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Thomas Edmond SLAWSON

Male 1849 - 1918  (69 years)


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  • Name Thomas Edmond SLAWSON  [2, 3] 
    • Thomas Slawson. Those economists and philosophers who have given the most thorough study to American problems and whose judgment deserves the highest consideration have frequently pointed out in recent years that the greatest and primary need of the country is more and better production from the land, rather than in the increase of commercial and industrial activities. For many years to come, say these scholars, American soil must produce not merely a sufficiency to supply the needs of our own country, but for the markets abroad. Since the area and resources of the United States are now thoroughly known, are not capable of continued expansion, the solution of the problem seems to rest upon more intensive cultivation, the making of one acre yield more than it has ever done before and the general improvement of the quality of the products, and this is exactly what the foremost agriculturists are doing and what the prominent agricultural associations are advocating. The slogan of the Missouri State Corn Growers' Association is '-'increase the yield, improve the quality."
      In Northwest Missouri one of the best exponents of this new philosophy of intensive cultivation and of better quality is Thomas Slawson, of Rea, Andrew County. Mr. Slawson is one of the vice presidents of the Missouri State Corn Growers' Association, and is known over all the corn belt as the prize winner in the production of seed corn. His farm in section 28 of Platte Township is known as the Edgewood Seed Farm, and its products have been exhibited at hundreds of corn shows and agricultural fairs, have gained ribbons and prizes by the dozen and hundreds, and samples of the Slawson corn have been admired and inspected by thousands. While it is a most creditable occupation to grow the products of the field to supply the needs of direct consumption, it is a business many degrees higher in importance to supply the grain that can be used by hundreds of other farmers to plant their fields. That is the life work of Thomas Slawson, an Ohio man, who came into Andrew County a little over thirty years ago and has since made himself a factor in the development and progress of the great corn belt of the Middle West.
      Thomas Slawson was born in Delaware County, Ohio, July 8, 1849, a son of Samuel and Ellen (Grant) Slawson. His father was born in New York and his mother in Rhode Island, grew up in Ohio and was married in that state. The mother died in Delaware County in 1900 at the age of sixty-four, and the father spent the last six years of his life with his son Thomas in Andrew County, dying in 1907 at the age of eighty-four. He was a farmer by general vocation, and also for a number of years dealt in lumber and walnut logs. He was also a great lover of horses and stock cattle, and in the early part of his career had bought and shipped stock from the Middle West to Buffalo and New York. There were just two children in the family, Thomas and Alice, the latter the wife of I. M. Spohn of Whitesville.
      Thomas Slawson was reared in Ohio, received his education there, and in 1880 came out to Missouri and located at Rosendale. Two years later he established his home on his present farm, which comprises 585 acres, all of it in one body except 120 acres. The land is, as a matter of course, in the highest state of development, and Mr. Slawson has taken great care to conserve and improve the resources of the land and make them in the highest degree efficient for his purposes. While his business as a raiser of seed corn is perhaps of primary importance, he also keeps a large herd of stock, chiefly Shorthorn cattle. He is a man of original mind. He attended fairs and shows all over the Middle West that Mr. Slawson's name is most widely known. He has been one of the prominent exhibitors at the National Corn Show in Omaha for several years. In 1909 he won a prize of $100 on a single ear of corn at Des Moines, in a contest open to the world, and against about three thousand rivals for the prize. In 1908 he won first premium on yellow and white corn, and in 1909 his exhibit received the first premiums in the Missouri class at the National Corn Show in Omaha. He won two firsts at Columbia in the Missouri State Corn Show, one on the acre yield and the other on ten ears of white corn. At Dallas, Texas, in 1914, the first prize was given to the Slawson exhibit of oats. He also won two first premiums at the Sedalia State Fair, one each for yellow and white corn, in 1913, including the grand champion prize on corn.
      Also in 1913 he was given two first premiums and champion prize at the St. Joseph Interstate Fair. He has taken many other champion and sweepstake prizes, and has exhibited at more than two hundred fairs and shows. He has more than three hundred ribbons as proof of the honors won by his exhibits. Mr. Slawson sells seed corn all over the corn belt, and in this way disposes of about a thousand bushels annually, all of it raised in his own fields and commanding prices of from $2.50 to $5 per bushel. One year Mr. Slawson paid out more than three hundred dollars in order to buy back from the different fairs and shows his own exhibits, in order to carry them on to other fairs. During one year his cash premiums aggregated $350.
      Besides the numerous ribbons which have been bestowed on his exhibits, Mr. Slawson also has three trophy cups and two gold medals, the latter being awarded at Omaha, one in 1908 and the other in 1909. In order to hold the cups he had to win three consecutive times, and these cups are now in his permanent possession.
      Mr. Slawson is a director of the Savannah Agricultural and Mechanical Society, and has been an assistant superintendent since its organization. He has been an important factor and one of the vice presidents for several years of the. Missouri Corn Growers' Association. It is a matter of interest to note that some of the products from Mr. Slawson's fields were selected as part of the Missouri corn exhibit for the San Francisco Exposition of 1915. While he has done much along these lines to stimulate larger yields and better farming methods, he does not stop short of what he accomplishes through his own products, but lends his voice and argument wherever possible to better farming methods and especially to better stock. In his home community he has always been a public spirited worker for improvements. For three years he served as road overseer in his district, and the roads were kept in such excellent condition during that time that photographs were taken of them for exhibits in other places. Mr. Slawson has furnished grain from his farm for class work in the Maryville Normal, the Savannah High School and also the agricultural school at the State University.
      In 1882 Mr. Slawson married Agnes Heaverlo. She was born in Delaware County, Ohio, July 13, 1853, a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Eakelbery) Heaverlo. Both her parents were natives of Ohio and in the fall of 1880 came to Andrew County and spent the rest of their lives on a farm near Rosendale. Mr. and Mrs. Slawson are the parents of eight children.
      Source: A history of northwest Missouri, Volume 3; Edited by Walter Williams; Publ. 1915; Pgs. 1779-1780; Transcribed and submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack]

      [1]
    Birth 08 Jun 1849  Delaware County, Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location  [2] 
    Birth 08 Jul 1849  Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location  [4] 
    Gender Male 
    Census 1850  Living with parents in Brown, Delaware Co., Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location  [5] 
    Census 1860  Living with mother in Brown, Delaware Co., Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location  [6] 
    Census 1870  Living with parents in Brown, Delaware Co., Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location  [7] 
    Census 1880  Living with parents in Brown, Delaware Co., Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location  [8] 
    Census 1900  Living in Platte, Andrew Co., Missouri Find all individuals with events at this location  [9] 
    Census 1910  Living in Platte, Andrew Co., Missouri Find all individuals with events at this location  [10] 
    Death 08 Nov 1918  Whitesville, Missouri Find all individuals with events at this location  [2, 4] 
    Person ID I52342  Main Tree
    Last Modified 21 Jul 2020 

    Father Samuel Smith SLAWSON,   b. Sep 1821, Vega, Delaware County, New York Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 27 Aug 1907, Whitesville, Missouri Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 85 years) 
    Relationship Birth 
    Mother Ellen E. GRANT,   b. 3 Apr 1828, Providence County, Rhode Island Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 14 Sep 1893, Waldo, Marion County, Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 65 years) 
    Relationship Birth 
    Family ID F20667  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Agnes Jane HEAVERLO,   b. 13 Jul 1855, Delaware County, Ohio Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 17 Mar 1928, Whitesville, Andrew Co., Missouri Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 72 years) 
    Marriage 07 Mar 1877  Rosendale, Missouri Find all individuals with events at this location  [2] 
    Children 
     1. Wesley Edmond SLAWSON,   b. 15 Oct 1880, Rosendale, Missouri Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 5 Feb 1966, Union Star, Dekalb County, Missouri Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 85 years)  [Birth]
     2. Frederick Samuel SLAWSON,   b. 27 Oct 1881, Whitesville, Missouri Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 02 Oct 1902, Whitesville, Missouri Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 20 years)  [Birth]
     3. Grover Cleveland SLAWSON,   b. 17 Oct 1884, Rea, Andrew Co., Missouri Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1957, Nebraska Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 72 years)  [Birth]
     4. Nellie Estelle SLAWSON,   b. 07 Mar 1886, Whitesville, Missouri Find all individuals with events at this locationd. May 1970 (Age 84 years)  [Birth]
     5. Nettie Clara SLAWSON,   b. 22 Mar 1889, Whitesville, Missouri Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Feb 1975, Union Star, Dekalb County, Missouri Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 85 years)  [Birth]
     6. Bessie Ellen SLAWSON,   b. 6 Apr 1895, Whitesville, Andrew Co., Missouri Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 19 Nov 1967, St. Joseph, Buchanan Co., Missouri Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 72 years)  [Birth]
     7. Ruby Elizabeth SLAWSON,   b. 07 Dec 1894, Whitesville, Missouri Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 05 Oct 1935, Rea, Andrew Co., Missouri Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 40 years)  [Birth]
     8. Harry Edmond SLAWSON,   b. 05 May 1896, Whitesville, Andrew Co., Missouri Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 23 Jan 1955, Angels Camp, Calaveras Co., California Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 58 years)  [Birth]
    Family ID F20669  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 21 Jul 2020 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 08 Jun 1849 - Delaware County, Ohio Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsCensus - 1850 - Living with parents in Brown, Delaware Co., Ohio Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsCensus - 1870 - Living with parents in Brown, Delaware Co., Ohio Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsCensus - 1880 - Living with parents in Brown, Delaware Co., Ohio Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Sources 
    1. [S8768] Missouri Genealogy Trails - Andrew County Biographies.

    2. [S03336] Slason-Slauson-Slawson-Slosson Family by George C. Slawson dated 1946.

    3. [S02129] Death Certificate for Ruby Elizabeth Slawson.

    4. [S02138] Death Certificate for Thomas Edmond Slawson.

    5. [S7988] 1850 Census Brown, Delaware County, Ohio.

    6. [S7989] 1860 Census Brown, Delaware County, Ohio.

    7. [S8141] 1870 Census Brown, Delaware County, Ohio.

    8. [S11765] 1880 Census Brown, Delaware County, Ohio.

    9. [S11766] 1900 Census Platte, Andrew County, Missouri.

    10. [S11767] 1910 Census Platte, Andrew County, Missouri.


  

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