William Slafter, son of John Slafter and Persis Grow, married Roisa Hovey Johnson in Vermont on February 4, 1830. William and Roisa had seven children. The eldest daughter and son were born in Bolton, Lower Canada; the others were born in Norwich, Windsor County, Vermont.

1) Florence "Flora" Elizabeth Slafter (1832-1908), who married Gilbert Baldwin;
2) Albert Slafter (1833-1863), who married Ruth Ann Smith;
3) Persis Augusta Slafter (1838-1864, who married Harvey Fellows;
4) Mary Slafter (1840-1841);
5) Alonzo Slafter (1842-1924), who married Mary Maria Lambard;
6) Mary Slafter (1846-1849);
7) Ann Roisa Slafter (1848-1936), who married Alexander Gathers.

In 1849 William and Roisa and five of their seven children moved to Tuscola County, Michigan, where their sixth child Mary died on October 19, 1849. Roisa passed away there on October 31, 1849.

Williams' second wife was Mary Pierson Sutherland, who had previously been married to Truman Martin Watrous. She and William married on November 23, 1861. Mary passed away on December 4, 1865.

(Rev. Edmund F. Slafter A.M., Memorial of John Slafter: with a Genealogical Account of His Descendants, Including Eight Generations (Boston: Henry W. Dutton and Son, 1869), Page 64.)

Biography:

WILLIAM SLAFTER is a native of Norwich, Windsor County, Vt., where he was born October 1, 1807. In 1849 he came to Tuscola, bringing his family, and reaching the county on the 17th day of October, and with the exception of five years, between 1854 and 1859, spent in Genesee County, has since resided here.

In coming into the county his party consisted of his wife and five children - Flora E., Albert, Alonzo, Mary and Anne R., also D. G. Slafter and wife. At Flint they hired a man, by the name of Russell, to bring them through with his horses and wagon, but when in the vicinity of Pine Run he declared himself lost, and after wandering about for some time they finally encamped four miles south of Tuscola village on that is now Mrs. Calkins place, and built a fire.

William and D. G. Slafter then struck out in search of the settlement, and alone in the night reached Tuscola, where they procured help and returned for the remainder of the party, bringing them in about two o'clock in the morning.

Mrs. Slafter and daughter Mary died within the following two weeks.

Mr. Slafter was foreman for P. Richardson & Co., in their lumber camps, and running sawed lumber in rafts to Saginaw, for many years, and was the first highway commissioner who did very much toward improving the roads.

(The History of Tuscola County, H. R. Page Co., Chicago, 1883, p. 38.)

Obituary 1:

William Slafter Dead [August 11, 1892]

“Uncle Billy” Slafter of Tuscola, Drops Dead at the Ripe Age of 85 Years

Last Monday morning William Slafter of Tuscola, better known to the older residents as “Uncle Billy”, arose and set about dressing himself. He was seen to stagger and fall forward, and on being removed to a couch, it was found that life was extinct.

He was born in 1807, and removed to Tuscola in 1849, which made him one of the oldest residents. He had seen the county develop from a wilderness to its present high state of cultivation, and had always enjoyed good health to the last. He was kind and affectionate, a friend to all and won the respect of all who knew him as an honest, upright man and a good citizen. At the time of his death he resided with his son, Alonzo Slafter.

(Unknown Tuscola County, Michigan newspaper, August 11, 1892.)

Obituary 2:

Wm. Slafter died at Tuscola, August 8, 1892, aged 85 years. He had been a resident of Tuscola Township since 1849.

(Tuscola Pioneer and Historical Collections Pioneer Society Vol. 17, 1890, Tuscola County, by Enos Goodrich.)