Ephraim Slaughter (aka Ephraim Newsome) - Born: January 17, 1846 - Died: February 17, 1943

Mr. Slaughter was born enslaved in Ahoskie, Herford County, North Carolina, enslaved by James Newsome on his plantation. James Eley Newsome, a slaver built his house in the 1820's-1830's, records show he enslaved fifteen Black people and owned over 1,000 acres of land by the 1850's. The plantation was also known as Wynnewood Plantation.

In 1863, Mr. Slaughter escaped slavery and found refuge in a Union Army enclave along the North Carolina coast. He served under an assumed name, Ephraim Newsome, for three years with what would become the 37th USCT. In 1869, Slaughter, by then using the name of his slave owner, moved to Harrisburg, Pa.
He worked in the legendary Lochiel Hotel near the Capitol, where pols smoked their cigars and made their deals. He owned property. He co-founded the A.M.E. Zion Church on N. 6th Street and he was active in the Grand Army of the Republic, the powerful organization for Union Civil War veterans.
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Mr. Slaughter was married twice, first in 1880 to a South Carolina woman named Carrie. That marriage lasted until her death in 1935. By then, in his old age, he made a fond but practical match with Georgiana Williams Mitchell, a widow 43 years his junior. She was an entrepreneur whose ventures included a boardinghouse for traveling African Americans blocked from registering at Whites-only hotels. They agreed that she would take care of him, and he would leave her his property.

Slaughter died on Feb. 17, 1943, at the age of 97 and was buried with military honors in Lincoln Cemetery in Penbrook. He had asked to be buried there next to Carrie and his brother, Dave. Georgiana honored that request.
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Many Threads
Slaughter’s story came to the attention of the National Civil War Museum when CEO Wayne E. Motts contacted historian Calobe Jackson, Jr., through the Historical Society of Dauphin County.

The museum had always wanted an installation featuring an African American soldier—not a generic figure, but “an African American soldier we could wrap a story around,” says Motts. Jackson said, “I think I have just the person.”

The exhibit, unveiled in late May (2015), features a lifelike figure of the elderly Slaughter in his GAR uniform. Slaughter’s long life provides the fabric for sharing many threads of the African American experience before, during and after the Civil War, says Motts.

About 200,000 African Americans served in the Army and Navy, but their tales rarely take center stage. Slaughter’s life “allows us to put a local face and local story to reach to the community at large,” he says.
For instance, enlisting in the Army wasn’t as easy as taking a pledge at a hometown recruitment center.

“This man had to escape slavery first,” says Motts. “Then he fought in the Union Army. Overcoming these obstacles is another story you can tell the young folks here. And becoming a bright, productive and well-known member of the community after the Civil War, that’s also a good story.”

Even Slaughter’s active membership in the GAR illuminates “a very powerful lobbying group and advocacy group for veterans’ affairs right after the Civil War.”

“If you were the president, if you were the governor, if you were a congressman, if you were a senator, you better listen to the folks in the GAR,” says Motts.
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Ahead of Their Time
Much of Slaughter’s story comes from the genealogical research of Sharonn Williams, Slaughter’s great-granddaughter by virtue of his marriage to Georgiana. Preserving his memory is crucial, “especially in the African American community, where kids are so disconnected from their history,” says Williams.

“They don’t know each other and don’t know their history or where they came from,” she says. “Ephraim’s story was someone who was born into circumstances that nobody should be born into—nobody—and he was somebody who turned that around, who flipped the scales. He went out in the world and made just what of it he could.”

Williams’ mother, J. Yvonne Mitchell Pittman, is Georgiana’s granddaughter. She has faint memories of her gentle, quiet grandpop. Walks to the corner tavern, where Slaughter would have a glass of port wine with the owner. Riding in Memorial Day parades and selling poppies. Her grandparents “had an understanding,” Pittman says.

“He valued her for her strength, and he trusted her,” she says. “He respected her. I think they were way ahead of their time.”

From his escape from slavery to his “coming north and making it work for him,” Slaughter was a wonder, says Pittman.

“What man that was a slave owns all the houses he acquired? I don’t know how he did that. I admire the things he did. I know my grandmother would be happy about the honor.”

At his death, Slaughter left property worth a substantial $10,000 to Georgiana. In his later years, he was often honored as one of the rapidly vanishing connections to the Civil War.

His photo appeared in newspapers, and he was chief marshal for Harrisburg’s 1941 Memorial Day parade, with fellow veteran John Barton who served as chief of staff. They were, as a newspaper wrote, “both negroes.”

