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The Slagg Family of Derbyshire, England By Jon S. Berndt
you are visitor # since 29 April 1999
THE
Slagg family name was originally derived as a locale surname,
either from slag, a by-product of mining, or representing
"at the slack", or slag, a place where the road becomes
less steep and eases off. Both slack and slag refer to that point
of the hilltop where the 
stones and the earth begin to
dribble down the slope. Our Slagg family comes from an area just
southeast of Sheffield where coal mining was done. It is the lore
in that area that the first Slagg came from Norway, and that he
did not speak English.
There are several registrations of early variants on the name Slagg:
The name in an old form was first found registered under the spelling of Gerebod le Slac in 1195.
The Coat of Arms for the Slagg family (with variations Slacke, and Slack) is described: Arms, Gules on a bend argent three mullets azure; Crest, A bridge of three arches proper; Motto, Lente sed Caute, meaning: Slowly but surely.
The earliest traceable record discovered so far of our Slagg family dates back to ca. 1600. A child named Charles Slagg was born. In the world he was born into, James I ruled in England and the Jamestown and Plymouth colonies were being settled in the New World. A few years before Charles was born the first attempts by the English to settle the New World had failed. A small colony of 91 men, 17 women, and 9 children was placed on Roanoke Island during three voyages in 1584, 1585, and 1587. In 1591, when a relief expedition arrived from England, all the settlers had disappeared. But in 1607 the first permanent settlement had been established as a sort of commercial venture under a charter from James I. However, things weren't much better for them; out of 900 settlers in Jamestown between 1607 and 1609, only 60 survived.
It is unknown where in England Charles Slagg was born, though
it is likely it was near Eckington, just southeast of Sheffield,
where the later Slagg families made their home for quite some
time. At that time in history travel was not something taken
lightly.
Charles I succeeded to the throne of England in 1625 (not Charles
Slagg). Charles Slagg and his wife had a son, also named Charles,
(it was a popular name, it seems) who was born in 1626. During
this time in England, the Puritans - who were religious activists
vowing to reverse that era's unscrupulous society by imposition
of rigid disciplinarianism - were facing increasing harrassment
from the ruling body, as they were acquiring far more power than
the King was comfortable with. This led to the emigration of
disgruntled Puritans [reportedly, not a single gruntled Puritan
emigrated]. The Mayflower traveled to the New World in 1620. The
pilgrims aboard that boat wanted to similarly leave behind the
unsafe, polluted, and crowded cities of their birth, and start a
new life of pure and simple means. The Puritans began their
exodus from England on 11 ships, numbering 1,000 people in 1630.
By 1642, 18,000 had arrived in the New World. Their intention was
to establish a Christian community with no tolerance for
diversity of opinion in their beliefs. But the time was not yet
right for the Slagg family to stake out a new farm in the New
World.
It is unknown exactly where Charles Jr. was born though, again, one might assume it was close to Eckington.
Near 1648, Charles Jr. had a son, Thomas [see family tree].
Thomas married Miss Jane Cartedge in 1669, and they had children,
including a son named John. The son, John Slagg of Lightwood, was
born in 1695. Near 1722 he married Margaret, and they had three
sons: Joseph, John Jr., and Thomas. John Slagg Jr. was probably
married no later than 1766, as his first child was born in 1767.
He lived in Spinkhill, a small town located southeast of
Sheffield. John later had at least seven children: Thomas, Mary,
John III, Margit, Martha, William, and Hannah. John Slagg Jr.
died in 1803, the same year in which his grandson Henry was born.
Starting with Henry, we know much more about our ancestors lives.
