Samuel Utter appears on the 1840 census of Edgar County, IL as age between 40 and 50. There are also, in his household, one male under 5 and one between 10 and 15. There is one female between 5 and 10, one between 10 and 15 and two between 15 and 20. Samuel Utter is listed on the census next to his brother-in-law Samuel Colville Vance (b. 1813), listed as between 20 and 30 years of age.