Picture of Rowan Slater

[SSlater]

Anyone who has "Ancestry,com" can see a picture of Rowan Slater.
If others want to see - let me know and I will attempt to post it.

[BettyO]

Nice looking gent, Herb!

[L Verge]

Could you post the picture, please, Betty.

[BettyO]

Here tis' meet Mr. Slater -

[Gene C]

What happened to him?

[L Verge]

He does look a bit like the proper dancing instructor that he was for awhile - and a little tame for the likes of Sarah, I imagine. That is a magnificent beard, however.

[SSlater]

Here are some details, in anticipation of probable questions.
- Rowan was born 1835, married Sarah in 1861 - he 26, she 18.
- He was 5'-1" tall. Sarah was less.
- Rowan joined the Confed. Army, as a musician.
- He wrote a letter to his brother, in New York, from Albemarle, County, VA. in Sept. 1881. in which he said that his health was bad.
- I researched a Will,dated April 1882, in which he was the Executor. But it was noted thereon, that Rowan was deceased. Thus, he died between Sept 1881 and April 1882, @47 yrs old.
- I am concerned about this pic. He appears almost "dwarfish". (large head, stubby arms, etc.)
I don't see a wedding ring. (Divorce was 1866).
This pic is a very new addition to the family tree. Descendants, that I talked to, did not know of its existence. I'll hunt around to see where it came from.
It is a very exciting addition to the overall research.

---

P.S. Thank you for Posting the picture, Betty. It got the pic, to everybody, it the quickest time,

[BettyO]

I don't see a wedding ring. (Divorce was 1866).

I see what appears to be a ring, Herb....see enlargement. However, few men wore weddings rings - some did. Most did not in the 19th Century. This does appear to be a plain gold band, however, not a signet ring of some sort.....

[L Verge]

Is the photo reversed, because if it isn't, he's wearing the wedding ring on his right hand.

[BettyO]

It looks like a plain gold band - and if the photo is reversed, it would be on the left hand. However, heard that some folk in the 19th Century wore their wedding bands on their right hand following European tradition - or so I've been told.

[L Verge]

Isn't it also a Jewish custom?

[BettyO]

Yes. A friend of mine who is Jewish told me that as well about wedding rings worn on the right hand.

---

That could also be a mourning ring of some sort worn on his hand. I've seen those black enamel and gold "In Memoriam" rings; hair band rings, etc. also - Although that ring seems to have quite a bit of bright gold or metal rather than black or somber colors.

[Cliff Roberts]

In the photo of Rowan Slater, the vest's button holes are on the left, indicating the image is not reversed.

History seems to have lost track of Nettie Slater after the assassination - except for one tantalizing item in the New York Tribune, dated September 18, 1866. It's a legal notice announcing that on August 24, 1866, Nettie's attorney filed suit on her behalf against Rowan Slater "for relief" in New York City's Supreme Court. Rowan had 20 days in which to answer Nettie's complaint or risk default judgment. This is most likely a divorce action. I could find nothing more online, but buried somewhere in New York's Supreme Court archives can likely be found a copy of Nettie's complaint and perhaps a clue leading to further disclosures.

For signature collectors, here is Rowan Slater's on a receipt for $220.00 in pay from the Confederate States of America for his services as a purchasing agent in North Carolina from Dec. 11, 1862, to April 1, 1863.

Here's the entire document:

[SSlater]

In the photo of Rowan Slater, the vest's button holes are on the left, indicating the image is not reversed.

History seems to have lost track of Nettie Slater after the assassination - except for one tantalizing item in the New York Tribune, dated September 18, 1866. It's a legal notice announcing that on August 24, 1866, Nettie's attorney filed suit on her behalf against Rowan Slater "for relief" in New York City's Supreme Court. Rowan had 20 days in which to answer Nettie's complaint or risk default judgment. This is most likely a divorce action. I could find nothing more online, but buried somewhere in New York's Supreme Court archives can likely be found a copy of Nettie's complaint and perhaps a clue leading to further disclosures.

For signature collectors, here is Rowan Slater's on a receipt for $220.00 in pay from the Confederate States of America for his services as a purchasing agent in North Carolina from Dec. 11, 1862, to April 1, 1863.

Here's the entire document:

Yes. the Supreme Court thing is her divorce from Rowan. I have a copy of the papers. The most interesting disclosure is that Sarah Lived with Rowan, for about a year, in New York City. (All we have ever heard is that they "Never saw each other ever again.") I do not believe that they did cohabitate - Rowan is gone from NY when the divorce started, and never protested etc. The papers also mention that she went to live with her mother - in NY. Nearby was a brother Eugene Francis - a Jeweler. The divorce was granted.

[Susan Higginbotham]

I was poking about on Newspapers.com yesterday and found a couple of items related to Rowan Slater. The first is an 1859 ad from the 1 March 1859 Newbern Daily Progress:



The second, from Salisbury, North Carolina's September 2, 1886, Carolina Watchman, shows that he was still alive (and vivacious!) in 1886: