Many thanks to Esther Rancier for sharing her information on the Slack Family. Esther is researching in Richland and Mexico the Soul/Soule, Brace and Daniel P. Smith families, and would appreciate hearing from anyone researching these surnames. 
Esther Rancier at: <[email protected] >

        William Slack, born about 1659 in England, arrived in America before 1683.  He married Mary Stock.  Their son John Slack wed Bethia Woodcock.  They lived in Attleboro, MA.  John, Jr. had two wives.  The name of his first wife remains unknown.  In Wrentham, MA the Town Records on 2 Nov. 1770 note that John Slack had come to town with his wife Abigail and children John, Israel and Joel.
        All of the above mentioned children were issue of the unknown first wife.  Abigail Gould was their stepmother.  Israel was born 10 Oct. 1764.  He was 5 feet 6 inches tall with a light complexion.  At the time of the Revolution he enlisted for Wrentham for 6 months.  He was just 16 years old.  Later he served another 6 months as a private in Captain John Trotter’s 5th Regiment at West Point Garrison in Jan. 1781.
 It is not certain when Israel headed west.  On 16 Jan. 1791 he married Lucinda Bond in Warren, MA.  She was born 22 Apr. 1765 in Sturbridge, MA, the daughter of Seth Bond and Martha Blunt.  By 1797 Israel lived in Whitestown, Oneida Co., NY.  Oneida County records reveal that on 16 Oct. 1797 Israel was appointed the estate administrator of Nathaniel Bond, his wife’s grandfather.
        In 1805 Israel Slack bought lot 79 in Mexico, Oswego Co., NY.  His son Nathaniel later lived on lot 81.  The lots were in an area referred to as Prattville.  The Slack family with all its children made such a presence that the Prattville School was commonly called the Slack School.
        The Slacks were Presbyterians.  They joined the church in Mexico which split into a separate congregation for Prattville in 1829.  Over the years Israel’s various sons were elected trustees of this Pratham Church.  Son Lexter helped to actually build the Pratham edifice on its hilltop site.
        Lucinda (Bond) Slack died 27 Feb. 1814, age 49.  She was buried in the Primitive Cemetery in Mexico.  Israel then married before 1817 Sarah whose last name remains unknown.  Israel died 25 Dec. 1849, age 85.  He too was placed in the Primitive Cemetery.  Sarah lived to 15 Sept. 1852 when she died, age 77.  She joined the others in the Primitive Cemetery.
 Children of Israel and Lucinda:

1. Lyman Slack who d.y.
2. Lucinda Slack b. ca. 1793; m. Samuel Everts; d. 9 Feb. 1865.
3. Fanny Slack b. 16 Feb. 1795; m. Mexico, NY 15 Mar. 1815 Sherman Hosmer; d. 1 June 1836 Mexico.
4. Nathaniel Slack b. 2 Jul 1798; m. Mexico 30 Nov. 1830 Eliza Jane Kingsbury; d. 19 Apr. 1872.
5. Comfort Slack b. ca. 1800; d. bef. 16 Oct. 1826 when Letters of Administration were issued were issued for his estate.
6. Lexter Slack b. ca. 1801; m. Jane T. ______; d. 4 Aug. 1866, age 65.
7. Dexter Slack         m. Louisa Bangs.  In 1830 Mexico census they had 1 son under 5 and 1 daughter between 5 and 10.
8. Matilda Slack  d. 5 May 1858.
9. William Slack d. 1878 in Bellville, Canada. 
Children of Israel and Sarah:
10. Joseph Perkins Slack b. Mexico 15 Jan. 1817; m. Maria E. Furness; d. after 1880.  Residence: Waterloo, NY in 1880.

Fanny Slack married Sherman Hosmer 15 Mar. 1815 in Mexico.  Sherman, born 20 Sept. 1785 in Canaan, CT., fought in the War of 1812.  In 1860 he was elected a trustee of the Pratham Church.  Fanny died in 1836, age 41.  She was buried in the Primitive Cemetery.  She had 8 children.  Sherman lived to age 91 when he died in 1877.  He too was laid to rest in the Primitive Cemetery.
Children of Fanny and Sherman Hosmer:

1.  Hannah Lucinda Hosmer b. Mexico 13 Dec. 1817; m. Holland Wilder; d.  1896.  Both were buried in the Mexico Village Cemetery.  Issue.
2. Harriet Amelia Hosmer b. Mar. 1816; d. 1836.  Unmarried.
3. William Everett Hosmer.
4. Noble A. Hosmer d. 1898. age 26.  Buried in the Mexico Village Cemetery.
5. Justin A. Hosmer.
6. Comfort Mark Hosmer.
7. Weltha Ann Hosmer b. July 1830; d. 1832.  Buried in the Primitive Cemetery.
8. Thomas Hosmer.

