A Few Local Newspaper Items Regarding Lewis Logan Slater (1855 - 1905)

Let's begin with a portrait of this maternal great grandfather, looking all steely-eyed and lawyer-like:*

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

I don't recall any personal stories about him shared with me by our Slater kin so I took particular notice when I found references to him in Greenwood County (Kansas) newspapers while searching for his mother's death date. I'm including some of them here.

This 1883 note in the Severy Section column of The Eureka Herald and Greenwood County Republican provides the most accurate date of the Slaters' move to that town.

[26 Jul 1883, Page 4 - The Eureka Herald and Greenwood County Republican at Newspapers.com]

Two years later Logan*** was named Severy's postmaster which seems to have put his legal career on hold. However when his postal job ended in 1889 he returned to the law.

[31 May 1889, Page 4 - The Severyite at Newspapers.com]

Soon the papers were filled with references to the Logan's partnership with B.F. Blankenship, the editor of a local newspaper The Kansas Clipper. The pair had grandiose plans.

[21 Jun 1889, Page 1 - The Severyite at Newspapers.com]

Although that partnership (and its $40,000.00 farm loan fund) garnered mentions in the local newspapers during June and into July of 1889, by the end of that month Logan' made no reference to it on his published business card.

[19 Jul 1889, 1 - The Severyite at Newspapers.com]

From the next bit, we learn something about several recreational opportunities available in Severy.

[16 Aug 1889, 4 - The Severyite at Newspapers.com]

That's right--my great grandfather raised fighting cocks and made a name for himself in that world apparently. As this piece published in The Severyite 30 years after its original publication demonstrated, Logan appears to have been nationally known, at least in certain circles.****

[18 Dec 1919, Page 4 - The Severyite at Newspapers.com]

Until my foray into Severy news I never realized that the town had a history of horse racing (and that my ancestor obviously followed the sport).

[5 Jun 1891, 4 - The Severyite at Newspapers.com]

[29 May 1891, 4 - The Severyite at Newspapers.com]

I wonder what his wife Rufina thought of that?

*Here's a link to a previous post about him.
**The Mr. Slater referred to here is his father George W. Slater.
***He was continually referred to either as Logan or L.L., never Lewis.
****Here's a sample of a cover from that year. The local paper seems to have gotten the publication name wrong, but Richard K. Fox was the editor of the National Police Gazette.

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