Family:Samuel Slafter and Dorothy Fenton (1)

The Memorial of John Slafter ^S1 relates this information about Samuel and Dorothy:

His first purchase of land in Conn. was, so far as I can ascertain, in Tolland, July 4, 1720. In 1723, he appears to have disposed of his lands in Tolland, amounting to 260 acres, and to have purchased others in Mansfield, the same year, where he continued to reside the remainder of his life. His first purchase in Mansfield was a sixty acre lot, of Robert Fenton, his father-in-law, June 13, 1723, for the sum of £29, lawful money of New England. Another purchase was of the Rev. Eleazer Williams, bearing date of March 13, 1727, and "13th of the reign of our Sovreign, Lord George, King of Great Britain," &c., &c. Other small purchases were made, until his farm reached the dimensions of about a hundred and twelve acres. It was situated in the north part of the town, and occupied the south-west angle of what is now known as Mansfield Four Corners. Among the three hundred and eleven tax payers in Mansfield, in 1753, he was among the twenty-two who paid the largest taxes. He was one of the original proprietors of the town of Norwich, Vt., and was the first Treasurer of the Corporation, which office he held several years. He and his wife early became members of the Congregational church in Mansfield, and in its faith his family were carefully educated. His wife was born, probably, in Woburn, Mass., where her father resided several years before he removed to Conn. They were both interred in the ancient cemetery in North Mansfield, and the headstones, now in complete preservation, bear the following inscriptions:

"Here lies ye body of Mr. Samuel Slafter. He departed this life July 31, A.D. 1770, in the 75th year of his age.
Death is a debt to nature due
Which I have paid, and so must you."

"In memory of Mrs. Dorothy Slafer, wif of Mr. Samuel Slafter, who died Sept. 29, 1783, aged 83 years.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord."

Their children, all born in Mansfield, were as follows:

1. son, b. Aug. 1, 1722; d. Aug. 3, 1722.

2. Dorothy, b. July 14, 1723; d. in infancy.

3. Abigail, b. Jan. 3, 1724-5; d. Nov., 1811; m. Joseph Johnson of Mansfield, Ct.

4. Elizabeth, b. July 20, 1727; d; June 6, 1775.

5. Dorothy, b. Nov. 12, 1729; d. April 24, 1811; m. Hezekiah Johnson of Norwich, Vt.

6. Eunice, b. Jan 23, 1731-2; d. March 20, 1825; m. Thomas Jewett of Norwich, Conn., afterwards of Pownal and Bennington, Vt.

7. Samuel, b. Sept. 21, 1734; d. Jan. 1825; m. Anna Freeman of Mansfield, Ct.

8. Lois, b. Aug. 31, 1736; d. Sept. 1, 1813, in Norwich, Vt., unmarried.

9. John, b. May 26, 1739; d. Oct. 8, 1819; m. 1st, Elizabeth Hovey; 2d, Mrs. Priscilla (Hovey) Whittaker. Norwich, Vt.

10. Anne, b. May 28, 1742; d. Jan 2d, 1816; unm. Mansfield, Ct.

11. Eleazer, b. March 19, 1744-5; d. June 29, 1828; m. 1st, Mary Freeman; 2d, Eunice Fenton. Mansfield, Ct.

12. Mary, b. March 30, 1747; d. Aug 8, 1818; unm. Norwich, Vt.

1. ↑ Slafter, Rev. Edmund Farwell. Memorial of John Slafter: with a genealogical account of his descendants, including eight generations. (Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States|Boston: Press of Henry W. Dutton & Son, 1869)
   pp. 8-9.

   at number 23.