The Slosson and Harford Family

Edwin Clayton Slosson moved his family to Baldwin County, Alabama in 1889. He and his family were instrumental in helping to settle the Silverhill area. He had no Swedish heritage and could not speak Swedish, even though his last name sounded very Swedish like (SLAW-son). His family claimed to be one of the first of the pioneers from the northern states to come to Baldwin County.

1889 was not the first time he had seen this part of Alabama. At the age of 19, Edwin enlisted in Company C, of the Seventy-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry of the Union Army more than a year after the beginning of the Civil War. By the age of 22, he had served in many campaigns including the siege of Jackson, Mississippi and the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi and was marching into Alabama.

The Battle of Fort Blakeley was the last major battle of the Civil War occurring 6 hours after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia on April 9, 1865. The Union military was aimed at capturing the city of Mobile, the last major port that remained in Confederate hands. They defeated the entrenched troops at Fort Blakeley. It was at this last battle that Edwin was wounded, being shot through both thighs.

Edwin returned home to recuperated at the home of his parents, Hannah and Rufus K. Slosson, M.D., in Vienna, Grundy County, Illinois where his father practiced medicine and owned a farm. Rufus K. Slosson, M.D. was an 1841 graduate of Geneva Medical College, in Geneva, New York. After Edwin recovered, he worked on the family's farm with his younger brother Eugene Slosson.

As the two brothers worked together, they saw how they could make improvements to the horse drawn corn planter, which they were using. They produced a new machine, drew the plans, and applied for a patent for their invention in 1869.

The Rufus King Slosson Family

Rufus King Slosson was born on 09 Mar 1815 in Venice New York. He died on 13 Sep 1902 in Morris, Grundy, Illinois. He married Hannah Gray Brown. She was born on 15 Mar 1822 in New York. She died on 12 Jul 1898 in Vienna Township, Grundy County, Illinois.

Rufus King Slosson and Hannah Gray Brown had the following children:

1. Edwin Clayton Slosson was born on 25 Feb 1843 in Cayuga County, New York. He died on 23 Oct 1926 in Fairhope, Baldwin, Alabama. He married Cornelia Dewey Harford, daughter of Aaron Tyler Harford and Frances Dewey, on 08 Apr 1872 in Grundy, Illinois. She was born on 09 Aug 1848 in Pavers Grove, Grundy County, Illinois. She died on 23 May 1940 in Fairhope, Baldwin, Alabama.

2. Eugene Slosson was born on 10 Jan 1846 in New York. He died on 25 Jul 1932 in Fairhope, Baldwin, Alabama. He married Eliza A. Cody Campbell, daughter of Patrick Cody and Mary Cody, on 31 Mar 1894 in Grundy, Illinois. She was born on 10 Dec 1859 in Illinois. She died on 03 May 1923 in Fairhope, Baldwin, Alabama.

3. Mary Bashaba Slosson was born on 15 Jul 1856 in Grundy County, Illinois. She died on 09 Jun 1908. She married George A. Pierce on 01 Jan 1880 in Grundy County, Illinois. He was born on 10 May 1852 in Massachusetts.

In 1872, Edwin married his neighbor Cornelia Harford. The Slosson family had lived near the Harford family since 1854 when they moved from Cayuga County, New York.

After their marriage, they moved to the western frontier of the Rogue River Valley, Oregon where Edwin operated a sawmill. Here their first two children were born, Vallie and Fannie May.

In 1877, Edwin moved his family back to live in Verona, Grundy County, Illinois after the insistence of Cornelia's mother. Frances Harford had convinced them that it would be best to raise the girls in a safer and more civilized country.

Back in Verona, Illinois, Edwin and Eugene operated a machine shop where they manufactured many items of use for the farm and community. They invented another piece of farm equipment, an improved cultivator patented in 1880.

In 1880, three years after their move back to Illinois, Vallie & Fannie May both contracted diphtheria and died within days of each other. The family was devastated. They had done everything they could to raise their children in the safest place they knew.

Seven years later, the Slossons moved south, living on a cotton plantation near West Point, Mississippi with their two newest additions to the family, daughters Ellen and Lois.

The Edwin Clayton Slosson Family

Edwin Clayton Slosson was born on 25 Feb 1843 in Cayuga County, New York. He died on 23 Oct 1926 in Fairhope, Baldwin, Alabama. He married Cornelia Dewey Harford, daughter of Aaron Tyler Harford and Frances Dewey, on 08 Apr 1872 in Grundy, Illinois. She was born on 09 Aug 1848 in Pavers Grove, Grundy County, Illinois. She died on 23 May 1940 in Fairhope, Baldwin, Alabama.