Thomas Slagg, son of John Slagg Jr. was born in 1767. He probably
married at about the turn of the century (ca. 1800). In 1803
Henry was born to Thomas. In 1826 Red Lodge Farm was built near
Spinkhill in Derbyshire. Shortly after, Thomas, at age 59, moved
into Red Lodge Farm with his wife and his sons Henry, Edward,
Joseph, Thomas, and Alex. They were tenant farmers for the Duke
of Devonshire, the largest land owner in England. Red Lodge Farm,
which still stands today, has a very big three story house on the
grounds. It has 8 large bedrooms, four rooms downstairs, and
large underground cellars. The house faces east, and is located
in a hollow. The house was built facing east because the wife of
the builder wanted it to face the woods rather than the road. The
present-day owner, 
Joseph Cranfield, suspects the house is haunted.
"Sometimes you can hear footsteps outside and inside the
house, also bumping and banging on the windows. There as only
been one sighting and that was when a friend some time ago
stopped over night - he fled in the middle of the night, he said
a tall dark figure was standing at the foot of his bed. I did
have an experience myself early one morning: it had just come
light, I could hear footsteps as usual; with footsteps was a very
dark blue mist; it was visible for about 30 seconds and
disappeared out of the farm gates. It was at a time when the farm
was being dug up for coal. I always said the Slaggs did not
approve . . . . ." [The Cranfield family took over the farm
duties in 1921. In 1951 Joseph Cranfield's mother bought the farm
from the Duke of Devonshire who sold it due to tax problems
related to two closely timed deaths in the Devonshire family. Red
Lodge Farm had been tended by the Slagg family until 1921, when
the bachelor Thomas Slagg, the grandson of the above mentioned
Thomas Slagg, died. ] 
The Slaggs worked the farm, maybe even had some
hired hands or fellow tenants. They raised dairy cows and beef
cattle. Corn was grown as well. The house, the original barns,
and the holding pens form a courtyard. The first Slaggs probably
raised crops in some enclosed areas for personal use. Originally
the farm itself was about 200 acres. One of the young women at
the home in the year 1831, tradition has it she was a servant in
the household, was 25 year old Elizabeth Parker, the daughter of
Joseph and Frances Parker of Dronfield, a town about 10 miles to
the west of Red Lodge Farm. Elizabeth caught the eye of Henry
Slagg and on Christmas Eve in 1832, they were wed in Dronfield.
Henry and Elizabeth's fourth son was Joseph Slagg [the author's great-grandfather], born at Red Lodge Farm in 1839. Henry and Elizabeth had at least ten children in all: John, Harriet, Thomas, Alex, Joseph, Arnold, Frederick William, Margaret, Henry, and Edward .
In the spring of 1849 three of the sons of Thomas Slagg: Henry, Edward, and Joseph all began to pack up their things and plan for their move to America. This decision must have been carefully considered. They knew the trip to Liverpool alone would have been difficult enough for the families and their young children. Henry and Elizabeth then had nine children (little Edward never made it to America, either staying behind or dying before they arrived in America) ranging in age from 2 years old to 18 years old. But if the six to eight week journey they made across the Atlantic in an overcrowded sailboat is considered, as well as the arrival in New York, the journey through the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes, the arrival in Milwaukee and the journey across the Old Madison Trail, and finally arriving in the small township of Albion almost three months after they left, one might almost begin to grasp the full depth and forethought that decision would have required.
We can gather a little about the lives of Henry and Elizabeth from remarks made by their grandson, Harold Slagg, at the Albion Cemetery in Wisconsin on July 22 1972:
"This is sacred soil on which we assemble today. This is the final resting place of Henry and Elizabeth Parker Slagg, the grandparents of us all. In middle life these two persons emigrated from England to Wisconsin in 1849.
With them came their nine children ranging in age from John, 18, to Henry, 2 years of age - your grandfather. To be uprooted in middle years seeking settlement in a new open country was no small undertaking.
Why did they do it?
There is a tradition that Henry married Elizabeth,who was a servant girl in the household. Because of this he lost caste and to escape blame he migrated to the United States. Doubt about this tradition is supported by two considerations. First, two other brothers emigrated in the same year. It is not likely that all three had lost standing in the family. Second if Henry (your great-grandfather) had lost caste he would not have endured it for 20 years before shipping out to the New World.
