John & Mary Slatter's story

1861 UK Census for 55 Leman St. in Whitechapel, London

The life of hubby's great-granddad, John Slatter (1838-1901), spanned two continents. He was born in Oxfordshire, the son of John Slatter (a cook) and Sarah Harris Slatter. He lived in London for years and somehow got to Cleveland, Ohio by 1889, where he was a wallpaper cleaner and hanger. (John Slatter's Find a Grave memorial is here.)

John Slatter had two wives, and three of his six children (John, Henry, and Albert) grew up to become celebrated military bandmasters in Canada (see listing of posts, below). One of his grandchildren (Edgar J. Wood), one great-grandchild, and two great-great-grandkids were also musical.

Where/when did Mary, John's first wife, die? I now have proven that Mary Shehen Slatter was in not one but two notorious insane asylums and died of tuberculosis in 1889. Why did her husband John Slatter leave Mary in the asylum, cross to America, and meet his second wife (Louisa M.), whose maiden name is still a mystery? UPDATE: John Slatter married Louisa Hexter in 1890 in the Gretna Green city of Pittsburgh, PA, after his first wife Mary died.

Children of John Slatter and Mary Shehen Slatter: 

Thomas John Slatter (1860-?), Albert William Slatter (1862-1935), John Daniel Slatter (1864-1954), Henry Arthur Slatter (1866-1942), Adelaide Mary Ann Slatter (1868-1947), and Mary Slatter (1869-1925)

Here are my posts about John Slatter and his children and parents:

• The Slatter family lived in such poverty that 5 of the 6 children were placed in a workhouse at one point. Mary Shehen Slatter was too ill to care for them. She developed "melancholia" and went into an asylum, see below.
• Seeking Slatter descendants (summary of John Slatter's progeny)
• John Slatter's grave in Cleveland, Ohio, includes his exact birth date.
• Find a Grave virtual cemetery with Slatter ancestors listed.
• Who was Louisa A.M. Slatter? (what I know about her occupation, obit, burial - I later learned she married John Slatter in 1890)
• John Slatter died in Cleveland (in 1901, info about his obit and cemetery)
• Mary Slatter marries James Edgar Wood (John Slatter's youngest daughter marries in Toledo, Ohio in 1898) AND their marriage cert from 21 September 1898.
• John Slatter's father, was a cook at Christ Church College, Oxfordshire (according to research by Slatter genealogist in UK). And in case you want more confusion, John's father was also named John Slatter. So there. 
• John Slatter's bride, Mary Shehen, claimed her father was a bricklayer. But he told the UK census he was a laborer. Multiple times.
• John Slatter's Cleveland work (Cleveland city directory shows him as paperhanger/cleaner) 
• John Slatter's Cleveland cemetery card (before I knew exactly where he was buried)
• John Slatter and Mary Shehen's marriage cert (married in Whitechapel in 1859, son Thomas John was born in 1860). John Slatter's father John, also a cook, was listed as deceased when they married on Dec. 18, 1859.
• Quick summary of John Slatter Sr's dates and children's names. 
• Saluting the Slatters on Canada Day, 2014 with photos of WWI badges from Canada.



