A. O. Taylor (Tylor) sends Samuel on a barge to sell a load of woodenware products and to establish a branch in New Orleans. When he arrives at to the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, rivermen tell him that he should go to St. Louis, rather than New Orleans, for a better market. After selling the first load of wooden goods at Cairo, IL, even before reaching St. Louis, he heads back to Cincinnati to replenish his stock and takes off once again for St. Louis. He entices his friend Asa Americus Wallace to come with him to St. Louis When they arrive in St. Louis, they begin Cupples Company in leased space on the 2nd and 3rd floors of 9 Locust Street.

Also, Samuel begins his affiliation with the Fourth Street Methodist Church (located at the corner of 4th and Washington and affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church South soon after coming to St. Louis. Reportedly, he teaches Sunday School at the Church.

Cupples moves the business from Locust Street to larger quarters on the levee.

Samuel buys property on Cote Brilliante for $5,627. The property originally belonged to Auguste Choteau. This property later became his principal residence and farm property.

Margaret Amelia dies of consumption (tuberculosis). Before her death, she reportedly asked Samuel to marry her sister, Martha. This was not an uncommon practice in this age in order to keep money in the family.

Samuel Cupples and Asa Wallace expand their partnership to include Thomas Marston of Chicago.

Samuel marries Martha Kells on Christmas Day.

Cupples and Marston Wholesale Wooden and Willow Ware is now relocated to 55 and 57 N. Second Street in St. Louis.

Samuel and Martha have three children, all of whom die in early childhood either from diptheria or typhoid.

After a stop in Cairo, IL, where he is told that "St. Louis is where the action is," Harry Brookings comes to St. Louis and joins Cupples & Marston. Harry was the internal pricing expert.

Harry's brother, Robert Brookings soon joins Cupples & Marston. Robert became the premier traveling salesperson for the firm.

About this time, the Brookings brothers propose leaving Cupples Company. According to Fr. Maurice McNamee, Mr. Cupples replied, "Boys, you can't do that; I'll make you full partners!"

Samuel and Martha Cupples officially adopt Amelia Ross Lowman on March 7.

This is the first year that 3673 West Pine is listed as the Cupples' residence address in the St. Louis Business Directory.

The Cupples family travels to Europe.

According to the St. Louis Business Directory, the business relocates to an address known as "Cupples Block."

Samuel Cupples appears on the 1892 New York Tribune list of millionaires. Summing up the Gilded Age spirit, the paper states, "The late 19th century was the heroic age of the forceful individual personality in American enterprise."

Mr. Cupples begins his tenure on the Board of Trustees of Vanderbilt University, a position he held until 1911. He actually submitted his resignation in 1897 citing that ill health caused his inability to attend the annual meetings, but the Board refused to accept the resignation. To repay the Vanderbilt Board, in 1987, Mr. Cupples pledges an annual contribution of $1500 toward the salary of a professor of practical theology on the condition that the remainder be raised from other sources.

Martha Kells Cupples dies on November 18 of pneumonia paresis at the age of 64. She had been a bedridden invalid for three years prior to her death.

Sometime in the 1890s, Cupples and Brookings become involved with Barnes Hospital. Brookings plays a role in aligning Washington University with Barnes Hospital. Both the Brookings brothers were in on the early Barnes Hospital decisions.

Mr. Cupples continues his philanthropic activities. He is Vice President on the Executive Board of the St. Louis Provident Association. By this time, Provident sponsors 75% of all the charity in St. Louis. Comparable groups include the St. Vincent de Paul Society and the United Hebrew Charities. Provident serves approximately 3500 families, 1205 foreign citizens, 1450 United States citizens, and 866 African-Americans. Also, Mr. Cupples sits on the board of Missouri Children's Home, an organization dedicated in memoriam to Mrs. Cupples in honor of her many philanthropic activities.

Samuel Cupples provides $100,000 to build the Methodist Orphans' Children's Home in honor of Martha Kells Cupples. He functions as Treasurer of its Board of Trustees. The Home was later dedicated in May 1896. The Methodist Orphans' Board was founded in 1867 by the First Methodist Church South. Mrs. Cupples was one of the founding directresses and Mr. Cupples sat on the Men's Board from the time of its inception nearly thirty years earlier.

Mr. Cupples donates money to restore Lafayette Park Church after a cyclone devastated it.

Mr. Cupples's business holdings now includes Samuel Cupples Envelope Co., which held the official license to sell postcards at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, also known as the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Postcards from the company were designated as "Official Souvenir World's Fair Saint Louis 1904."

The hold-to-the-light postcards were some of the most popular postcards, because the image on them changed once they were held up to the light. When the postcards were held up to the light, the buildings in the image lit up.

Samuel Cupples is one of the 115 donors for the building of the new St. John's Church on Kingshighway. Ground was eventually broken for the Church in June 1901.

In May, capital stock from the Cupples Station property is transferred to Washington University. The stock carried a book value of $3,000,000. Cupples supposedly gave the property with an attached debt of $3,000,000, which the University paid off through tax savings because of its tax-exempt status. The situation led to a policy that tax-exempt insitutions cannot accept gifts of this kind.

In November, Mr. Cupples attends the dedication of Washington University. He sat in attendance with the University faculty.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Cupples Wooden Ware, employees of the company present Mr. Cupples with a memorial booklet, in which the company history was recorded. Some of the quotes testifying to the corporate traits of Cupples Wooden Ware included:

Samuel Cupples, his daughter, and his granddaughters, board the R. M. S. Republic. However, the Republic collided with an Italian ship off the Nantucket coast. This incident marked the first use of the Marconi wireless communication, or the telegraph, and was heralded as saving the passengers and crew.

The shipwreck aggravated Mr. Cupples's asthma and left him with nervous prostration, both of which reportedly contributed to his death.

On January 6, Samuel Cupples dies of pneumonia and bronchitis. His daughter, Amelia, is the only relative at his side when he dies at 11:00 p.m. In addition to his business and philanthropic activity, his obituary also lists him as one of the directors of Boatmen's Bank.

The Cupples estate is valued at $1,575,129.29, which does not include his properties and their furnishings and artwork.