Edwin Clayton Slosson and Cornelia Dewey Harford had the following children:

1. Vallie Slosson was born on 02 Feb 1873 in Rogue River, Jackson, Oregon. She died on 25 Aug 1880 in Verona, Grundy, Illinois.

2. Fannie May Slosson was born on 11 Aug 1875 in Rogue River, Jackson, Oregon. She died on 01 Sep 1880 in Verona, Grundy, Illinois.

3. Ellen Slosson was born on 14 Aug 1881 in Verona, Grundy, Illinois. She died in Oct 1977 in Fairhope, Baldwin, Alabama. She married Seymour Calvin Boise, son of Joseph Boise and Ellen Phillips, on 05 Dec 1928 in Baldwin, Alabama. He was born in Aug 1862 in LeRoy, Lake, Ohio. He died on 24 Jul 1945 in Fairhope, Baldwin, Alabama.

4. Lois Slosson was born on 12 Nov 1886 in Verona, Grundy, Illinois. She died on 28 Mar 1975 in Fairhope, Baldwin, Alabama. She married Reuben Enfred Sundberg, son of Carl Axel Enfred "Charles" Sundberg and Johanna Christina Osklund, on 23 Jun 1912 in Baldwin, Alabama. He was born on 02 Jun 1883 in Upsala, Sweden. He died on 05 Jul 1942 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.

On Christmas day 1889, the family crossed Mobile bay in the tugboat "Daisy" to Baldwin County, Alabama. Ellen was 8 and Lois was 3 years old.

Cornelia's brother Fred Harford and their father Aaron Harford had preceded them to scout out available land for sale. On December 26, 1889, Fred and Aaron and John Cunnea, the bank president of Morris, Illinois, bought 12,240 acres of land in central Baldwin County, Alabama from Elizabeth B. Rupert, the widow of James C. Rupert, of Baldwin County, Alabama for the amount of $4,000. Four months later, John Cunnea sold his share to Fred and Aaron Harford. See PDF of land deed.

The land covered an area between Fish River on the west to the modern day Beach Express on the east; from the south of what would become Summerdale to the nothern reaches of the Silverhill area.

The Aaron Tyler Harford Family

Aaron Tyler Harford was born on 02 Jul 1822 in South Salem, Westchester, New York. He died on 15 Jul 1899 in Vienna Township, Verona, Illinois. He married Frances Dewey, daughter of John Dewey Jr. and Mary Welborn, on 01 Nov 1847 in Vienna Township, Grundy, Illinois (Dewey Farm). She was born on 04 Dec 1825 in Ketton, Rutlandshire, England. She died on 30 Oct 1901 in Vienna Township, Verona, Illinois.

Aaron Tyler Harford and Frances Dewey had the following children:

1. Cornelia Dewey Harford was born on 09 Aug 1848 in Pavers Grove, Grundy County, Illinois. She died on 23 May 1940 in Fairhope, Baldwin, Alabama. She married Edwin Clayton Slosson, son of Rufus King Slosson and Hannah Gray Brown, on 08 Apr 1872 in Grundy, Illinois. He was born on 25 Feb 1843 in Cayuga County, New York. He died on 23 Oct 1926 in Fairhope, Baldwin, Alabama.

2. Mary Harford was born on 04 Feb 1850. She died on 04 Jun 1851.

3. Fannie May Harford was born on 24 Nov 1852 in Grundy Co., Illinois. She died in 1926. She married James Patrick Mulvanie on 28 Mar 1877 in Grundy Co., Illinois. He was born on 24 Sep 1851 in Ormstown, Le Haut-Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada. He died on 19 Oct 1921 in Vienna, Grundy, Illinois.

4. Frederick Harford was born on 27 Sep 1854 in Verona, Grundy, Illinois. He died on 25 Jan 1926 in Morris, Grundy, Illinois.

5. Addison Harford was born on 14 Mar 1857. He died on 02 May 1875 in Vienna Township, Verona, Illinois.

6. Olive Harford was born on 07 Jul 1861. She died on 07 Jun 1870.

7. Ellen Harford was born on 12 Apr 1864 in Illinois. She died on 15 Feb 1948 in Los Angeles, California. She married (1) Charles S. Sellen. He was born in 1860. She married (2) Frank L. Malmquist. He was born in 1872 in Sweden. He died on 20 Oct 1948.

They found a rugged cabin with dirt floors near Fish River, which was one of the best houses in the area at that time. Cornelia cooked their meals in a fireplace. They slept on pine needle mattresses. The family lived in the house from 1890 to 1895.

The Old Cabin about 1892. Beginning on the left is Lois Slosson about age 4-5 holding the hand of her grandfather Aaron Harford, then Cornelia and Edwin Slosson, and Nell Slosson about age 10-11. Her eye seems to be bandaged. Two unknown men are standing at the right. Click to Enlarge.

