Person Page

     Margaret Ann Slade was born on April 8, 1914 in Wayne County, West Virginia.^2,1 She was the daughter of Joseph Birl Slade and Anna Pack.¹
     Margaret married Riley Spry.³ Margaret died circa 1999 in Lincoln County, West Virginia.⁴ She was buried in Harts, Lincoln County, West Virginia.³

     Elizabeth Slade was born on January 28, 1916 in Wayne County, West Virginia.¹ She was the daughter of Joseph Birl Slade and Anna Pack.¹
     Elizabeth married Van Don Lambert on January 19, 1935 in West Virginia.^2,3 Elizabeth died on October 4, 2011 at age 95.³ She was buried in Family Gardens Cemetery, Low Gap, Boone County, West Virginia.³ Found an undocumented note that Elizabeth died Oct 1, 2011.

     Riley Spry was born on August 9, 1892.²
     Riley married Margaret Ann Slade, daughter of Joseph Birl Slade and Anna Pack.¹ Riley died in March, 1976 in Branchland, Lincoln County, West Virginia, at age 83 [last residence].² He was buried in Harts, Lincoln County, West Virginia.¹

     Wiley Queen was born on January 28, 1893.² He was the son of Absalom Queen.³
     Wiley married Virgie Slade, daughter of Joseph Birl Slade and Anna Pack.³ Wiley died on October 30, 1976 at age 83.^2,3 He was buried in Community Memorial Gardens, Wayne, Wayne County, West Virginia.³

     Weldon Harless was born on February 10, 1906 in West Virginia.^2,3
     Weldon married Nettie Slade, daughter of Joseph Birl Slade and Anna Pack, circa 1932.¹ Weldon died on February 12, 1997 in Ranger, Lincoln County, West Virginia, at age 91 [last residence].²

      Joseph Alfred Slade was commonly known as Jack or 'Alf.' He was born on January 22, 1830 in Carlyle, Clinton County, Illinois.² He was the son of Charles Slade Jr. and Mary Darke Kain. During the Mexican War he served in the U.S. Army, Co A 1st Regt III Foot Vols, that occupied Santa Fe, 1847-48. In the military, he had an alias "Jack A. Slade."^3,4
     Joseph married Virginia Marie Dale circa 1856.² By 1859, the extraordinary Slade had become superintendent of the toughest portion of the Overland Stage route between Julesburg, Colorado and Fort Bridger, Wyoming. He established the route, hired the men, and directed the operations of the stage line. While division superintendent, he shot and killed Andrew Ferrin, one of his subordinates who was hindering the progress of a freight train, in May 1859. At the time, shooting deaths of this kind in the West were rare and Jack Slade's reputation as a "gunfighter" spread rapidly across the country. In March 1860 Slade was ambushed and left for dead by Jules Beni, the corrupt station keeper at Julesburg, Colorado, whom Slade had removed. Slade remarkably survived, and in August 1861 Beni was killed by Slade's men after ignoring Slade's warning to stay out of his territory.

Slade's exploits spawned numerous legends, many of them false. His image (especially via Mark Twain in Roughing It) as the vicious killer of up to 26 victims was greatly exaggerated: Only one killing by Slade (that of Andrew Ferrin, above ) is undisputed. But his ferocious reputation, combined with a drinking problem, caused his downfall: He was fired by the Central Overland for drunkenness in November 1862. During a drunken spree in Virginia City, Montana, he was lynched by local vigilantes for disturbing the peace.^5,6 Joseph died on May 9, 1864 in Virginia City, Madison County, Montana, at age 34 hung by vigilantes.^1,7 In "Roughing It" published in 1872, Mark Twain describes his meeting with the notorius Jack Slade - "'He was so friendly and so gentle-spoken that I warmed to him in spite of his awful history. The coffee ran out...Slade was about to take it when he saw that my cup was empty. He politely offered to fill it, but although I wanted it, I politely declined. I was afraid he had not killed anybody that morning, and might be needing diversion. But still with firm politeness he insisted on filling my cup...I thanked him and drank it, but it gave me no comfort, for I could not feel sure that he would not be sorry presently that he had given it away, and proceed to kill me to distract his thoughts from the loss. But nothing of the kind occurred."⁸ Joseph A. Slade - The body was placed in a tin coffin filled with alcohol, and conveyed to the ranch, where it remained until the following spring, when it was taken to Salt Lake City and buried in the cemetery. A plain marble slab, with name and age graven thereon, marks the burial-place of Slade, a man who surrendered all that was noble, generous, and manly in his nature to the demon of intemperance. A friend of his, in a recent letter to me, relating to him, says, -

"Slade was unquestionably a most useful man in his time to the stage line, and to the cause of progress in the Far West, and he never was a robber, as some have represented; but after years of contention with desperate men. he became so reckless and regardless of human life that his bes friends must concede that he was at time a most dangerous character, and no doubt, by his defiance of authority and wholesome discipline of the Vigilantes, brought upon himself the calamity which he suffered."⁹
The article below was printed in the Salt Lake Tribune as a Feature article on 19 Jun 1994.

