Samuel Whitcomb Jr. (September 14, 1792 – March 5, 1879) was a colporteur, journalist and a champion of the working class, public schools and democratic political values. Whitcomb was born in Hanover, Massachusetts. As an adult, he moved across the early United States more commonly than most people of his time. He served in the War of 1812. In 1817 he married Mary Simmons Joy.