Mrs. Floyd Lester Hagood 1
*address removed for privacy*
*address removed for privacy*

William Cobb Slaten 2

born July 4, 1853 3
Died Sept. 12, 1904 4

Married Morgan County, AL 5

Sarah Abigail Waddell 6

born Sept. 2 185_ 7
Died Sept. 25, 1915

Children

1. Noel H. Slaten 8
Born - 2/12/1881 - Died 1/28/1960 - Buried Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Tn.

2. Ida Lee Slaten Price 9
Born - 2/6/1883 - Died July 1, 1960 - Buried Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Tn.

3. Maude Slaten Sappington10
Born - Sept. 19, 1885 - Died Sept. 4, 1947 - Buried Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Tn.

4. Luther "Pat" Slaten11
I don't know when - 18 years old - Buried in Ala.12

5. Carrie Jim Slaten McClusky (My Mother)13
Married James Walton McClusky in
Decatur, AL July 9, 1911
Carrie was born Aug. 21, 1893, Decatur, AL
Died Jan. 7, 1973, Decatur, AL
Her husband James Walton McClusky
was born October 3, 1885 at Taft Tennessee. died Feb. 7, 1970
Both are buried Roselawn Cemetery, Decatur, AL.
Had 3 daughters of which I am the youngest.

(2)

William Cobb Slaten & Wade Slaten were brothers14 & they married sisters, Sarah Abigail Waddell & I believe her sisters name was Molly Waddell.15

They are all buried at Walnut Grove Cemetery.16

William Cobb Slaten & Sarah Abigail & their 4th child Luther (Pat) who died as a young man & was never married is also buried at Walnut Grove.

Wade's first wife Molly Waddell died and is buried at Walnut Grove but she has no marker at her grave. Wade remarried & I understand he was the father of about 24 children. I know he is buried there but I'm not sure about his second wife.

There are many Slaten descendants around Priceville but I don't know them. My grandfather and grandmother were both dead before I was born & my mother (Carrie) was only eleven years old when her father was killed17 so she didn't know very much about the Slaten family. She & her

(3)

mother (Sarah Abigail) with her brother ________ moved to Decatur. I believe _____ grandfather (Noel Slaten) & your grandmother moved & lived in a house next to them. It was out at Flint, AL where the former tuberculosis Hospital was built on the mountain.

This is so little information but perhaps it will give you a start.

_____ (If?) you can, contact some of the Slatens around Priceville and I'm sure you will probably find some of the descendants from Wade still living there.

Dorothy Abigail McClusky Hagood

Notes:

1 Married name for Dorothy Abigail McClusky (Letter's author). Daughter of Carrie Jim Slaten and James Walton McClusky.
2 Williamson Cobb Slaten. Son of John Slaton and Mary L. McCarley.
3 Other reseachers give 4 July 1855 for date of birth and most of the census data available for him would support this date. However, the 1860 Limestone Co., AL census indicates that he was 6 years of age in June of 1860 which means he turned 7 on 4 July 1860 which would support the 1853 birth year.
4 Caddo News, 16 Sept 1904, Kolb Slaten buried last Tuesday, Walnut Grove Cemetery. New Decatur Advertisor, Priceville News - A horrible accident occurred across the river near Decatur last Monday. Capt. Slaton a well known man about here, was driving a team and wagon loaded with green lumber down an incline and losing his balance fell off under a wagon and the wheels ground him to an instant death. The body of the dead man was taken to the undertaking parlors of McWhirter in New Decatur to prepare for burial. NOTES: This is a transcription sent to me by Maxine Gibson. I do not have a copy of the original. Notice the misspelling of the name Cobb as "KOLB". Also, he is referred to here as "Capt Slaton"; I do not know if this title is one that he earned from military service or if this was an "honorary" title only. This article was published on FRIDAY, Sept 16, 1904 making the Monday he died the 12th and the Tuesday he was buried the 13th.
5 Marriage Date: 03 Nov 1879. Source: Morgan County Marriage Book C2, Page 414. Slaton, W.C. (groom) to Sallie A. Waddill by Wm. Nelson.
6 Sarah Abigail Waddell. Daughter of Seth Quee Jennings/Gennings Waddell and Elizabeth Robinson.
7 Photocopy cuts off last digit of year, but birth year is thought to be 1856 based on the 1870 Morgan Co. AL Census, page 71a listing her age as 14 and the 1910 Morgan Co. AL Census, listing her age as 54.
8 Noel Henry Slaten, Great Grandfather of the transcriber (Kathy L. Rhodes). Married to Addie May Craft, 10 Jan 1904, Morgan County, AL. Source: Morgan County Marriages Book I, page 392. The marriage record uses the spelling Slaton, but somewhere along the line Noel adopted the spelling S-L-A-T-E-N and all of his descendants are found under this spelling.
9 Married Chester Price on 20 Dec 1903. Source: Morgan Co. AL Marriage Book I, Page 366.
10 Another Slaten Researcher lists Maude's middle name as Owens. Attempts to find records on her husband Mr. Sappington have not born fruit. Request has been sent to Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis for a copy of her obituary.
11 Many researchers give Claude Slaten as his proper name; however I have as yet to see any official records which confirm this.
12 Luther "Pat" was actually age 20 at his death, not 18 as this letter suggests as the following two newspaper articles reveal: (1) New Decatur Advertiser, September 17, 1908 Luther Slaton died September 15th at his residence, 1508 Fifth Avenue, South Decatur. The funeral services were held at the residence Wednesday. The remains were carried to Walnut Grove Church for interment. (2) September 24, 1908, Priceville News Pat Slaten was buried at Walnut Grove on the 16th. His home was in New Decatur. Brother Merrill of East Decatur preached his funeral in the presence of a large congregation. (Morgan County, Alabama, TID-BITS Volume III, by Timothy Dean Holmes and Ivy Dene Simpson Walls, page 53 and 54). (Note: Notice that one article refers to him as Luther and the other as Pat, backing up Dorothy's claim that he was known by both names.)
13 Many researchers have given Carrie's middle name as either "Jem" or "Jam"; however the handwriting in this letter by her daughter Dorothy is crystal clear and it is definitely "JIM". View Scan of Original Letter
14 Williamson Cobb Slaton and Wade Hampton Slaton (b. 28 Jan 1853 d. 03 Jul 1934), sons of John Slaton (b. 10 Oct 1826 Anderson, SC) and Mary L. McCarley (b. abt. 1834 TN).
15 Mary "Molly" C. Waddell (b. abt 1858 in Morgan Co, AL) daughter of Seth Quee Jennings/Gennings Waddell and Elizabeth Robinson.
16 Located in Decatur, Alabama.
17 Carrie Jim Slaten's birth year being 1893 puts her father's death at 1904 which is documented in Note 4.

Note: Transcribed 28 August 2000 by K. L. Rhodes from a photocopy of the original letter.
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