Like his father and brother John, Samuel deal heavily in real estate in Nicholas County before the Civil War.
He first appears on the land records as acquiring a land grant from the Virginia Land Office in 1845. The grant was for 125 acres and was located on Skyles Creek near his father's lands. In 1848, Samuel sold this tract to his father for one dollar.
On 8 Jan 1849, Samuel bought a tract of 140 acres from Thomas Butcher. The deed to this land is extraordinarily explicit in defining land marks. The farm began at a corner to John Bailes, Samuel's father-in-law, then ran "below the Opossum Rocks on said ridge...to a white oak near the schoolhouse on a small flat, said tree marked with the letters SB thence a straight line to cross Mill creek Below the Mill site." All of these landmarks except for the tree can be easily located today.
On 28 Nov 1856, Samuel sold to his father two tracts of land he owned on Skyles Creek. One parcel was 100 acres at the "...mouth of Skyles Run whereon sd Samuel Baughman now lives...(said Creek formerly known as Jerry's Fork." The other tract of land was for 125 acres which adjoined the first tract. Oddly, no deeds of purchase for either of these tracts could be found in Nicholas County land books. It is not known how Samuel acquired them. When Samuel sold these lands to his father, he also conveyed several items of personal property -- "1 set of smith tools, 1 windmill, 1 mare and colt, 9 head of sheep, 4 head of cows and one young calf, 3 head of hogs and some young pigs." This transferral of personal property suggests that Samuel was moving a long distance away; yet he subsequently moved only seven miles downstream -- not known why he didn't take his tools and livestock with him.
After selling land to his father, Samuel moved to the ridge above Strange Creek and the farm he had bought from Thomas Butcher in 1849. On 27 Apr 1861, Samuel bought an additional 123 acres adjoining this farm from Samuel F. Given. Samuel lived on this farm until his death in 1879.2

Death Record 1a, page 1879b, Nicholas Co, WV.5 County Clerk reports that death record lists parents as Charles and Rachel Baughman.

1850 Census, VA, Nicholas Co, 43rd Dist, Enumerated on 23 July 1850
Bailes, John, age 41, male, Farmer, born in VA
Bailes, Elizabeth, age 50, female, born in VA
Bailes, Mary, age 17, female, born in VA
Bailes, Levisa, age 15, female, born in VA
Bailes, William, age 13, male, born in VA
Bailes, Malicia, age 11, female, born in VA
Bailes, Jonathan, age 7, male, born in VA
Bailes, Clerrinda, age 31, female, born in VA
Baughman, Saml, age 22, male, Farmer, born in VA
Baughman, Nancy, age 20, female, born in VA
Baughman, John, age 11/12, male, born in VA402