On February 3, 1890, Mr. and Mrs. John Craft sold 600 acres of land to Cornelia D. Slosson for the amount of $350. This was land that Kerney Wallace had sold to John Craft just a few days earlier. See PDF of land deed.

The Slosson's plans were to build a house and a farm to raise sheep with the entire family working on the farm.

During those years, Edwin constructed a sawmill. In the beginning, they harvested the trees only to build their own house, barns, fences and smoke house. Then as more settlers moved to the area, the sawmill along with their heavily timbered vast acreage provided lumber for the newcomers and a source of income to the Slossons.

Working on the first sawmill building about 1892. Edwin Slosson is in the center. Edwin's father-in-law, Aaron Harford is the second man from the left. Click to Enlarge.

They completed their new house in 1895 and gladly moved in. Descriptions of the house called it a "big, square, cool house, built in genuine southern style, with a wide hall through the center and broad galleries". They built the two-story house with high ceilings of about 10 feet and large rooms. The building still exists today at its original location on the west side of County Road 49 a little more than 2 miles from Silverhill.

On January 31, 1896, Aaron Harford, and son Fred Harford agreed to sell all of the standing pine timber on 5,400 acres of land in Baldwin County, Alabama for $1.00 per acre to Lyons & Swift of Baldwin County, Alabama. Of that land, 4,440 acres were from the original 12,240 acres of land that they had bought on December 26, 1889. The agreement included 960 acres of additional land purchases. See PDF of land deed.

The land covered an area east of Silverhill extending to the modern day Beach Express. It included areas of what would become Robertsdale and Summerdale.

In the spring of 1896, the Slosson family met Oscar Johnson and four other men from Chicago looking for the ideal place to develop a town designed exclusively for Swedish immigrants who had grown unhappy with city life. Many had grown up in Swedish farming communities and were wishing to return to a country way of living. The Slosson home welcomed the travelers and escorted the land seekers around the area. Eventually they decided to make an initial land purchase of about 1,500 acres of the Harford land east of Fish River, but only after viewing property throughout Baldwin and Mobile counties. Silverhill was the name of the area where the Swedes purchased the land, which grew in size as they bought more land from other landowners.

In 1897, Oscar Johnson began construction of his home in the center of Silverhill. The Westerlund family came at the end of the year to live with the Johnsons. Since the home was not completed, they boarded at the Slosson home.

Silverhill's early promotional booklet showing the Oscar Johnson Home and the Slosson Home. Oscar Johnson's house was in the center of Silverhill. Edwin Slosson's house was over 2 miles southwest of the center of town. Click to Enlarge.

In January 1898, Oscar Johnson's wife arrived with her two daughters, Elvera age 10 and Agnes age 7. The Slosson sisters were thrilled. Ellen age 16 and Lois age 11 finally had someone near their own age with which to play. All of the girls were born in Illinois, and their parents were pioneers. The girls remained friends for years to come.

For the next few years, travelers and land seekers were welcomed boarders at the Slosson home while purchasing land and building their homes. The Harford family owned the land for sale, and the Slosson family owned the sawmill that provided the building materials. In 1899, Charles Olander constructed the first hotel in Silverhill.

Even though Edwin never graduated from medical school as his father had, he must have gained enough experience from the doctor's office for him to receive the designation of "Doctor". In the sparsely settled areas of the county far from a practitioner, he used his medical knowledge to help those who were sick or injured. Dr. Slosson made countless trips on horseback to assist ill and needy people. He also assisted whenever he could with machine repair, since he was skilled as a machinist.

His wife Cornelia was also a strong person with a great influence on others. "She was a friend in need to the country people and not only did a woman's work but often times that of a man. She hauled lumber, cared for sheep and kept boarders. When new settlers began coming she encouraged and helped whenever she could. She never failed in kindliness and humor." This quote was taken from the Fairhope Courier.

Until about 1900, Cornelia had been her daughters' only teacher. Then during the winter months, the girls and their mother would stay at an apartment on St. Louis St. in Mobile, coming home during the weekends by ferryboat. Lois attended Barton Academy. Ellen studied music, violin, voice and piano. Ellen, nicknamed Nell, had been blind since the age of eleven. In an accident, a stick had injured one eye and an infection had spread to both eyes. Ellen eventually lost the injured eye, replaced later by a glass eye. Her uninjured eye could only see the difference between light and dark.

The Slosson and Harford families had extensive photo collections dating from the mid 1800s. When cameras became more affordable and available to public the family was very interested in this newest technology of the day. With Edwin's background as an inventor, and the Harford family wealth backing Cornelia, it was no surprise that they owned a camera before 1900. It was a box camera, which used dry plate glass negatives. Lois' daughter later gives her mother credit as being the family's photographer.

