Samuel Norwood Maloney was born February 22, 1806 in the Pendleton District of South Carolina. He was the son of William Dejernette Maloney and Elizabeth Pickens Maloney.

The Maloney family moved from South Carolina to Gwinette Co., Georgia by 1830. Samuel met and married Nancy Elizabeth Cupp, daughter of William Cupp about 1832 in Gwinette Co. After his marriage, he moved to Chattanooga Co., Georgia by 1840 and to Cobb Co., Georgia by 1850.

Samuel Norwood participated in the 1832 Georgia land lottery with his brother William P., and also accompanied William in volunteering for the "Cobb County Volunteer Rifle Company" on 17 June 1836. The unit was organized to offer service "in lieu of the draft." There were 98 members of the company and among them were 4th corporal William P. and S. N. Maloney. On 7 Feb 1837, three Lieutenants of the Company wrote to the Governor, saying: "Sir: Agreeable to your orders of the 27 January our company was called on to take up the Line of March for Columbus. When to our mortification one portion of the company refused to march. Their names are as follows: G. D. Rice (ex Capt)...Wm P. Maloney...S. N. Maloney...all in number 51." There appeared to be some extenuating circumstances but no further explanation was offered in the correspondence. (From: " The First Hundred Years," by Sarah Blackwell Temple, Marietta, GA.)

Samuel was elected Sheriff of Cobb County, of which office he held for 12 years. For two terms he represented Cobb County in the Georgia State Legislature.

As Samuel children grew he began to give serious thought to providing settlements for them. Land in Georgia began to advance in price and even though he was fairly well off, providing for his 10 children as he wanted to would involve a vast expense. After the marriage of his oldest daughter, Mary Elizabeth, in 1851, he began to hear of Texas. The matter was talked over for a long time. He interested his brothers sufficiently to organize a company and start for Texas

The Maloney family, after months of planning, organized a company and headed for Texas in October 1857. there were reported to be 66 people in the party, comprised of the elderly parents (in their mid-seventies); Sam, his wife and ten children, a grandchild, and seventeen slaves; William P, his wife and eight children and six slaves; Israel and Mary with eight children, one slave named "Dorcas," and her son Artie; and some friends: John Brown and his wife and two men named Bradley and Mauldin.It took three months to make the journey by horseback plus ten mule drawn wagons and a carriage in which the elder Maloney's rode. Upon arrival in Texas, Sam settled in Hunt County, near Commerce and Wolfe City, paying fifty-cents an acre for his land. It seems that the parents stayed with him. William P. apparently settled in Wood County, near Emory, as he is shown there in the 1860 Federal Census. Israel settled his family near Ladonia, in Fannin County. In late 1872 Sam Maloney left his home in Texas and went to Fort Smith, Arkansas on a business trip with some companions. Upon starting for home on December 10th, he stopped eight miles out of Fort Smith, on a bitterly cold and snowy evening, to spend the night in a farmhouse. It is said that, while sitting in front of a warm fireplace, sixty-six year old Sam had a heart attack and died. He was buried in a cold, unmarked grave in a snowy field and, although family members later tried to locate the grave, it could never be positively identified. From; "The Maloney Family Biographical Record," by Louise and Charles Fowler - 1974) 11