George Webb Slaughter

George Webb Slaughter was born on May 10, 1811 in Lawrence County, Mississippi.[1][2][3] His father, William Slaughter (1781-1851), was a farmer who had served in the War of 1812; and his mother was Nancy Moore.[1][2] With his parents, he moved Copiah County, Mississippi in 1821, to Louisiana in 1825, and to Sabine County, Texas five years later, in 1830.[1][2]

Slaughter was a courier to Sam Houston.[1] In this capacity, he delivered a message from Houston to William B. Travis at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836.[1]

Slaughter joined the United Methodist Church in 1831.[2] However, ten years later, he joined the Baptist Church, becoming an ordained Baptist minister in 1844.[2] He served as a Baptist minister in Sabine County and other parts of East Texas until 1851.[1] He then moved with his family and cattle to Freestone County, Texas.[1] Six years later, in 1857, he established a ranch near Palo Pinto, Texas.[1] There, he also served as a Baptist minister and practised medicine.[1] According to historian J. Marvin Hunter, "he baptized over 3,000 persons and ordained more preachers and organized more churches than any other person in the state of Texas."[2]

During the American Civil War of 1861-1865, Slaughter provided beef from his ranch to the Tonkawa, a Native American tribe who were aligned with the Confederate States Army.[1]

After the war, Slaughter focused on cattle breeding and droving.[1] With his son C.C. Slaughter, he drove cattle from Palo Pinto, Texas to Shreveport, Louisiana in 1867.[1] The herd was meant for T. H. Johnson.[1] He also sold cattle to James Loving (1836-1902) and Charles Rivers in 1867-1868.[1][2] In 1870, he drove 3,000 heads of cattle on the Chisholm Trail all the way to Kansas with his son.[1] Living in Emporia, Kansas from 1870 to 1876, he drove cattle every year.[1]

From 1876 to 1884, Slaughter returned to Texas, where he focused on ranching with another son, Peter Slaughter.[1]

Slaughter married Sarah Jane Mason on October 12, 1837.[1][3] They were the first couple to get married in the Republic of Texas.[3] They had eleven children.[1][2]

Slaughter died on March 19, 1895 in Palo Pinto, Texas.[1][2]