"Here Lies Joseph Slade: Salt Lake Became Resting Place After Stage Boss Missed His Connection" by Hal Schinder

"Slade is one of the West's many paradoxes. He was the Overland Stage Company's most feared enforcer, protecting the route from road agents and keeping the coaches on schedule. Yet on the occasion of his death, Slade missed his connection with the overland stage and was fated to spend eternity in Salt Lake City.

A terror to outlaws, Slade was, by all accounts, a loving husband and loyal friend. But when drunk, he became an uncontrollable, sadistic bully. Joseph Alfred (Jack) Slade came from a respected family in Clinton County, Illinois, served in the 1846-48 Mexican War and came to earn a reputation as a tough man on the frontier.

His story begins in 1858 when the Overland company hired Slade to superintend the Sweetwater Division of the mail line from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Salt Lake City. The division ran from the "Upper Crossing" of the South Platte River to Rocky Ridge on the east slope of the Continental Divide. Stationkeeper at the Upper Crossing was Jules Beni, a sullen bearlike French-Canadian also reputed to be the leader of a band of cutthroats in the vicinity.

The town of Julesburg at the Upper Crossing was founded by Beni, and it had become a rendezvous for traders, Indian-fighters, buffalo hunters, adventurers, bandits and desperadoes who rode into town to divide their loot and squander it riotously. It was Beni's high-handed acts with company livestock and constant feuds arising from them that brought Slade and Beni into open rupture. Jules would not submit to the authority of the division agent and Slade would not brook Jules' interference. Beni had "sequestered" some of the livestock, and Slade recovered it for the company. That brought matters to a crisis.

It was a day in the early spring of '59 when Slade chanced to be at the Upper Crossing station. He, the hired hands and Beni were all in the corral engaged in conversation. After a few moments, Jules walked away from the group and entered his adobe quarters. Slade meanwhile headed for the bunkhouse to get something to eat. As he was about to enter, one of the hands spotted Beni emerging from the adobe with a pistol. "Look out, he's going to shoot!"

Slade, unarmed, turned at the warning and was struck by three shots from Jules' revolver. He staggered but did not fall. With a curse, Beni reached within the open door for a double-barrel shotgun. He fired both charges into Slade's slumping body. "There's an empty crate in the barn. You can bury him in it," Beni said and walked away. But in the dramatic tradition of every Wild West yarn ever spun, witnesses that day claimed a bloody, bullet-torn Jack Slade, breathed through smashed lips and told would-be grave diggers not to bother, that he did not intend to die, but would live to even the score with Beni. And he did.

He was taken into the bunkhouse, his wounds treated and in a few weeks he was removed to the family home in Carlisle, Illinois, where he eventually recovered to return to his duties on the stage line. The company hands, however, had decided to settle things their own way. While Slade was being doctored, they agreed the world would be better rid of cowards. They tossed a rope over a beam trussed between two large freight wagons, put a noose around Beni's neck and pulled him up.

It was at this moment that Ben Ficklin, general superintendent of the line, rode into the station--in time to cut him down before life was extinct. Hearing the story of Slade's shooting, Ficklin--because there was no legal tribunal at hand--ordered Beni to leave the country or be hanged by an informal court. He took the offer and fled. But he hadn't reckoned on Slade's terrible vengeance.

It came in August of 1861, two years after the shooting scrape. Slade was riding east on the stage from Rocky Ridge to his home at Horse Shoe, some forty miles west of Fort Laramie in present Wyoming. He had heard Jules Beni was driving stock out of Denver and would be crossing the Sweetwater Division. Slade had been told, too, that if Beni saw him first, he likely would be ambushed. So Slade and a small party of Overland hands waited for Beni and in running gunfight shot and wounded him.

There are various accounts of what took place next, Slade's friends denying them, and his enemies swearing they were true. But popular history holds that Slade ordered Beni tied to a corral fence and spent the better part of a day drinking and shooting the unfortunate captive to death by degrees. When he satisfied himself that Beni's murderous attack on him had been repaid, he put an end to it with a fatal shot, and in a final act of vengeance cut off the dead man's ears.

