Sam went by many names: Sentaro, Sampachi, Kurazo, Kurakichi, etc. Curiously, the Scroll caption refers to him as Matou. One possibility is that under his friend Jonathan Goble's Christian "instruction" he had converted to Christianity and that the marine had given him the Christian name "Mathew." This may explain why Sam was so reluctant to stay in Japan where Christianity was strictly outlawed.

When Jonathan Goble (a member of the Perry expedition) and his wife returned to Japan as Baptist missionaries in 1860, Sam Patch accompanied them. Later he worked for the important Yokohama missionary, James Ballagh and his wife.