Samuel Huntington was born on July 16, 1731, in Scotland Parish, then part of Windham and later incorporated into the town of Scotland, Connecticut. He was the fourth of ten children of Nathaniel Huntington and Mehetabel Thurston Huntington. His family were farmers of respectable standing but lacked the wealth commonly associated with college-trained colonial leaders. Samuel grew up working on the family farm and received only the limited common-school instruction available in a rural New England community. Unlike several brothers, Huntington was not initially prepared for college. At about sixteen he was apprenticed to a cooper, learning the skilled work of making barrels and other wooden containers essential to agriculture and commerce. The apprenticeship required physical labor, accuracy, patience, and responsibility. At the same time, he pursued education independently. He borrowed books, studied grammar and classical subjects, and gradually taught himself enough law to seek a different profession. Huntington’s rise was therefore built upon self-education rather than family patronage. He studied legal texts while continuing to work and eventually gained admission to the bar in 1754. He began practicing in Windham and soon moved to Norwich, a larger and more commercially active town. The ability to master law without college training impressed contemporaries and established his reputation for discipline and sound judgment. In 1761 he married Martha Devotion, the daughter of the Reverend Ebenezer Devotion. The couple had no biological children but later raised Samuel’s nephew and niece after the death of his brother. Marriage into a ministerial family strengthened Huntington’s religious and social connections. He joined the Congregational church and became active in local affairs.