The surname "Freeman" suggests that Samuel might have once been enslaved and chose a new last name to make it clear that he had gained his freedom.
Samuel was married to Lois. An 1810 federal census places them in Deerfield, Massachusetts with five in the "All Other Free Persons" column. It is assumed that the couple had three children, one of whom was Hannah, born in 1809. No birthdates are given for the other two children. By the 1820 census the family numbered six and was living in nearby Greenfield. Hannah had died in 1818, baptized less than a month before her death. Eleanor, Samuel Russell, and Theodosia were baptized on that same date. Although this was common, Hannah's illness might have been the motivation for baptizing the other children at that time. Lewis Howe was baptized in 1819. In 1830 the family was still in Greenfield with eight in the household. Eunice Dawes had been baptized in 1821 and Lucinda Green in 1823. By the 1840 census the family had moved to Northampton, Massachusetts. Samuel and Lois are listed with one female under the age of 10 and two females, possibly Eunice and Lucinda, aged 10-23. The 1850 census for that town lists Samuel aged 80, and Lois, aged 73. He had no occupation and the couple was living with nine other people with various surnames who were between the ages of 16 and 64. It appears that only Samuel and Lois were African American, and another person's birthplace was given as Ireland. It might be that the Freemans were living in a poorhouse.