[p. 759] postmaster at Enon Valley, where he is also serving in his second term as town burgess, has been a representative citizen of this section and identified with its progress and development, in large degree, for years. He was born on a farm in Harrison County, Ohio, April 7, 1856, and is a son of Samuel and Eleanor P. (Leathem) Slemmons.
Samuel Slemmons was a life-long resident of Ohio, where he died in 1886. He was born at Cadiz and engaged in farming in that vicinity, also followed the carpenter trade and in his earlier years he was interested in dealing in horses. Before the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was built he drove many horses from Eastern Ohio to Baltimore. He married Eleanor P. Leathem, who is one of the most venerable ladies of Lawrence County. She was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, in 1818, and is one of the most valued members of Mr. Slemmons' family, being deeply interested in all family affairs and enjoying the social life around her, in spite of the weight of her ninety years. Samuel and Eleanor P. Slemmons had eight children, namely: Susanna, James, John, Catherine, Deborah M., Harvey, Samuel D. and Ella M. The survivors are: James, John, Harvey and Samuel Dayton.
Samuel Dayton Slemmons grew to manhood on his father's farm, near Cadiz, Ohio, and secured a district school education. He first entered into business as a partner of his brother, James, in a general store, at Westminster, Ohio, but the destruction of the store and loss of stock, in the second year, caused a change in his plans. He entered the employ of Gus Kolb, a clothing merchant at Lima, for a few years, and then became a clerk in a shoe store in the same place, but shortly afterward was appointed deputy auditor of Hardin County, under his old school teacher, Auditor G. W. Rutledge, of Kenton. He served three years in this capacity and then resigned and became an employe of the Lazarus Bros. Clothing Store at Columbus, where he remained until his marriage in the summer of 1889.
On July 10, 1889, Mr. Slemmons was united in marriage to Miss Susan B. Slemons, who was the only child of James Slemons, who was born in Ireland and emigrated to America, dying on his farm in Lawrence County. To this farm Mr. and Mrs. Slemmons soon moved. It was then the property of Mrs. Slemmons, and they lived in North Beaver Township until 1890, when they came to Enon Valley. They have one son, James Guy. The parents of Mrs. Slemmons, James and Elizabeth (Kildoo) Slemons, both died while she was young. Her step-mother, Catherine Kildoo, is also deceased. After being orphaned, Mrs. Slemmons became a member of the Glover family, by whom she was reared.
After locating at Enon Valley Mr. Slemmons entered very actively into politics, and was elected a justice of the peace, serving in that office for five years, when he was appointed postmaster, a position he has satisfactorily filled until the present. An ardent Republican by conviction, he has ably supported the cause of his party, being in perfect accord with its many reformatory movements. During the first administration of the late President McKinley, he served as secretary of the Republican County Committee, and that was the year that Lawrence County gave the largest Republican majority at the polls ever recorded in the county's history. Mr. Slemmons has served in numerous other offices of the town and township, has been constable, supervisor and is at the present writing serving in the honorable office of town burgess. The Civil War found him too young to enter the army, but an older brother, John P., served three years, as a member of Company H, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was wounded at the battle of the Wilderness on May 2, 1864. From the father down the family has made a record for loyalty and patriotism.
Mr. Slemmons is a member of the order of American Mechanics, at Enon Valley, and of the Knights of Pythias, at Kenton, Ohio. In addition to his other interests he is agent for the firm of Knox & Morehead, fire insurance, at New Castle.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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