Shadrack F. Slatter
Shadrack Fluellen Slatter | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date |
| Died | July 5, 1861 (aged 62) |
| Occupation(s) | Slave trader, entrepreneur, real estate developer, landlord, railroad director |
| Years active | 1830s–1861 |
| Known for | Slave trading in the 1830s–1840s; real estate development in New Orleans; financial backing of William Walker’s filibuster expedition to Nicaragua |
Shadrack Fluellen Slatter (December 13, 1798 – July 5, 1861), commonly referenced as S. F. Slatter and later known by the title Col. Slatter, was a prominent 19th-century American slave trader and entrepreneur. During the 1830s and 1840s, he collaborated with his elder brother Hope H. Slatter in the coastal slave trade, acquiring enslaved individuals in Baltimore for resale in New Orleans. This interstate commerce model typically involved purchasing slaves in the Upper South and marketing them in the Lower South. After exiting the retail slave market, Slatter transitioned into real estate development and property management within New Orleans. In the late 1850s, he played a pivotal role in funding and supporting William Walker’s filibuster expedition to Nicaragua, which sought to extend U.S. slaveholding territory; a military installation there, Fort Slatter, was named in his honor.
Biography
Originating from Old Clinton, Georgia, Slatter was engaged in slave trading by 1832, advertising a stock of Georgia slaves available for sale in East Macon. In 1833, he and his brother marketed approximately 200 slaves in Hamburg, South Carolina—a critical trading hub for Georgia planters due to restrictions on direct slave imports into Georgia. Hamburg was known for its large facilities where enslaved persons were exhibited and confined under severe conditions.
In February 1837, Slatter sold a 25-year-old enslaved man named Tildman, who had been purchased in Maryland, for $1,100 to a buyer from Louisiana. Around 1840, Slatter operated a New Orleans slave trading establishment located at Moreau (later Chartres) and Esplanade streets, part of a network of slave markets near the French Quarter. His business involved maintaining a “showroom” of enslaved individuals sourced from mid-Atlantic states for sale to southern purchasers. Among his notable clients was planter James H. Hammond. He transferred ownership of this enterprise to Walter L. Campbell in 1848; contemporaries J. M. Wilson and Joseph Bruin also conducted trade at this venue.
By 1850, Slatter's residence was recorded as the City Hotel in New Orleans with his occupation listed as trader. By the late 1850s, he had established himself as a prosperous landlord owning both the City Hotel and New Orleans Arcade—properties that generated approximately $40,000 annually through rent. In 1859, he was appointed director of the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad, signaling his growing involvement in diversified business ventures.
The 1860 census lists Slatter still residing at the City Hotel with his profession noted as capitalist. His assets included $500,000 in real estate and $120,000 in personal property, highlighting considerable wealth accumulated through real estate investments following his departure from the slave trade.
Death and estate
Slatter passed away in Mississippi on July 5, 1861. He was unmarried at his time of death. His nephew, Hope H. Slatter Jr., aged 18, served as the informant on his death certificate filed in New Orleans. Records of Slatter’s estate succession are maintained within Orleans parish archives and remained subject to legal proceedings as late as 1873.
Invasion of Nicaragua
In April 1856, Slatter endorsed an open letter addressed to Pierre Soulé requesting information regarding the “Central American question” and the goals of American supporters involved in Nicaragua. According to Filibusters and Financiers (1916), on August 28, 1856, an official decree authorized a loan of $500,000 secured by one million acres of Nicaraguan public land. Slatter and M. Pilcher from New Orleans were designated agents responsible for negotiating this loan and marketing these lands, with interest payments managed through the Bank of Louisiana. These bonds represented the sole issuance by Walker’s regime.
Fort Slatter—named after Slatter due to his substantial financial backing—served as a strategic base during the Lockridge Expedition approximately twenty miles downstream from Castillo. Slatter personally invested $40,000 into Walker’s Nicaraguan venture and remained an unwavering supporter.
In July 1857, Slatter accompanied Walker on a fundraising mission to Richmond, Virginia, aimed at garnering southern backing. By October that year, reports indicated that Slatter was actively financing efforts and recruiting troops for Walker’s forces bound for Nicaragua.
Following Walker’s arrest by federal marshals in November 1857, both Soulé and Slatter posted a $2,000 bond; Walker subsequently absconded before trial. More than three decades later, in 1890, Slatter’s nephew Hope H. Slatter II fulfilled this financial obligation by paying $300 to the U.S. government.
See also
Sources
Further reading
- – S.F. Slatter was present while H.H. Slatter was absent during abolitionist Oliver Johnson’s 1840 visit to the Slatter slave jail in Baltimore