The Overland Stage Company, which employed him, and a military tribunal at Fort Laramie, the nearest for 1,500 miles, exonerated Slade after he reported the shooting. He became more troublesome than ever after that. His reputation blackened with each succeeding tale, such as how he responded to emigrant complaints about lost or stolen livestock by confronting a rancher he suspected of rustling, and opening fire through a doorway, killing three ranch hands and wounding a fourth.

Stories of hanging men and of innumerable assaults, shootings and beatings ultimately took their toll with the Overland Company His violent behavior--he was fond of shooting canned goods off grocery shelves--brought about his discharge from the line. Such was the reputation he took with him to Virginia City, Idaho Territory, in the spring of '63.

There were problems in that part of the country that were to have a devastating effect on Jack Slade. A gang of desperadoes had been successful in robbing gold shipments with impunity in the region, and had reached a point at which a Vigilance Committee had been organized to deal with the situation. It had been discovered that the leader of the outlaws was the Sheriff Henry Plummer himself. And the vigilantes set out to correct the matter.

They began hanging men suspected of being in league with the Plummer gang. And on January 14, 1864, strung up five at once. After the summary executions, the Vigilantes, considering their work accomplished; having freed the territory of highwaymen and murders, established a provisional court to try future offenders by judge and jury.

Jack Slade found himself high on the list of community undesirables. It had become a common occurrence for him to take Virginia City by storm; he and his friends would gallop through its main streets, "shooting and yelling like red devils, firing their revolvers, riding their horses into stores and destroying the goods within," while insulting all who stood in their way. Slade had never been accused of murder or even suspected of robbery in the territory. His lawlessness while drunk and his defiance of civil authority led to the belief that as he had killed men in other places, he would, unless he was checked in his wild career, commit the same deeds in Virginia City.

After one of his all-night carouses had made the town a pandemonium--and presumably he had displayed his now infamous shriveled "Jules' ear" to patrons of the saloons he frequented--a warrant was issued for his arrest on disturbing the peace charges. Slade reacted in expected fashion. He seized the writ, tore it into bits, stamped on it in fury, and set out with a loaded Derringer in search of the judge.

The Vigilance Committee went into emergency session. One of its principal men was John Xavier (X) Beidler, who in his own career had been a store clerk, prospector, pack train operator, freighter, deputy U.S. marshal, and stagecoach shotgun guard, was known for having backbone, despite being scarcely taller than a rifle. On one occasion in Kansas, Beidler was with a party that chased a gang of border ruffians into a blacksmith shop. For want of lead, the posse loaded a small howitzer with printer's type and fired. Those not killed, he said, "had to pick the type from the bodies of their comrades, and that is the way they first learned to read."

Of Slade, Beidler said, "We communed on many occasions as friends. He was an honest man and did not like a thief, but he was a very dangerous man when drinking." And Slade had been drinking a great deal.

With him on the loose and threatening to shoot the deputy and the judge, Beidler made one last effort to avoid what he knew was coming. He asked Slade's friend, Jim Kiskadden, to take Slade home, that a party of miners was headed for town with the intention of carrying out the Vigilance Committee's order. Slade reluctantly turned his horse around and began riding out, when he spotted his quarry near a store. With a gun in each hand, he began an insulting tirade against the judge, the deputy and the storeowner, P.S. Pfouts, who also was the president of the Vigilantes.

At that moment, the miners hove into view with Captain James Williams, a vigilante, at their head. The sight sobered Slade immediately, his only response: "My god!" Williams informed him he had just one hour to live, and if he had any business to attend to, "he had better do it." Beidler later remarked that if Slade had ridden out when he was told, he would not have been hanged.

A group was sent to find a place of execution, and decided on an empty beef scaffold. A noose was thrown over it and. Beidler said, "When Slade's hour expired - he expired with it." Standing on the boxes beneath the scaffold with the rope around his neck, he pleaded for his life. The crowd responded, "Time's up."

Williams ordered, "Do your duty," and boxes were kicked away, plunging Slade into the abyss of death--for having disturbed the peace of Virginia City. When Virginia Slade, who had been summoned at the ranch some dozen miles distant, rode into the city she discovered to her horror she was too late. Her husband had been removed to a nearby store, his clothing arranged and prepared for burial. (A witness reported the date as March 11, 1864; but Slade's headstone has it March 9, 1864.)

