Winchester Spruiell died June 28, 1893 of enterocolitis and was buried in Eden. According to Virgil Compton, husband of Dessie Spruiell, a grand-daughter of Samuel, Samuel himself told that he looked over his first wife's grave and picked out his next wife: Lydia Davis Spruill, a cousin of some sort. She was the daughter of John "Town John" Spruill and Ann Mann Spruill. Samuel and Lydia Spruiell were married September 10, 1893.
Samuel and Lydia Spruiell remained in Eden for a few years, but moved to Leeds between 1895 and 1898. In Leeds Sam was a blacksmith, a notary public, a justice of the peace and a judge of the inferior court.
He had his blacksmith shop on one end of a building and his law books in the other end. Sometimes he held court in his house. He also moved around in Leeds, buying houses and living in them as he remodeled, and then sold them. One house was where Harry Walker later had a
block factory and another house was the Hardin House.
Sam used to say that he had married 273 men and 276 women for he had had three wives himself. By law he was allowed to charge up to $2.50 for performing a marriage. Once he married a couple who later parted and the groom asked how much he owed the judge and Sam answered, "I generally
charge a feller what he thinks its worth." The man gave him fifty cents.Another time a man brought his wife to Sam and told him, "Well Judge, you married her, now you can have her." At the time of his death, he still had money in his pocket from marrying a couple the previous Sunday.
At one time in his blacksmith shop with his law books and legal papers in the other end, a black man sassed his brother Simon Spruiell. Simon went and got a gun and threatened to shoot the man. J.B. Elliott was
there and stood between Simon and the black man. Sam told Simon to "Shoot J.B. if he won't get out of the way." J.B. moved and Simon shot and killed the man.
There was a black family who were just like family, according to Pratt Spruiell Poff, daughter of Samuel and Lydia Spruie