Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/581

Rh the U. S. sanitary coin mission, and for some time he was house surgeon of the Boston dispensarv. lie wa-i a memlier of the Massachusetts medical soci- ety and of the Boston society of medical improve- ment. Dr. Slade won the Fiske prize b In- essays on " Diphtheria " in 1850 and " Aneurism " in is.~>2, the lioylston prize by one on "Spermatorrhoea " in 1x57. and the Massachusetts medical prize by one <>n " Bronchitis" in 1859. In addition to his con- tributions to medical, agricultural, and horticul- tural journals, he published " Diphtheria, its Na- ture and Treatment" (Philadelphia, 1861).

SLADE, William, governor of Vermont, b. in Cornwall, Vt., 9 May, 1786; d. in Middlebury, Vt., 18 Jan., 1859. He was graduated at Middlebury college in 1807, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1810, and began practice at Middlebury. He was a presidential elector in 1812. and in 1814-'15 published and edited the "Columbian Patriot " in connection with bookselling and job- printing, but was not successful. In 1815 he was elected secretary of state, which office he held eight years, and in 1816-'22 he was judge of the Addisbn county court. He was afterward state's attorney for the same county. Mr. Slade was clerk in the state department at Washington from 1823 till 1829, when he resumed the practice of law in Middlebury. He was a member of congress in 1831-'43, in 1844 was reporter of the supreme court of Vermont, and in 1844-'6 served as governor of that state. In 1846-'56 he was secretary of the National board of popular education. He pub- lished "Vermont State Papers" (Middlebury, 1823) ; " The Laws of Vermont to 1824 " (Windsor, 1825) : ' Reports of the Supreme Court of Vermont, Vol. XV." (Burlington, 1844); and pamphlets and congressional speeches.

SLAFTER, Edmund Farwell, author, b. in Norwich, Vt., 30 May, 1816. He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1840, studied at Andover theological seminary, and in 1844 was ordained a minister of the Protestant Episcopal church. The same year he became rector of St. Peter's church, Cambridge. Ma-s., where he remained till the autumn of 1846, when he was appointed rector of St. John's church, Jamaica Plain. Here he continued eight years, and then became assistant rector of St. Paul's church, Boston. In 1857 Mr. Slafter was appointed an agent of the American Bible society, which place he resigned in 1877, and he has since given his leisure time to historical studies. He is a mem- ber of many learned societies in America and Eu- rope. He has published, among other works, " The Assassination Plot in New York in 1776 : a Letter of Dr. William Eustis, Surgeon in the Revo- lutionary Army and late Governor of Massachu- setts, with Notes" (Boston, 1868); "Memorial of John Slafter, with Genealogical Account of his Descendants" (1868); "The Charter of Norwich, Vermont, and Names of the Original Proprietors : with Brief Historical Notes" (1869); "The Ver- mont Coinage," Vermont historical society collec- tion (Montpelier, 1870) ; " Sir William Alexander and American Colonization," in the series of the Prince society (Boston, 1873) ; " The Copper Coin- age of the Earl of Stirling. 1632 " (1874) ; " Voy- ages of the Northmen to America," edited, with an introduction (1877): "Voyages of Samuel de Champlain," translated from the French by Charles Pomeroy Otis, with historical illustrations and a memoir (3 vols., 1878, 1880. 1882) ; and " History and Causes of the Incorrect Latitudes as recorded in the Journals of the Early Writers, Navigators, and Explorers relating to the Atlantic Coast of North America, 1535-1740" (1882).

SLATER, Samuel, manufacturer, b. in Belper, Derbyshire. England, 9 June, 1768; d. in Webster, Mass". 21 April! 1835. He was the son of a respect- able yeoman, received a good education, and served an apprenticeship at cotton-spinning with Jedi- diahStruit.the partner of Richard Arkwright. He was a favorite with Mr. Strtitt. aided him in making im- provements in his mills, and gained a thorough mastery of the theory and prac- tice of the new man- ufacture. In 1789 congress passed its first act for the encouragement of manufactures, and the legislature of Pennsylvania of- fered a bounty for the introduction of the Arkwright pat- ent. Young Slater became cognizant of these circumstances, and determined to introduce the invention in the United States ; but, as the laws of England did not admit of his taking drawings or models with him, he had to trust to his memory to enable him to construct the most complicated machinery. He landed in New York in November, 1789, and, having ascertained that Moses Brown had made some attempts at cotton-spinning in Rhode Island, wrote to him and told him what he could do. Mr. Brown, in replying to him, wrote : " If thou canst do this thing, I invite thee to come to Rhode Island, and have the credit of introducing cotton-manufacture into America." Slater proceeded to Pawtucket, It. I., in January, 1790, and immediately entered into articles of agreement with William Almy and Smith Brown to construct and operate the new cotton-spinning machinery. On 21 Dec., 1790, he started at Pawtucket three 18-inch carding-machines, the necessary drawing-heads with two rolls and four processes, the roving cases and winders for the same, and throstle spinning-frames of seventy-two spindles. In a short time reels were made for putting the yarn into skeins, in which form it was at that time placed upon the market. In doing this Mr. Slater was compelled to prepare all the plans in the several departments of manufacturing, and to construct with his own hands the different kinds of machinery, or else teach others how to do it. The first yarn made on his machinery was equal to the best quality made in England. About 1800 the second cotton-mill went into operation in Rhode Island. In 1806 Mr. Slater was joined by his brother John, from England, and soon afterward a cotton-mill was erected in a locality now known as Slatersville, R. I. In 1812 -Mr. Slater began the erection of mills in Oxford (now Webster), Mass., adding in 1815-'16 the manufacture of woollen cloth. He was also interested in iron-manufactures, and acquired great wealth. In 1796 he established a Sunday-school for the improvement of his work-people, which was the first, or among the first, in the United States. See a memoir of him by George S. White (Philadelphia, 1836). His nephew, John Fox. philanthropist, b. in Slatersville, R. I., 4 March, 1815 : d. in Norwich, Conn., 7 May. 1884, was the son of John Slater, lie was early trained for the manufacturing business, and in 1872 became sole owner of the mill