Samuel Rothrock III was thought to be the eldest of nine known children of Samuel Rothrock Jr. (1793-1870) and Margaret Eschbaugh Rothrock (1795-1864), who married c1818 at presumably Pennsylvania. In 1835 the family moved from Pennsylvania to a farm near Canton, Stark County, Ohio. Samuel Jr. was a Minister in the Church of the Brethren (German Baptist).

Note that Samuel's grave marker clearly reads ROTHTROCK, which is an alternate spelling of Rothrock, not usually seen. It is not known if he went by Rothtrock, or whether it was a "typo" on the grave marker.

Samuel III married Catherine Stauffer (1824-1901) on 27 Dec 1845 at Stark County, Ohio. Samuel and Catherine were the parents of ten known children, namely:

1. Samuel S. Rothrock (1846-1928)
2. Christian Rothrock (1848-1914)
3. David S. Rothrock (1850-1897)
4. Amos A. Rothrock (1851-1928)
5. Levi Rothrock (1853-1861)
6. Susan Rothrock Moser Chapin (1857-1921)
7. Mary Catherine Rothrock Bissell (1858-1929)
8. Margaret Rothrock Houghlan (1860-1951)
9. Anna Elizabeth Rothrock Sollman (1862-1926)
10. Jacob J. Rothrock (1864-1937)

In 1900 the widow Catherine (mother of ten, eight living) was living alone, next door to her married daughter Anna at Copley Township, Summit County, Ohio.

The following is a biography from an unknown Ohio history book:

SAMUEL ROTHROCK, (deceased), was a native of Philadelphia, Penn. (sic), and was born Oct. 20, 1820. He was one in a family of eight children, of whom Samuel and Rebecca (Eshbauch) Rothrock were the parents. In 1834, Samuel, together with his parents, came to Stark Co., Ohio, and here he resided until 1846. On the 25th of December, 1845, he was united in marriage with Catharine, daughter of Christian Stauffer; and to this union were born the following family: Samuel, Christian, David, Amos, Levi, Susan, Mary, Maggie, Anna and Jacob. . These children are all living and all reside in Summit County. After his marriage, Mr. Rothrock commenced farming, and such was his occupation through life. In the spring of 1853, he and family came to Copley Township, Summit Co., Ohio, and settled on Lot No. 12. In 1871, he commenced suffering with dropsy, and after about six months of intense suffering, his death occurred. That event was Dec. 29, 1871. He and wife were members of church, and Mr. Rothrock was a most estimable citizen.

Links to Samuel's parents, his wife, all of his ten known children and four of his eight known siblings are included below.