The bereaved widow cursed the town, took her husband's body home in a tin-lined coffin filled, it was said, with a keg of whiskey. She swore he would never be buried in this "damned territory," and shipped the remains to Salt Lake City with instructions for the coffin to be transferred to an eastbound stage for Illinois. By the time the roads cleared and the stage reached Utah, it was mid-July, and Virginia Slade's instructions had become confused. Slade's body was transferred to the Salt Lake City Cemetery and buried in the Stranger's Lot, "to be removed to Illinois in the fall." But no one ever came for Jack Slade. And today his remains--and the whiskey that proved his undoing--still await the stage for Carlisle."¹⁰ Joseph A. Slade aka James A. Slade aka Jack Slade aka "Alf" was a tough stagecoach superintendent. His stagecoaches ran on-time with little distraction. Any subordinate that hindered in any way the progress of his line was fired and once, in the case of Andrew Ferrin, shot and killed. Shooting deaths at this time in the West were rare and his reputation as a gunfighter grew completely out of proportion. Mark Twain reported in his book Roughing It that Slade had killed 26 men. This is false. There is only one recorded death attributed to Jack Slade. His reputation, compounded by a drinking problem led to his death. During a drunken spree in Virginia City, MT, he was lynched by local vigilantes for disturbing the peace.⁵¹ Joseph Alfred "Jack" Slade [Also known as “Alf,”, “Joe,” “Jim,” “Cap”] , born January 22 1831, died 1864, was a Stagecoach and Pony Express superintendent, instrumental in the opening of the American West and the archetype of the Western gunslinger.

Born Carlyle, Ill., he was the son of Charles W. Slade and Mary Dark (Kain) Slade. He married Maria Virginia around 1857. In the 1850s he was a freighting teamster and wagonmaster along the Overland Trail, and then became a stagecoach driver in Texas, c. 1857-58. He subsequently became a stagecoach division superintendent along the Central Overland route for Hockaday & Co., 1858-59, and its successors Jones, Russell & Co. (1859) and Central Overland, California & Pike’s Peak Express Co. (1859-62). With the latter concern, he also helped launch and operate the Pony Express in 1860-61. All were critical to the communication between the East and California. As superintendent, he enforced order and assured reliable cross-continental mail service, maintaining contact between Washington and California on the eve of Civil War. While division superintendent he shot and killed one of his subordinates who was hindering the progress of a freight train. At the time (1858) shooting deaths of this kind in the West were rare and the reputation of Jack Slade as a "gunfighter" spread rapidly across the country.

His exploits spawned numerous legends, many of them false. His image (especially via Mark Twain in "Roughing It") as the vicious killer of up to 26 victims was greatly exaggerated; only one killing by Slade is indisputable (that of an employee of the Hockaday & Co.) But his ferocious reputation, combined with a drinking problem, caused his downfall: During a drunken spree in Virginia City, Montana, he was lynched by local vigilantes on the 10th of March 1864, for disturbing the peace. He was buried in Salt Lake City, Utah on July 20th, 1864.

ources

*L.L. Callaway, "Two True Tales of the Wild West"
*Dan Rottenberg, "The Forgotten Gunfighter,” "Civilization" magazine, Mar.-Apr. 1996;
*Dan Rottenberg, Death of a Gunfighter: The Quest for Jack Slade, the West's Most Elusive Legend. Yardley, PA: Westholme Publishing, 2008.
*Roy O’Dell and Kenneth Jessen, "An Ear in His Pocket".
* [http://historytogo.utah.gov/salt_lake_tribune/in_another_time/061994.html History to Go, Here Lies Joseph Slade].¹¹

     "Jack" Slade was a controversial figure, characterized as a gunman, soldier, Indian fighter, stagecoach superintendant, faithful husband, honest man, dangerous drunk, and vicious killer. He remains controversial even today. He may have killed as many as 45 men. Slade has been characterized in numerous books, magazines, movies and TV Westerns.
Link to more info about Jack Slade:
http://www.deathofagunfighter.com.³

     Susanna V. Burgess was born in September, 1854 in Surry County, Virginia.^1,2 She was the daughter of John C. Burgess and Rebecca Bryant.^3,2

Susanna married Joseph Thomas Slade, son of John N. Slade and Elizabeth Holloway, on December 8, 1870 in Virginia.⁴ 1910 census indicates she was mother of 7, only 4 living.⁵

