Where Did John Slater of Simsbury Come From?
John Slaughter/Slater of Windsor and Simsbury, Connecticut (married 1669, died 1713) was very probably the John Slater baptised at St Olave, Southwark, Surrey, on 15 December 1639, son of John Slator, feltmaker. He was brought to Massachusetts as an apprentice by 1656 and lived at Concord until early 1669.
The known man: Windsor and Simsbury, 1669–1713
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Jul 1669 | "John Slaughter was married to Abiah that had been wife to [Isaiah] Bartlett" at Windsor | Windsor marriages, FamilySearch film 007730421, image 55, p. 61; Stiles, Ancient Windsor vol. 2 p. 692 |
| 19 Jan 1669/70 | Bond for John Slater and others "to come up and be here with yr Families" at Simsbury by May 1671 | Barber, Record and Documentary History of Simsbury (1931) p. 44 |
| May 1674 | Proposed as a freeman of Simsbury as "John Slaughter" | Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut vol. 2 |
| c.1670–1713 | Town clerk ("Register") and surveyor of Simsbury | Simsbury town records, film 007896790 |
| 12 Jan 1696/7 | "The deposition of John Slater Senr Agged about fifty Eight years", signed by him | Hartford probate files, film 007627711, image 1179 |
| 15 Aug 1712 | Will names wife Abiah and children John, Samuel, Elias, Elizabeth | Manwaring, Digest of Early Connecticut Probate Records vol. 2 p. 296 |
| 13 May 1713 | Died "in the 72d or 73d year of his age" | Simsbury vital records p. 19 |
The Concord apprentice, 1656–1669
A John Slater, son of a Surrey feltmaker, lived in Concord, Massachusetts, from at least 1656 to January 1668/9. All of these are Middlesex County court papers.
"one John Slater sonne [of] John Slater of Surrey Feltmaker was brought over as an apprentice to be taught a trade and after that the sd John the yonger is sold from one to another without respect to his trade whereby the sd youth is much wronged"
Warrant of Deputy Governor Richard Bellingham to the Concord constable, 23 March 1655/6. FamilySearch film 007831263, image 499.
| Date | Record | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Mar 1663/4 | Warrant names "Jno. slaughter for drunkenes"; the constable's return on the back says "John Slater hath paid his fine of 5s" | Film 007902664, images 462–463 |
| 8 Mar 1663/4 | Deposition of "John Slater ae abt 24" | Wyman, Abstracts of Middlesex Court Files vol. 2 p. 9 |
| 8 Mar 1663/4 | Concord commissioners: John Slater "did confesse that he did writ" the libels posted on the meetinghouse | Film 007902664, image 426 |
| Feb–Mar 1664 | The two libel verses survive — read them here | Film 007902664, images 423 and 427 |
| 10 Jan 1668/9 | Robert Williams owes "John Slater ... on pound two shillings & six pence ... if any man in Concord will pay it" | Film 007902664, image 944 |
After January 1668/9 he disappears from Middlesex records. Six months later John Slaughter marries at Windsor.
The Southwark baptism, 1639
The St Olave, Southwark register for December 1639 reads: "John ye sonn of John Slator ffeltmaker ... 15" (London Metropolitan Archives P71/OLA/010). It is the only baptism of a John, son of John Slater, found in Southwark or Surrey between 1634 and 1645. A "John Slator" was buried at St Olave on 10 August 1641; if that was the father, the boy was orphaned before age two.
The evidence compared
| Point | Southwark 1639 | Concord 1656–69 | Windsor/Simsbury |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name and father | John, son of John Slator | John, son of John Slater | John Slater/Slaughter |
| Father's trade, county | Feltmaker, Surrey | "of Surrey Feltmaker" | — |
| Birth year | Baptised Dec 1639 | "abt 24" in 1663/4 | "about 58" in 1696/7; "72d or 73d year" in 1713 |
| Spelling swap | — | "slaughter" and "Slater" on one 1664 paper | "Slaughter" in marriage and freeman lists, "Slater" in his own hand |
| Timing | — | Last record Jan 1668/9 | First record Jul 1669 |
| Literacy | — | Wrote long verses in 1664 | Town clerk for decades |
Evidence against, and loose ends
- No record names the Concord man as moving to Connecticut.
- Other John Slaughters lived in Massachusetts (Marblehead, Salem, Suffolk) and are not all excluded.
- Only Southwark and Surrey registers online were searched; other English candidates can't be ruled out.
- Handwriting comparison is suggestive at most; the samples are 22 years apart.
Next steps
- Y-DNA test of a direct male-line Slater descendant
- Middlesex County Court minute book, 1663–1671 (Massachusetts Archives)
- Hartford County Court minutes, vols. 3–4
- Feltmakers' Company records before 1669 (London Metropolitan Archives)