The family's photo collection shows the earliest photos dated 1897 and 1900. In 1897, Lois would have been ten years old. Ellen would already have been blind. Edwin would have been working countless hours in his sawmill and building their farm and barns. Cornelia, it seems, is the likely photographer of the earliest of the family pictures. Edwin probably also made many photos, and certainly constructed a home darkroom in which to develop them.

In 1901, the Slosson sawmill began producing planks for two bridges to connect the Fairhope and Silverhill people. After many months of hard work on the Fairhope side under the leadership of F. L. Brown, and on the Silverhill side by Dr. Slosson, Mr. Pearson, and the Swedes, the finished product was a bridge over Fish River, and a causeway and bridge over Pensacola creek. This area of roadway is Fairhope Avenue or County Road 48 at the Bohemian Park.

Other sawmills sprang up in Baldwin county, giving the Slosson mill competition. Oscar Johnson built one on Polecat Creek in 1902 for use in building the Swedish homes and businesses. He most likely received direction from Dr. Slosson when constructing the mill. William Stimpson built one in Fairhope in 1903, helping to build the Single Tax Colony.

Besides the income from their sawmill, the Slossons raised sheep on their farm. They also planted various crops including peach and orange groves.

In 1903, Frank Stewart and his wife Hattie moved to Baldwin County from Chicago where he had worked as a civil engineer. He had plans to begin farming, and bought 40 acres on Polecat Creek, four miles south of the town of Silverhill.

Frank Stewart was blind in one eye, making him sympathetic to Nell Slosson's condition. The Slossons considered them close neighbors, even though their home was over two miles away, and the two families remained good friends for years to come.

While farming on the Polecat Creek property, he became interested in photography. Baldwin County residents later knew him as Frank Stewart the Picture Man.

The Slosson family owned a camera before Frank Stewart bought his property on Polecat Creek and moved to Alabama. The family's self produced photo collection began as early as 1897, 1900 at the latest, with photos of their family and farm. It had been the belief that Frank influenced Lois Slosson, the youngest Slosson daughter, to become interested in photography. Although he may have taught her darkroom techniques, perhaps it was actually the Slosson family, which influenced Frank Stewart to begin his interest in photography.

In 1907 at the age of 58, Cornelia Slosson insisted on riding the range to bring in motherless lambs during the spring rains. She became sick and nearly died of pneumonia. Cornelia recovered with the help of her husband Edwin, Dr. Mershon, and her daughter Lois. This event caused the family to make the decision to move to Fairhope away from the farm.

In April 1908, they bought the Mogg House in Fairhope later known as the Columns, which was on the northeast corner of Magnolia and Bayview Avenues. Eugene Slosson built a house across the street from the Columns. The buildings still exist today.

When the Slosson family moved to Fairhope, Edwin was 65 years old. He continued to farm, plant orange trees and take care of his farm. Henry Schaefer and his wife and son Harry lived on the Slosson farm in one of the smaller houses, managing the care of the property. Harry Schaefer had worked at the Slosson sawmill.

In 1913, Frank Stewart gave up farming and moved to Fairhope to open a photography studio. His photographs of the area landmarks became very popular when he began printing them on postcards.

In 1914, Edwin and Cornelia sold their 160-acre farm and house to C.N. Waldemar.

In 1918, C.N. Waldemar began advertising his property for sale. The following advertisement contains a good description of the house on the property.

In 1920, C.N. Waldemar and wife Lottie sold the property to C.B. Willenborg.

In 1921, C.B. Willenborg sold the 160-acre farm and house to Anton Swoboda and wife Louise.

In 1923, Anton Swoboda sold the north 40 acres of his farm to Rudolf Stepnick and wife Marie, leaving Anton 120 acres.

In 1946, Anton sold the north 40 acres of his farm to his son James Swoboda and wife Martha.

In 1947, Anton Swoboda sold the remainder of his farm (80 acres) and house to his son Louis Frank Swoboda and wife Aina.

Edwin and Cornelia Slosson lived the rest of their days in Fairhope. Edwin moved his tools into a workshop behind their house where he worked in wood and metal. With his expertise as a machinist, he used this knowledge in die casting and machining helping many businesses in the community making repairs and improvements to their equipment.

Many of the "first families" that moved to Baldwin County from the northern states were not able to adjust to life on the gulf coast and moved away. Some were not able to make a living. Others moved after the 1906 hurricane destroyed homes and crops.

The Slossons were the first of the "first families". They stayed and raised their children and grandchildren in Baldwin County.