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 OHN G. SLATER, a prominent resident of the northeastern part of Coles County, owns a good farm on section 21, in East Oakland Township, where he located in the fall of 1869. His property embraces 350 acres of finely-cultivated land, a commodious brick residence, erected in 1882, handsome and convenient out-buildings, and a good assortment of live-stock. He has displayed excellent judgment in the management of his farming operations, has been wise in his investments, and uniformly successful in the various branches of agriculture in which he has been largely interested. Our subject is a native of Loudoun County, Va., where his birth took place Aug. 11, 1830. His parents, George and Sarah (Shumaker) Slater, were natives of the Old Dominion, and both born in 1791. They died in their native State, George Slater in 1865, and his wife, Sarah, in 1881. Their marriage took place in 1829. The children of the parental household were John G., James W., Thomas E., Ann Eliza, who is now deceased, and Luther, who died in infancy. An infant died unnamed. The father of our subject received a fair education in the common schools, and upon reaching manhood engaged in farming, which he followed the remainder of his life. Both parents were members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, in which the elder Slater officiated as a member of the Board of Trustees many years. His farm was carried on by slave labor, as he had been born and reared amid the surroundings of the peculiar institution, and had never questioned its justice and propriety. The mother of our subject was of French and German ancestry, but the Slaters were of pure German blood. John G. Slater spent his boyhood and youth on the farm of his father in Virginia, and after reaching manhood married a lady of his own county, Miss Ann E. Ruse, their union taking place Dec. 9, 1852, Rev. Martin, of the German Reform Church, officiating. Mrs. Slater was born July 5, 1832, and is the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Day) Ruse, also natives of Loudouu County, Va., where they spent the early part of their life, and whence they finally removed to the Shenandoah Valley, where the death of John Ruse occurred Sept. 26, 1884. The mother is still living there. They were among the most highly respected people of the agricultural districts, and the mother belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. R. was broad and liberal in his views, a free-thinker and a man of more than ordinary intelligence. Their family consisted of six children, namely, Mary J., A. E., Edward S., Julia, John and Lydia C. Mr. and Mrs. Slater after their marriage continued in their native State until 1861, and then came to Edgar County, Ill., locating in Grand View Township, whence they removed a year later to Embarras Township, of which they remained residents until the fall of 1869. Mr. Slater then transferred his citizenship to this county, where he has since remained. Politically, he is a true-blue Republican, and during the late war illustrated his principles in the most forcible manner of which he was capable,, by enlisting as a Union soldier, becoming a member of Co. B., 54th Ill. Vol. Inf. He was content to serve in the capacity of a private until the surrender of the Confederate army, enduring bravely and cheerfully the vicissitudes of war for the sake of the result, in which he had faith from the very first. He was in the Trans-Mississippi Department, and was at Little Rock and Ft. Smith, Ark., and though quite ill at one time, sturdily refused to be placed in the hospital, and finally triumphed over his ailments. At Ft. Smith he was detailed as Clerk in the Freedman’s Bureau, in which capacity he subsequently served until the regiment was mustered out of the service. The children of our subject and wife, eleven in number, are recorded as follows: Rosa E. is the wife of J. W. Stokes, of Oakland; Edgar F. married Miss Laura Braden, and is located in East Oakland Township; James S. married Elizabeth Boggs; Julius S. married Ella Unangst, and is in Kansas; John G., Owen, Charles W., Paul A. and Thomas D. (twins), and Luther A. are at home; Grant died in infancy. Mr. Slater has been prominently connected with local affairs since coming to this township, and in 1887 was elected to represent East Oakland Township on the Board of Supervisors by a majority of ninety-one on the Republican ticket. He was also appointed as a member of the committee on roads and bridges, and of the committee on the equalization of personal property. He is liberal in his religious views, as is also his estimable lady. As a representative of the wide-awake and thrifty element of his township he stands second to none, and has contributed his full share toward its business and industrial interests. He despises the idler, and when his hands are not employed, his busy brain is always devising some enterprise which will be of benefit both to himself and his neighbors. He is of the same stuff of which the earliest pioneers were made, and without which the great commonwealth of Illinois might have remained an uncivilized tract of country, given over to wild beasts and savages. |
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