Samuel Claridge was born on December 5, 1828, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England. When he grew up, he ran a bakery in Hemel Hempstead. On December 9, 1849 he married Charlotte Joy who was born on September 28, 1819. Their son Samuel David Claridge was born on October 19, 1850. Elizabeth Ann was born on January 19, 1852. Samuel Claridge joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in June 1851, and immmigrated to Utah in 1853. After spending the winter of 1853-1854 in cramped quarters, when spring broke, he went to Nephi, Juab County, and established a farm, home, and family there. On July 3, 1865 he married Rebecca Hughes in the Endowment House, Salt Lake City. In Nephi he built a house, fenced his fields, began farming, and served in various church and civic jobs. At a conference in Nephi, July 19-20, 1868, Samuel Claridge was called by Brigham Young to settle the Muddy, Moapa Valley, and Lincoln County, Nevada. He and some of his family lived there from 1868 until February 1871 when the Nevada law prosecutions began. They then retreated to southern Utah to start again. The family located at Mount Carmel and remained there three years until Samuel Claridge joined the United Order at Orderville. He was an officer, a leader, and supporting member for nearly ten years. During those years, he went to England on a proselyting mission for the Church. He also spent time collecting his genealogy and visiting his family. During the fall of 1883, he moved his family to the Gila Valley, Graham County, Arizona. His tent was one of the first staked at the site of the village of Thatcher. There he continued farming and raising a large family: four by his first wife (Charlotte died March 1884) and fifteen by his second wife Rebecca. Samuel Claridge served as bishop of Thatcher for thirteen years when he was ordained a patriarch, a position he held until his death twenty-two years later.