My Genealogy Hound

THOMAS SLADE, attorney-at-law, Bloomington; was born in fall River, Mass., in March 1834; he was of Quaker parentage, all of his ancestors for generations back being of that religious faith; he received his preliminary education before entering college, at the Fall River high school and at Friends’ Seminary, Providence, R. I.; in 1856, he entered the regular collegiate course of Brown University, in the city of Providence, which course he finished in three years. After graduation, he remained in the institution as a resident graduate for some months; in March, 1860, he started for the West; he landed in St. Louis in the same month, and at once entered upon the study of the law, being at the same time employed as a deputy in the United States Circuit Clerk’s office in St. Louis; after a few months, in order to devote his entire time to his studies, he abandoned this position and entered the law office of Knox, Smith & Sedgewick; Mr. Slade continued his law studies until December, 1862, before applying for admission to the bar, at which time he was admitted to the bar of St. Louis, and at once entered upon the practice of his profession in that city. Just at this time, the troubles incident to the rebellion were convulsing the city of St. Louis, composed of so many conflicting elements and factions arising out of the great questions at stake, and Mr. Slade united with the National Guards, a regiment which was at that time kept on duty in the city, at intervals standing guard over prisons and other duty in that vicinity; being engaged in this service, the work of his profession was considerably interrupted, but he continued to practice as opportunity allowed and was building up a substantial and rapidly-growing business. In 1864, he was a candidate for City Attorney before the Republican convention of St. Louis; five candidates were before the convention, but the contest was finally reduced to that between Mr. Slade and a Mr. Stewart, the latter a one-armed soldier, the latter receiving the nomination after a vigorous fight, by a very small majority; no more fitting compliment could have been paid to a young man, who arrived a stranger in the city four years before, than the flattering support he received in that convention. In 1865, Mr. Slade decided to leave St. Louis, though regretting to leave the thriving business he had already established; but, having gone from a cool coast climate, he was never satisfied with the warm sultry climate of the St. Louis region, and for this sole reason he left and came to Bloomington in quest of a cooler and more bracing climate; he at once effected a partnership with Mr. W. M. Hatch, who was then one of the longest resident attorneys of the place, the firm being styled Hatch & Slade; in 1872, this firm was dissolved; in 1879, he formed a partnership with Mr. H. E. Hadley, who is a young man with very flattering prospects for success; he is a graduate of the Chicago College of Law. Mr. Slade, in 1879, was appointed a member of the State Board of Education.