Michigan historical collections . the simple record of the birth and death ofRev. Leonard Slater, marks a mound of earth in Riverside cemetery inKalamazoo, and to the casual observer it expresses nothing of greatinterest. However, to the few descendants of this reverend man andthe still fewer friends who recall him, this mound holds a memoryespecially dear. In the early history of Michigan the name of Leonard Slater was afamiliar one, and up to the time of his death, in 1866, he was lookedupon as a man of ftiarked prominence. As a missionary to the Indiansof this State, and as a man of sturdy
Michigan historical collections . the simple record of the birth and death ofRev. Leonard Slater, marks a mound of earth in Riverside cemetery inKalamazoo, and to the casual observer it expresses nothing of greatinterest. However, to the few descendants of this reverend man andthe still fewer friends who recall him, this mound holds a memoryespecially dear. In the early history of Michigan the name of Leonard Slater was afamiliar one, and up to the time of his death, in 1866, he was lookedupon as a man of ftiarked prominence. As a missionary to the Indiansof this State, and as a man of sturdy character, which served as anexample to many in the days when Michigan was in the process of mak-ing, he gained a name worthy to be handed down. He was born inWorcester, Mass., November 16, 1802. His mother was Scotch and hisfather, Peter Slater, was one of the participants in the Boston TeaParty, in which, disguised as an Indian, he did his part in emptyingthe tea into Boston harbor. For sketch of Mrs. Hoyt see Vol. 30, p. REV. LEONARD SLATER. LIFE OF LEONARD SLATER. 143 The Slater family emigrated from England at an early day. Abrother of Peter Slater learned the cotton spinners trade of the cele-brated Arkwright in Lancashire, England, and being denied the rightof bringing machinery to this country, set up from memory what wasnecessary to the successful running of a cotton mill. This man estab-lished the first Sunday school and the first Bible class and also the firstgrammar school in Pawtucket, R. I. With an ancestry in whom courageand perseverance were dominating principles, we would naturally lookfor like qualities in their descendants, and that Leonard Slater inheritedtheir spirit of patriotism is clearly shown in the last public act of hislife in offering his services to the christian commission during the warof the rebellion, and, without pay, going into hospital work in Tennesseeand this, too, in his declining years, after the strenuous life he hadheretofore liv
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Keywords: ., bookauthormichigan, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookyear1876
