Who is Samuel Collier from the novel, Blood on the River?

Samuel Collier is an 11-year-old orphan boy from England. He is caught stealing a locket and imprisoned, but he escapes being hanged because the the magistrate takes pity on him and takes him to an orphanage. At the orphanage he is taken under the wing of Reverend Hunt, who brings Samuel and another boy to the James Town colony.

Samuel serves as the page for Captain John Smith, from whom he learns much about leadership and the ways a commoner can overcome adversity in a world run by noblemen. As a commoner but also a leader, Capt. Smith works with Samuel on how to properly use his intellect and leadership skills to grow up to be the sort of man the New World needs. No longer will there be commoners and nobles, but rather a New World where these skills and intellect truly matter and bloodlines will not.