Newspaper item promoting
Capt. Slatter and the 48th Highlanders

• Ada Mary Ann Slatter marries James Sills Baker in Cleveland, just 3 weeks after Easter.
• John Slatter, son of a cook at Christ College, Oxford. 
• Thanksgiving 1909, 5 Slatter siblings, and 24 first cousins 
• John Slatter Senior's probate pages list vacant lots 
• Wish to time-travel and ask Mary Slatter Wood a few questions about her childhood
• Mary Shehen Slatter's sad life and death (have your hanky ready)
• Writing a family memory booklet about Mary Slatter and her husband, James Edgar Wood, for sharing with heirs.
• Sample pages from the booklet about Mary Slatter and James Edgar Wood.
• The Slatter family's poverty-stricken roots in London, map by map.
• Slatter/Shehen wedding took place in December 1859.
• Researching Mary Shehen Slatter's mother at the London Metro Archives (no luck).
• How my husband's great-great-grandma Sarah Harris Slatter Shuttleworth saved a Slatter grandson from possible tragedy by taking him in!
• Finding the death dates of Sarah Harris Slatter Shuttleworth and her 2d husband, John Shuttleworth.
• John Slatter reinvented himself in Cleveland, leaving his first wife behind in an insane asylum when he left England. He remarried 18 months after his first wife died.
• Memorializing Arthur Albert Slatter, son of bandmaster Henry Arthur Slatter, with bite-sized bios on Find a Grave and other sites. 
• Capt. John Daniel Slatter is now memorialized with photos and stories on Fold3, MyHeritage, FamilySearch. 
• John Hutson Slatter, my husband's 2d cousin, served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II, flying Spitfires in the Far East for the 136th Squadron.
• Listing of Slatter (and Wood and other ancestors) who served in the military. Military careers are a theme running through the Slatter family.
• Slatter cousins I'll be researching when the 1921 Census for England is released in January of 2022. Update: Have not found them yet in that Census.
• How I confirmed that Maud Victoria Slatter was born in Egypt when her father, Albert William Slatter, was serving in the military there.
• Two cenotaphs for Arthur Albert Slatter, who died in WWI. I've posted his bio on Find a Grave and elsewhere.
• What happened the night before Mary Slatter married James E. Wood in Toledo, Ohio.
• Mary Slatter was hubby's only immigrant ancestor.

Posts about Captain John D. Slatter (we call him "Captain Jack," informally of course):

• Band Sergeant at age 11, in the Boys' Band of the training ship H.M. Goliath
• Three Slatter brothers, all Canadian bandmasters. 
• Albert William Slatter's FindaGrave memorial is here. 
• Captain John Slatter, bandmaster (of the 48th Highlanders Regiment in Toronto) - His FindaGrave memorial is here.
• The musical Slatter brothers (a bit about the bandmaster careers of John Slatter's 3 musical sons)
• Capt. Slatter's obit (he was quite a famous bandmaster, as obit explains)
• Capt. Slatter at Camp Borden in Canada (photo and info about his military uniform, identified by one of my fabulous readers) - plus this photo referenced in a 2015 book!
• Remembrance Day: Capt. John Slatter (summary of his military career)
• Captain John Slatter's collection of Canadian military badges (more and more of his badges)
• Capt. Jack Slatter and the 48th Highlanders of Toronto (book found through WorldCat) 
• Tom Clark McBride's reminiscences of musical training under Capt. John Slatter at Niagara-on-the-Lake and in Toronto during the 1940s.
• The Slatter family was evidently quite poor, which is why John, Albert, and Henry were aboard the Training Ships Goliath and Exmouth. 
• Visiting the 48th Highlanders Museum in Toronto to see Capt. Slatter's medals and memorabilia.
• Three generations of "fighting Slatters"--Capt. John D. Slatter and his two sons (Albert Matthew and Frederick William) and his grandson (John Slatter), photo from 1940. 
• Henry Arthur Slatter's FindaGrave memorial is here.
• Operation: Picture Me kindly located the burial place of Capt. John Slatter, his wife Sophie Le Gallais Slatter, two daughters (Bessie and Edith), and a son (Albert Matthew Slatter) and daughter-in-law (Mary Maude Hutson Slatter). 
• A Slatter bandmaster brother gave Mary Slatter Wood a special WWI handkerchief that remains in the family to this day. 
• Documenting Capt. John D. Slatter's WWI activities as I researched his portrait.
• The Slatter family lost two young men who served in WWI.
• Capt. John D. Slatter had a busy public relations person promoting the 48th Highlanders "kiltie band" -- in 1900!
• Researching the Slatter boys who were on the Training Ship Goliath by visiting the London Metropolitan Archives.
• Capt. John D. Slatter gave a WWI bugle to his sister, and it's still in our family's hands!
• Members of the Slatter family served in WWI and in WWII. 
• Fanny Slatter, hubby's 2d great aunt, had a daughter who married Thomas Hoxland White. That distinctive middle name and family occupation continued through the generations.
• Capt. John D. Slatter's portrait helped me get further back in Slatter family!
• Capt. Slatter was on the faculty of the Toronto Conservatory of Music, 1914-1915, I discovered using Internet Archive for free!
• John and brothers Henry Arthur and Albert William were Goliath Boys.
• With the release of the 1931 Canadian Census on June 1, 2023, I'll be looking for the Slatter brothers at their home addresses in Canada.
• UPDATE! I found Capt. John D. Slatter in the 1931 Canadian Census.
• On WikiTree, I've categorized this ancestor as "48th Highlanders Canada."
• Using MyHeritage's OldNews.com, I learned how Capt. Slatter was hired as 48th Highlanders bandmaster.
• Capt. Slatter's bio is on the 48th Highlanders museum website here.





