The Carman Family
.... Samuel Carman's distinguished grandson ...
Lucretia Carman (Slater)
1806 - 1853
Mother of a United States Senator
Slater, James Harvey, Representative and Senator from Oregon, born near Springfield, Sangamon County, Ill., 12-28-26, common
schools, moved to California in 1849. Settled Corvallis, Ore. in 1850. Studied law, admitted to bar in 1854, clerk of the
district court of the Territory of Oregon for Benton Co., 1853 - 1856; member of Territorial Assembly 1857-58; Member of the
State House of Representatives, 1859. Published the Oregon Weekly Union at Corvallis, 1859-61; district attorney 5th Judicial
District, Oregon, 1868. Presidential elector, Democrat, Seymour and Blaine, 1868. Elected as a Democrat to 42nd Congress
(March 4, 1871 - to March 3, 1873). Elected to U.S. Senate, served March 4, 1879 to March 3, 1885. Resumed practice of
law Le Grande, Ore., Member of the State Railroad Commission 1889-91. Died in Le Grande, Oregon, January 28, 1899, interred
in Masonic Cemetery.
--- Directory of Congressional Biographies.
Lucretia, Samuel Carman's only daughter, was born in 1806, either in New York State or during the family's stay in Canada.
Her distinguished son writing about his family in 1879 thought she was born in Canada. She arrived at Sangamon Town with her
family while still a teen-ager and in her twentieth year, March, 1826, was married to "Jay Slater, 1795-1860.
The S1ater family lived near Sangamon Town and for many years a county road in the vicinity was called 'Slater's Lane.'
Her son, James Harvey, joined the Gold Rush of 1849, driving an ox team overland: later, in 1850 he began his career in
Oregon as outlined above. In the files of the Sangamo Journal will be found letters written by him describing the wonderful
Oregon country. Editor Simeon Francis of the Journal had a fascination for Oregon --- the state where he ended his days.
Lucretia was the mother of six children, of whom James was the oldest. Another son became a physician. A third son and her
three daughters married into substantial farm families in Illinois and Missouri.
Lucretia died at age 47 and is buried in the Slater family lot in the Farmingdale, Ill., cemetery. She. was never to know
of the successes of her son, James Harvey. Her husband, Jay, was to re-marry, father another son and live on until 1860.
James Harvey Slater married in 1854 and fathered ten children. (Detailed information on the Slater family can be found in
Power's, History of Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Ill.,, published 1879 (re-printed, 1970.)
Dr. Lyman B. (Beecher) Slater, b. l830, studied medicine under the pioneer physician Dr. William Jayne of Springfield, Ill.
and later at Missouri Medical School, St. Louis, where he received the M.D. in 1855. He successively practiced at Mt.
Auburn, Rochester and Taylorville in Illinois. Married twice, he had nine children. Dr. Slater enjoyed a fine reputation
as a citizen and professional man.
Slater Letters in the Sangamo Journal.
22 July 1850 Slater, Jas. H. Letter from California describing Gold Rush experiences
25 Mar 1851 Slater, Jas. H. Oregon letter. A two-column letter in which he describes the country.
27 May 1856 Slater, Jas. H. This letter to his father from Corvallis, Ore., tells about Indian fighting in Oregon
James H. Slater, wrote in 18?9, a letter to a Carman family researcher giving some details of his life and family. This
letter is in the Archives of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, New York City.
Descendants of the Slater family live in the vicinity of Portland, Oregon at the present time.
Playing the Name Game
Using the family groupings as given in this text, the reader can trace the sources for the given names for both the men
and the women, noting when they first were used in the family and tracing them to determine how many generations they
persisted.
