The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1892-01-20
Obituary..

SLoCUM,-A more than ordinary sadness
characterzes the affliction that has fallen
with crushing weight upon the surviving
members of the family of the late Alanson
NJ Slocum of Berlin On the morning of
December 81 Mr.. Slocum suddenly passed
away, yielding finally to a complication of
diseases. Mr.. Slocum was found dead in his
bed and at the time his wife and son Irv-
ing, who manages the farm, were both pros
trated with the grip Mrs.Slocum illness
intensified by the severe shock occasioned
by her husbands unexpected death soon
assumed a serious form, resulting in pneu-
monia, and finally terminating in her de-
mise on January q. Thus in the short space
of one week the kind father and loving
mother were laid side by side in the Gem.
etery at Berlin Corners, and six children
were left to deeply mourn their loss The
ages OF the deceased were sXty-siX and
SlXty-two years respectively. Mr.. Slocum
was So widely known that few words
relating to his life history are considered
proper in this connection. For several wears
previous to and during the late war he was
railroad contractor in the Western coun.
try, his residence at different periods, be.
ing at LaSalle, Woodstock and Greenwood
Ill. During the time he was engaged in
railroading he built and graded over tLir-
teen hundred miles of road, requiring an
annual expenditure of over one million five
hundred thousand dollars in the onstruc.
ton, and managed several thousand labor
ers, all of whom learned to love and respect
him for his kind demeanor, business qualiti-
cations, and sterling integrity. He pos.
sessed the happy faculty of making friends
wherever his lot was cast and If he had an
enemy it was not from his own choosing
He had pleasant word for all, and a
hearty welcome greeted every person
who crossed his threshold. Politically.
he WAS a staunch republican, and took
deep interest III everything pertaining
IN il l~fx R..tfN
possessing very retentive memory, he
was well informed concerning the most i'm
portant events OF the countrys history
While in active business life, at one time
being in the mail service, mostly in Califor.
mia, he naturally came in contact with many
noted men who have largely figured at the
head of the government, and often related,
with pardonable pride, his interviews with
them. At one time he was offered
the contractorship of over four hundred
miles OF the Southern Pacific Railroad
but declined on account of failing health
Removing East, he took up his residence in
Berlin, his wifes native town, where he
was engaged in farming until his death,
Ot Mrs. SloCun, whose maiden name was
Julia X, Peck, il can be truthfully said that
None knew her but to love her
None named her but to praise"
Whether as a mere friend or as one more
strongly intimate by reason of close rela.
uOnshlp-as wife, AS mother, as sister-she
was an aifectlonate woman. AS a Chris
tian she was earnest aud faithful and if a
glorious reward awaits those who strive TO
do the will of our Heavenly Father while
III the tiesh we have reason to believe that
she has now received that priceless gift of
lie eternal on the evergreen shore" be-
yond the dark confines of the tomb Her
doubly bereaved children, and her only re-
naming sister and brother, as well as all
those who were favored with her acauaint-
ance here on the earth, may well revere her
memory. And in the sudden and near de-
parture of both husband and wife the words
are applicable; "They were pleasant and
lovabe in their lives, and in their death
they were not long divided"
Zen for the dead will not bind
My soul 10 grief, death cannot long divide;
For is 1t not as II my hlN er had climbed
Its garden wall, and blossomed on the other side?
H.T.P.
New Haven, Conn, January, 1892