Samuel Mallett Gattis was born on March 8, 1863, in Orange County, North Carolina. An attorney by training, Gattis served as clerk of the Orange County Superior Court (1889 to 1894), state legislator (sessions of 1899, 1901, and 1903), and solicitor (1909 to 1923). He died in Hillsborough, North Carolina on April 16, 1931.