     Cora Anna Slade was known as Anna C. Slade.² She was born in November, 1881 in Virginia.¹ She was the daughter of Joseph Thomas Slade and Susanna V. Burgess.¹ Cora Anna Slade was New Tag circa 1886 in Virginia.²
     Cora married first Alexander Thomas Sumerlin on March 27, 1902 in Claremont, Surry County, Virginia.³
     Cora married second [?] Schroeder.² He was the son of Henry and Margaret Sumerlin.^4,5 Anna married a Schroeder sometime before 1920 and he apparently died as she is shown as widow using that surname in the 1920 & 1930 census.²

     Oliver Thomas Slade was known as Ollie.² He was New Tag in 1861 in Virginia.³ He was born on January 19, 1862 in Surry County, Virginia.¹ He was the son of Joseph Thomas Slade and Caroline H. Andrews.⁴ Oliver Thomas Slade was New Tag in 1864 in Virginia.⁴
     Oliver married Lula Martin Hogwood, daughter of George William Hogwood and Laura Porter, on February 7, 1894 in Sussex County, Virginia.⁵ Oliver died on March 1, 1915 in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, at age 53.¹ He was buried in Stony Creek, Sussex County, Virginia.¹

     John William Slade was born in June, 1873 in Virginia.^3,4 He was the son of Joseph Thomas Slade and Susanna V. Burgess.⁵ He was listed as Joseph S, age 3, in 1880 census.
     John married Nancy Belle Gwaltney on January 18, 1894 in Surry County, Virginia.^6,7 He is listed as Joseph W. in 1920 census.
     John married second Vera Tillage.⁸ John died in 1943.⁹ He was buried in Gloucester Point Cemetery, Gloucester, Gloucester County, Virginia.⁹

     William H. Slade was born on October 30, 1802 in Bristol County, Massachusetts.¹ He was the son of Edward Slade and Elizabeth [?].² William died on May 8, 1875 at age 72.¹ He was buried in Newtown Burial Ground, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts.¹

     Caleb Slade was born in 1779 in Bristol County, Massachusetts.^1,2 He was the son of Edward Slade and Eliphel [?].²
     Caleb married Hannah [?].³ Caleb died on August 14, 1853.¹ He was buried in Newtown Burial Ground, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts.¹

     Edward Slade was born in 1750 in Bristol County, Massachusetts.²
     Edward married Eliphel [?].¹ Edward died on October 25, 1822.² He was buried in Newtown Burial Ground, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts.²

     Zephaniah Slade was born on November 22, 1780 in Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts. [calc from inscription on tombstone: aged 86y, 11m, 17d]^1,2 He was the son of Edward Slade and Eliphel [?].²
     Zephaniah married first Anna G. Gifford on April 3, 1806 in Dartmouth, Massachusetts,^1,3, the daughter of William & Freelove Potter Gifford.³
     Zephaniah married second Mary Ann W Gifford on April 8, 1819 in Westport, Bristol County, Massachusetts,^4,1, the daughter of Elizabeth & Wilbur Gifford, both born in Rhode Island.⁴ Zephaniah died on November 9, 1867 at age 86.^1,5 He was buried in Newtown Burial Ground, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts.¹

     Edward Slade was born circa 1775 in Massachusetts.¹
     Edward married Elizabeth [?].¹

     Frederick Slade was born on October 17, 1809 in Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts.² He was the son of Sherman Slade and Betsey [?].^3,4
     Frederick married Sarah Tripp⁵, daughter of James Tripp, b 1778, Westport, MA.⁶ Frederick died on June 20, 1891 in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, at age 81.⁴ He was buried in Apponagansett Friends Cemetery, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts.⁷

     Sarah Tripp was born on August 20, 1810 in Galway, Saratoga County, New York,¹, daughter of James Tripp, b 1778, Westport, MA.²
     Sarah married Frederick Slade, son of Sherman Slade and Betsey [?].¹ Sarah died on October 15, 1897 at age 87.¹ She was buried in Apponagansett Friends Cemetery, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts.¹

     Sherman Slade was born on September 1, 1782 in Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts.^1,2
     Sherman married Betsey [?].³ Sherman died on January 1, 1865 at age 82² and was buried in Apponagansett Friends Cemetery, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts.²

     George Matthew Slade was born circa 1848 in England [May 1850 in 1900 census].^2,1 He was baptized on August 13, 1848 in Southwark, Surrey, England; at St Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey.¹ He was the son of George Slade and Matilda Eliza [?].² George Matthew Slade and Matilda Eliza [?] were found on a passenger list on December 6, 1850 in Port of New York, New York; aboard the ship Devonshire, arriving.⁴
     George married Adelia Alice Chatfield.³ George Matthew Slade was a machinist.³