Samuel moved to Orange, New jersey, when he achieved maturity and built his home on Valley Road.  He called his little estate, "Walnut Cottage".  He became the first industrial captain in the Oranges, owning extensive properties which he farmed.  During his lifetime, he also ran a saw mill, served as a magistrate, dabbled in banking, and as a builder, constructed a number of dwellings in addition to working as a government contractor.  

As he grew older, he gave Walnut Cottage to his eldest son, Amos.  He moved to a new hous, possibly the home located near Wigwam Brook, which flows through the present-day Watsessing Park, in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Samuel also ran a fulling mill.  Fulling is the process of removing oil from cloth, which in turn, cleans, shrinks, and thickens the fibers.  An absorbent clay, known as fullers earth, is used to extract the oils.  He was operating this mill, located near the confluence of Second River and Nishuyne Brook, on lot number 117 North Park Street, East Orange, in the year 1733.  The mill itself, was 30 feet by 70 feet, in  width and length, and two stories in height, with a full basement.  Although it later became known as Slater's Mill, because of it's brightly red painted walls, it was also widely known as the Red Mill.

The mill's power came frm the two streams mentioned above, which were dammed up, with gates across Second River, just below the confluence to the two streams.  Here, an embankment was built so high, that the land between the two streams became flooded, creating a mill pond.  This pond extended almost up to the Washington Street bridge, over Second River, and the Dodd Street Bridge over Nishuyne Brook.

The mill building stood about 20 feet from the street, the water wheel and housing attached to the southern wall.  The embankment raised the water level high enough to allow for a 10 to 20 foot fall.  The wheel was approximately 10 feet in diameter and 6 feet wide, producing, in operation, about 15 hoursepower.

This mill was destroyed by fire in 1863 and never rebuilt.  The mill pond remained, and was used as a skating rink until 1870.  Over the years, the embankment was leveled and the area was built upon, leaving not the slightest trace of evidence of there ever having been a mill on the site.