In 1938, Slaughter was invited to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s dedication of the Peace Memorial at Gettysburg. He and Barton were chauffeured to Gettysburg, but African Americans were barred from any part of the ceremony involving interaction with White Americans.

When blue and gray came together, shaking hands in brotherhood, Slaughter and Barton were not there.
Ephraim Slaughter thrived despite the era’s overt racism, says great-granddaughter Williams. He gave to the community, and the community gave back, honoring his service and providing comfort in his old age.
The latest honor, bestowed through the Civil War Museum exhibit, shows that he was meant to be remembered, she says.

“My great-grandmother is smiling because she made an agreement to take care of him, and now we’re preserving his memory.”
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The National Civil War Museum is located at 1 Lincoln Circle, Harrisburg.

Article Source: The burg News - published July 31, 2015 | by M. Diane McCormick
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Below is some of the genealogical research of Sharonn Williams, Slaughter’s great-granddaughter did that was a part of the Exhibition, 100 Voices of the Commonwealth Monument Project, a project of the International Institute for Peace through Tourism, sponsored by the Foundation for Enhancing Community and supported by a Council of Independent Colleges Humanities for the Public Good grant.

My Contribution: I escaped slavery, and served God, country, and mankind.

My Legacy: I was the last Civil War survivor in Harrisburg, PA. I owned multiple properties and cemetery plots in Harrisburg; served in the American Legion in Harrisburg; and bequeathed my estate to my widow and her descendants. My statue is on display in an exhibit at the National Civil War Museum in Reservoir Park, Harrisburg. The Ephraim Slaughter Legion Post #733 was named after me.

My Currency Today: Adjusted for inflation, my estate of $10,000.00 in 1943 would be valued at $148,754.91 today.

Memorable Quotes: “Georgiana and Ephraim Slaughter are both admired for sacrifice and accomplishment, but also for their audacious shared vision to join forces to control their own narrative. They lived the balance of their lives with dignity and companionship, and in time left this world on their own terms and as a more compassionate place than they found it.” (Dr. Sharonn L. Williams, great grand daughter)

Full Name: Ephraim Slaughter (aka Ephraim Newsome)

Birth Date: January 17, 1846

Death Date: February 17, 1943

Place of Birth: Ahoskie, Hertford County, North Carolina

Gravesite: Lincoln Cemetery, Penbrook, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

Sex: Male

Race: African American (Negro, Colored, Black)

Known Places of Residence: Ahoskie, Hertford County, NC (1860 Slave Schedule); 257 Elm Street, Ward 8, Harrisburg (1880); 903 Grand Street, Ward 5, Harrisburg, PA (1900-1930); 612 Briggs Street, Ward 6, Harrisburg (1935); 903 Capital Street, Ward 5, Harrisburg (1940)

Connection to the Old Eighth Ward: Was a real estate investment mentor to peers; used personal properties to shelter family and visitors on short and long-term basis; modeled Christian and philanthropic principles as a community member and local socialite.

Family Members:

Spouse: M1 (16): Caroline “Carrie” Grunis (nee Grunis) – b. South Carolina 1852 – m. 1868-1935 = 67 years.

Spouse: M2 (48): Georgianna Mitchell (nee Williams) – b. WV 1889 – m. 1937-1943 = 5 ½ years

Brother: David Slaughter – escaped the NC plantation and relocated to Harrisburg with Ephraim after the war – died 1892 – is buried with Carrie and Ephraim in Lincoln Cemetery family plot; Sister-in-Law: Caroline (David’s widow); Niece: Catherine (David’s daughter) – Harrisburg, PA Note: His niece Catherine married John Gaines and relocated to Blair County with only child/son.

Brother: Isaac Newsome – Ahoskie, NC – died in 1921 – twice married – had two children (John and Eleanor) with first wife – fourteen grandchildren, two of whom (Dora Peele, Virginia Hart) visited Ephraim and Georgiana in Harrisburg in 1937, according to a diary/journal entry.
No Children
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Education: No formal education

Occupations: Laborer and Hotel Employee

Church Membership: Bethel AME Church – Harrisburg, PA – member from 1868-1946.

Activism: Last Civil War survivor in Harrisburg, PA; member of the David R. Stevens Post #520 of the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic); Lodge #826 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF); elected to honorary VFW membership; honored guest at President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s dedication of the Peace Memorial on the Gettysburg battlefield in 1938; Marshall of several local holiday parades.

Connections to 100 Voices: Ephraim was well known as a veteran of the Civil War; church member and trustee at Bethel AME Church; assisted in securing financing to pay-off the church deed; property owner, landlord, socialite, informal financial advisor and mentor.