Returning to a column published in late 2021, in which I promised a follow-up, John Johnson Slocum led a fascinating life. And as I said before, politics was his passion. Such is often the case with Washington Parish natives.
In mid-March my husband Rodney and I made the acquaintance of Greg Cromer and his lovely wife at a party at the Covington Country Club. We soon learned that he --- the mayor, in his second term, of Slidell --- is in the race for St. Tammany Parish President.
Once discovering we hailed from Washington Parish, Greg informed that his roots are in Bogalusa --- he grew up there. He remembered not only my dad but also friends we have in common. Good friend Don Spiers later informed that Greg Cromer was state representative before becoming mayor. I believe, much like John Johnson Slocum, politics are also his passion.
Back to Slocum, the writing of renowned historian Daunton Gibbs dovetails perfectly, adding detailed ancestral information on the famous jurist. An article Mr. Daunton entitled "The Slocum Place" and published in "The Era-Leader" on May 10, 1978, which my parents sagely squirreled away, is my source for this column. Mr. Daunton described John J. Slocum (noting his birth year as 1828; I have previously seen it noted as 1826 and 1832) as the grandson of Samuel and Sarah Slocum and the nephew of Rev. Stephen Ellis.
The daughter of William and Mary Linder Young, Jr., Sarah Slocum hailed from Georgia, where she was born in 1771. Her siblings included Dicey Bickham, who was the wife of Captain Abner Bickham, and William Young, their brother who served in the American Revolutionary War. While still in Georgia, Sarah Young wed Samuel Slocum; the couple eventually moved, together with the Bickhams, into the Mississippi territory in 1797, to the east of Natchez.
Thereafter, the Slocums and Bickhams moved to what became St. Helena Parish, Louisiana. Then, between the years of 1807 and 1811, they settled in Washington Parish at what was known as the Sarah Slocum headright, "among the oldest landmarks in Washington Parish," according to Mr. Daunton. Said headright originally encompassed 640 acres, on which there were homes, outhouses, barns, cabins, and a cemetery.
Notably, this area was under Spanish rule, before coming under United States control in 1810. The headright was certified by U.S. surveyors in 1813, and as Samuel was then deceased, it became the Sarah Slocum headright. Situated in what is the Fisher-Mt. Pisgah area, the headright was located to the west of the Bogue Chitto River. Apparently, a cable ferry crossed the river from the Slocum headright to the Captain Abner Bickham headright. Digressing, it was this ferry that Dr. William L. Magee crossed on the evening of November 9, 1861, the night of his demise.
The Census taken in 1820 evidences that Sarah Slocum was living there, with reference to her as the Widow Slocum. Mr. Daunton noted that two of her daughters had married and moved out of the home. Then, by 1840, Sarah Slocum was residing with her son Pierson Young Slocum and his wife Dicy Erwin. Next door to them was Stacy Slocum whose relation to them remains unknown. Sarah Slocum passed away between 1840 and 1850.
The Slocum Methodist Church stood on the property, organized there by Rev. Stephen Ellis around 1840. The Rev. Stephen Ellis's sister Ellen married David Slocum. The Slocum Methodist Church was one of the first Methodist churches in our parish, one of the first four - all of which were organized by Rev. Ellis. Centenary Methodist Church in Franklinton, Warner Methodist Church near Warnerton, and Magee Methodist Church at Clifton were the other three. The Slocum Methodist Church was situated to the south of Wildwood Branch, just south of the cemetery situated on the headright.
At the time of Mr. Daunton's writing, the cemetery, to the north of Hwy 1056, had one visible marker - that of First Lieut. John J. Slocum - the last vestige of the historic landmark. Along with the renowned jurist, the family and descendants of Rev. Stephen Ellis; the descendants of Capt. Abner Bickham; some Erwin family members; some Wascom family members; and also enslaved people, known as Slocums, Magees, and Andrews (also known as Anders) were buried in the cemetery. Of course, many of the graves were unmarked. Of interest, Mr. Daunton set the area of the church/cemetery as the site of the barbecue hosted by Dr. William L. Magee for the Edwards Guards as they were departing for the Civil War. Around that time, the church ceased to exist.
Mr. Daunton credited the John Smith family, decades later, with cleaning and restoring the abandoned, overgrown cemetery. The Smiths attempted to return the John J. Slocum marker, the only one that was manufactured and with inscriptions, to its original site. In January, a year ago, my husband Rodney and I attempted to find this marker, to no avail.
An interesting fellow buried somewhere in the Slocum cemetery is Henry Sherling. You may recall from my columns on the infamous train bandit Eugene Bunch that he took Sherling's life in 1892. While the grave is unmarked, the connection is clear. Sherling's mother was the granddaughter of Samuel and Sarah Slocum. And Henry Sherling's wife was the daughter of Dr. William L. Magee.
The last burial in the Slocum cemetery took place in the early 1920s following a tragic train incident, in which the southbound Bogue Chitto Branch passenger train struck a car at the Hwy 38 crossing in Clifton. All of the vehicle occupants were killed, and all five people, descendants of enslaved people, were buried in the cemetery, the last known burial there.
Note: If anyone locates the John J. Slocum marker, please get in touch with me.
