In Kentucky, Suit became involved in distilling whiskey, eventually owning a distillery and making his fortune.
[2] While in Kentucky, he married his first wife, Sarah Ebenezer Williams, who died in childbirth at age 19.
In 1867, Suit moved back to Maryland with his family, and purchased a more than 300-acre (1.2 km2) estate near Washington, D.C.
[1] The estate was visited by U.S. Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes, and was the scene of negotiations to settle the Alabama Claims.
[1] At about this time, Suit met Rosa Pelham at the spa in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.
In 1885, they started construction of their own private residence there: the Samuel Taylor Suit Cottage or "Berkeley Castle".