Above, Captain John Slatter leading the band in Toronto; below, at Camp Borden in WWI

Obit of Henry Arthur Slatter (name is incorrect in obit)

Posts about Mary Shehan Slatter and family:

• Mary's parents, John and Mary Shehan, were born in Ireland around 1801. By 1841, they were living in Marylebone, London.
• Mary Shehan (the younger) married John Slatter in Whitechapel in 1859. At this time, Mary's father was working as a bricklayer, according to the marriage record.
• Mary Shehen of London, a family link to Ireland (and the mystery of her oldest son, Thomas John Slatter) 
• Was Mary Shehen Slatter admitted to a lunatic asylum? More research is needed to obtain detailed records.
• Local relative will help me access records in the asylum where Mary Shehen Slatter was kept for years. This can only be done in person but it should solve the puzzle on her identity and fate.
• Proof of Mary Shehea Slatter's time in and out of asylums. And 5 of the 6 children were in and out of workhouses and terrible schools in bad parts of London, too.
• Mary Shehen (mother of Mary Shehan Slatter) was in a workhouse infirmary during the 1871 UK Census. I searched for more info in London, but no luck.
• Sadly, Mary "unknown maiden name" Shehan, born about 1800 in Ireland, ended her days in a London-area workhouse.
• Posting ancestor bios (and photos) of Mary Slatter Wood and her husband, James Edgar Wood, on Family Search, WikiTree, Find a Grave, and other sites for future generations to find and researchers to see.
• Telling the story of the Slatter family, the good, the bad, the ugly, so names and info won't be lost to future generations.

Mary Shehan's mother and father were living in Marylebone in 1851, according to the UK census. Her dad, John, was a laborer and her mother Mary was a laundress. Also in the household: Thomas, age 17, Michael, age 11, and niece Bridget Waddinger, b. in Ireland (age 6).

By 1861, John and Mary were still in the same place (20 Gray's Buildings) and only their son Michael, age 21, was living with them. In the 1871 census, John and Mary were still in Gray's Buildings in Marylebone, he a laborer and she in laundry (she was also enumerated in a workhouse infirmary). They disappeared from the UK Census after 1871. I now believe John Shehan died about 1875, and I found out that his wife Mary died in a workhouse.

What became of their grandson, Thomas John Slatter, the oldest child of Mary Shehen Slatter and John Slatter? - He lived with his paternal grandma and step-grandpa and never entered workhouses.

In 2017, I connected with the archivist for the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada in Vancouver, who helped me with more background about Capt. Henry Arthur Slatter, an early bandmaster. This Slatter brother served before WWI and rejoined in 1916 to go overseas with the 11th CMR, CEF. In 1920, the Seaforth Highlanders band gave concerts to attract recruits (just as Capt. John Slatter's 48th Highlanders did in Toronto). The archivist later pointed me to a photo of the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders in a 1918 parade. I hope to learn more!