In 1857, he moved to Nebraska Territory, and settled in Peru, Nebraska, in Nemaha County, Nebraska. Daily built a sawmill on the Missouri River and in 1858 became a member of the Nebraska Territorial House of Representatives. In this position, he was one of the first in Nebraska to declare himself a Republican. Daily was a radical and outspoken abolitionist. He also introduced the first bill to abolish slavery in the Territory. The bill failed.
Samuel Daily successfully contested as a Republican the election of Experience Estabrook to the Thirty-sixth United States Congress.[1] The next election for the Thirty-seventh Congress was also contested. This time the opponent was J. Sterling Morton; the founder of Arbor Day. Again, Daily won the contest. He was reelected to the Thirty-eighth Congress without a contest. He served in Congress from May 18, 1860, to March 3, 1865.
In March 1865, he was appointed deputy collector of customs in New Orleans, Louisiana at the special request of President Abraham Lincoln. He died of yellow fever in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 15, 1866. He was buried in Mount Vernon Cemetery in Peru, Nebraska.
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