A more likely reason is that he sought cheaper land for his growing family [Authors note: this is a reasonable assumption which will be supported in a letter from Henry Slagg to his son Henry which is presented later on]. Great Britain was in the midst of the industrial revolution. People were crowding into the cities. Land prices were rising rapidly. This made it increasingly hard to buy enough land to support a large growing family.
Because of industrial conditions child labor was common in the cities. This, Henry could not accept. But it was either this, or get more land. To do the latter it was necessary to pull up the stakes and emigrate to the United States. This they did in 1849. None of that generation ever saw England again.
As was common with the Anglo-Saxons they established a home. The next thing was to organize a church. But, more important for the general welfare was the ordering of justice and law. The concept of law was not to oppress but to define the relationships of man to man and of group to group. It was not to restrain so much as to set men free. Henry and Elizabeth supported this tradition. We must not let it die.
The second tradition of the family was its relationship to the soil. For several generations the family had been farmers. They accepted the first commission of God given a man. Before a priest, prophet, or preacher had been ordained, man had been "put in the Garden of Eden to till it and care for it". - Genesis 2:15.
No enduring civilization has ever been put together that did not have great agriculture. The management of soil is the living stream of all good life. It is basic. The general trend of the family has been agriculture. This was one of the contributions of Henry and Elizabeth to the New World.
So we honor them and the members of their family who are interred in this cemetery. We are proud of their courage. Their fortitude in the turmoil of trial and their sense of responsibility in public affairs is an inspiration to all of us today."
From Derbyshire, England in May of 1849, Henry, Elizabeth, and their nine children sold what they couldn't take, settled partnerships with family, packed up their things, and went to Liverpool on the western coast of England. As the first steam rail line began in 1830, operating between Manchester and Liverpool, and the route between Sheffield and Manchester being completed around 1846, it is probable that the Slaggs traveled to Liverpool by rail.
Travel by rail was quite an experience, as described by a passenger of the day:
"At six o'clock we were all on our way to the much talked of railhead. On reaching this office, as soon as you have paid your fare, you are commanded to walk upstairs to the coach rooms. Reaching the top, there you behold a range of coaches of large dimension fastened close to each other. Some are closed like our Leeds coach, and others are open on the sides - in order to have a view of the country, as I thought, and of their manner of proceeding. We all took our place in an open one . . . Before starting I took a survey of all around, first placing my little ones safe. The steam carriage which propels each train is something like a distilling wagon and have each a name of no inviting character, for instance, Fury, Victory, Rapid, Vulcan, Tiger, and so on. A few minutes after we started, not very fast at first, but in less than five minutes, off we went like a shot from a gun. No sooner did we come to a field than it was a mile behind us, but this was nothing in comparison with meeting a long train of carriages from Liverpool. I was never so frightened in my life than at this moment; I shrank back completely horrified in my seat; I do not think the train was more than two seconds in passing, yet it was as long as Holywell Hill. We were going at a full 34 miles an hour, consequently they passed us at double that time. It is impossible to form any idea of the rapidity of moving. Several other trains passed us, but as I was aware of their approach they no longer alarmed me as at first. The first 17 miles we went in 32 minutes. I am much disappointed in the view of the country, the railway being cut through so many hills you have frequently for miles only clay mounds on each side of you - consequently no splendid prospect can attract your attention. Even when the railway is on a bridge or at an elevation above the usual track of land, you are not charmed by that diversity of prospect which is to be met within ordinary stage coach travelling. That has a decided superiority over this new work of man . . . Previous to entering Liverpool you go through a dark, black, vile abominable tunnel 300 yards long, which has all the horrors of banishment from life - such a hole as I never wish to go through again."
[The first fatality associated with travel by rail occurred on the Manchester to Liverpool route. A former Parliament member was riding on the front of the train and fell onto the tracks, being run over by the train in the process. This happened in about 1836.]
From the time the Slaggs left Derbyshire, their
lives were not peaceful or free from stress or excitement for
many years.