       Nathaniel Slack married Eliza Jane Kingsbury in Mexico on 30 Nov. 1830.  Nathaniel worked a farm on lot 81.  He was a member of the Pratham Church.  He was baptized as an adult 30 Dec. 1827 in Mexico Presbyterian Church before the Pratham location was built.  In 1834 he was first elected a trustee and again in 1856, 1860 and 1863.  Eliza became the mother of at least 7 children of whom 3 died young.  Nathaniel died 2 Jul 1872.  Eliza survived to 6 May 1884.  They were both laid to rest in the Primitive Cemetery along with their 3 children who died young, Ann, Eliza and Gustavus. Years after the death of Nathaniel, his pastor A. Parke Burgess, described him “whose steady light still shines, though the candlestick had been removed….”
Children of Nathaniel and Eliza:

1.  George R. Slack b. Mexico ca. 1832; m. Mary J. Corn (?); d. 22 Apr. 1879, age    47.  Mary J. died 9 Dec. 1875, age 43.  Both were buried in the Primitive Cemetery.  George was also a trustee of the Pratham Church in 1867.  In the 1870 household a Meary (sic) Corn, age 68 lived with the family.  Issue: Nettie b. ca. 1858 and Hattie E. b. ca. 1868.  In 1880 Hattie E. was living with her grandmother Eliza Slack.
2. Lora Slack b. Mexico ca. 1835; d. after 1880.  Unmarried.
3. Rev. Comfort Slack b. Mexico ca. 1836; d. 1865, age 29, Newton, Iowa.  In 1860 he was a student at Hamilton College. In 1863 he graduated from the Auburn Seminary becoming the pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Newton, IA.  His Pratham pastor wrote, “ He was to me a loved, confidential friend.”
4. Hiriam W. Slack b. Mexico ca. 1844; m. M. L. _____; d. after 1880. In 1870 census Hiriam was a student at Cornell University at Ithaca, NY. 
Residence 1880: St. Paul, Ramsey Co., MN.  Occupation: High school principal.  Issue: M.L., daughter age 7 months in 1880.  Another resident in the home was a cousin, Anna Fuller, age 17, born in WI.

        Lexter Slack, a carpenter, married Jane T. ______.  This family also attended the Pratham Church.  In 1839, 1853 and 1857 Lexter was elected a trustee. Lexter had helped to build the edifice in 1829.  Using his skill as a wood worker, he assisted on the inside of the church crafting the doors and lectern. They had 2 sons.  Lexter died 4 Aug. 1866, age 65.  His wife survived him for many years.  In 1870 she lived in the Village of Mexico with her son Horace who was a pump maker.  In later years he was styled a pump peddler who lived in 1880 with Seneca and Adeline Davidson.   Jane died 27 June 1885, age 76.  Both Lexter and Jane were buried in the Primitive Cemetery.  After Lexter’s death his pastor, A. Parke Burgess, called him “of fragrant memory.”
 Children of Lexter and Jane:

1. Horace (H.D.) Slack b. 1828; d. 1901.  Unmarried. Buried with parents in Primitive Cemetery.
2. John Slack b. ca. 1832; d. 1852, age 20.  Buried in Primitive Cemetery.
Joseph Perkins Slack, born 15 Jan. 1817 in Mexico, was also an elected trustee of the Pratham Church in 1854.  Further he was involved with the music especially with the bass viols and flutes.  By 1860 he lived at Waterloo, NY with his wife, Maria E. Furness, who was born in England.  Joseph made washbasins in 1860.
Children of Joseph P. and Maria:
1. Edward Slack b. ca. 1848; m. Harriet _______; d. after 1880.  Residence 1880: Waterloo, Seneca Co., NY.  Occupation: R R ticket agent.  Issue: Harry b. ca. 1877.
2. Alfred Slack b. ca. 1841.
3. Judson Slack b. ca. 1852.

       The people of Mexico have not forgotten the early pioneer Israel Slack.  In 1983 when the Mexico Multiple Resources Nomination Project began to place a historic district in the National Register of Historic Places, one of the properties chosen was the Israel Slack Farmstead established circa 1820 at 5174 Rowe Road.  The buildings on the farm erected circa 1838 included a one-and-half vernacular frame farmhouse, a 19th century granary, diary barn and hen house.  In 1991 this property and 13 others in the village were accepted on the National Register of Historic Places. 

SOURCES:

 Burgess, A. Parke.  The Old Pratham Church.  Syracuse: 1977.
 Cemetery Census of the Town of Mexico, Oswego County, New York.  Mexico, NY: Mexico Historical Society, 1984.
 Churchill, John C.  Landmarks of Oswego County, New York. 
Syracuse: Mason, 1895.
 Foley, Janet Wethy.  Early Settlers of New York State, 1760-1942.  Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1993.
 IGI Individual Record.  Available [online] http://www.familysearch.org [9 Mar. 2003].
 Johnson, Crisfield.  History of Oswego County, New York.  Philadelphia: Everts 1877. 
 MA.  Wrentham.  Town Clerk.  Town Records.  (LDS microfilm #0886862)
 Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution.  v. 14, p. 283.  Boston: Wright & Potter, 1896-1908.
 NY.  Oneida Co.  Surrogate Court.  Notice to Heirs and Deceased Soldiers Concerning Appointments of Guardians and Other Probate Matters.
 NY.  Oswego Co.  Surrogate Court.  Letters of Administration.  1816-1831.
 Shumway, Bonnie and others.  Mexico Memoirs.  Mexico, NY: Mexico Historical Society, 1997.
 Simpson, Elizabeth M.  Mexico: Mother of Towns.  Buffalo: Clement, 1949.
 U.S. Census.  St. Paul, Ramsey Co., MN 1880.
 U.S. Census.  Oneida Co., NY 1800.
 U.S. Census.  Ithaca, Tompkins Co., NY 1870.
 U.S. Census.  Mexico, Oswego Co., NY 1830, 1850, 1870 & 1880.
 U.S. Census.  Waterloo, Seneca Co., NY 1860 & 1880.
 WorldConnect Project.  Available [online] http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com [9 Mar. 2003].