Samuel William Mayer was born May 13, 1858 in Sandusky, Ohio to German-immigrant parents Andrew and Ann G. Mayer, the eldest of six children. His siblings were Sarah A. Mayer Lott (1860-1911 ; married William J. Lott, killed in interurban crossing accident in 1911 and buried in Maple Ridge), R.F. Mayer (b. 1867; lived in Ohio), Louise M. Mayer Ward (b. 1861; lived in Alexandria), Emma W. Mayer Leipprandt (b. 1869; lived in Pigeon, MI), and Herman W. Mayer (b. 1873; lived in Detroit). When Samuel was just 7 years old, his family moved to Michigan and settled in Lansing in 1865, where the youngest two children, his siblings, were born.

Samuel attended the city schools in Lansing and by age seventeen in 1875, he started to learn the trade of stone cutting. He worked in stone cutting for three years, however, due to his health, he pivoted to various other occupations until 1883. This was notably the period of construction of the Michigan State Capitol, and as a young stone cutter he may have worked on the construction. Mayer went to Saginaw in 1878 and was worked in a store for two and a half years, after which he was a travelling salesman for a wholesale dealer in Saginaw for two and a half years. In 1883, a 26-year-old Samuel purchased the general store of James Weigman in Holt. There he was a dealer in general merchandise, grain, produce, and farming materials. The general store was located at the modern-day southwest corner of Holt Road and Cedar Street.

The Mayer property and home were in town not farms in the more rural areas of the Township. Mayer’s home stood near the present day Delhi Division of the Ingham County Sheriff’s Department on Cedar Street and much of the adjacent land was his. Almost the entirety of what we now call the “Triangle” in Holt (the land bordered by Holt, Aurelius, and Cedar Street) was owned by Mayer.

In 1886, Samuel married Mina L. Clark of Lansing. Mina taught schools in Holt. The couple had two children Ross W. Mayer (1889-1956) and Glenn Samuel Mayer (1893-1988). Both children attended schools in Holt. The family were members of the First Presbyterian Church of Holt. Through son Glenn, Mayer’s granddaughter was noted Lansing resident Dr. Marilyn Culpepper, historian, active community member, and professor in American Thought & Language (today the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures) at MSU for more than 50 years.

Once firmly established in Holt, Samuel became interested and active in public affairs. He had become a trusted community leader for many years. He served as postmaster of Holt several times, 1889-1893, 1897-1904, and 1907-1915. This was the period in which post offices were operated in general stores and the store proprietor was appointed postmaster. In 1896, Samuel was a delegate to the Ingham County Republican Convention, which nominated Hazen Pingree for governor. He also served as a delegate to the 1898 Sixth Congressional District Convention, which nominated Samuel W. Smith for Congress.

In 1897, Samuel Mayer was elected State Representative from the First District of Ingham County, which included the westernmost four townships of Lansing, Delhi, Aurelius, and Onondaga. This was in the period when Legislative districts were created and named based on county rather than population and district number. Ingham County had two districts; the Second District was the rest of the county to the east. That system change came in 1964. In 1897, Mayer defeated Jason E. Nichols, of the democratic people’s union silver party, by a vote of 2,779 to 2,758. While in the Legislature for one term, 1897-1898, Mayer sat on the Committee of General Taxation, Work-House Inspection Committee, and he chaired the Committee on Public Lands.  

In the days prior to the 1963 Constitutional Convention in Michigan, the Legislature was parttime, meeting only every other year except for special sessions on the off year. That means that upon Mayer’s election to office in November 1896, he only served in the Capitol in 1897 and a special session was held in March and April 1898.  

During his term in the House, Rep. Mayer introduced sixteen bills. The topics varied from banning the hunting of quail, licensing peddlers and pawnbrokers, authorizing the State Land Commissioner to employ trespassing agents, amendments to public health acts, amendments to the City of Lansing charter, and most locally relevant was a proposed settlement between Delhi Township and its former treasurer Simon Diehl. Of his sponsored bills, few came to fruition. A law was passed during his term relating to licensing peddlers and pawnbrokers, which was a bill of his. There were also amendments to the City of Lansing charter, providing for the extension of Jerome Street. Among others. It appears that in 1898, Mayer decided not to run for reelection. Prominent Lansing attorney George R. Heck was elected to the Legislature from the First District of Ingham County.

Through all his time in the Legislature, Mayer was still owning and operating his store in Holt. By April 1904, Mayer retired from business life after twenty-one years a proprietor of the general store in Holt. He was 46 years old at his retirement. He served on last term as postmaster in this period of 1907 to 1915. This was around the time when general store owners ceased being postmaster and when a dedicated building and post office were formed outside of general stores.

In 1915, Samuel and Mina Mayer moved to Lansing and resided on Sparrow Avenue. In this period it was very common for elderly residents of Holt to “retire” to Lansing and purchase city homes in Lansing. Mayer served as Ingham County Food Administrator temporarily in 1918. This was a position responsible for managing substitutes for food and products needed for the World War I effort. In 1918, Samuel challenged William C. Walters for Sixth Ward Alderman in the City of Lansing. However, Samuel never made it to the election. Samuel W. Mayer died on July 19, 1918.

Mina Mayer was a society lady. She was active in Holt and Lansing clubs, including the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the Educational Mutual Benefit Club (EMB). She was president of both at one time. Some of the meetings of the organizations were held at the various Mayer residences. Mrs. Mayer survived Samuel by more than 20 years and died in 1937.