Who is Sam?

Sam, an onion picker and an African American man, fell in love with Kate Barlow, the beautiful school teacher of Green Lake. He was a kind and caring man who treated everyone with respect, and it is easy to see why Kate Barlow fell in love with him, too. He sold onions for a living, and was a fixture of the community: everyone bought his lotions and tonics to cure a variety of illnesses. Kate and Sam's love was illicit, however, because they were of different races, and thus when their relationship was discovered, the townspeople, led by Trout Walker, assembled a mob to hang Sam. When he attempted to escape on his rowboat, he was shot. The memory of Sam's tragic death and the love they shared is what motivated Kate to go on her killing spree.