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Slade, John Palmer, president of the Laurel Lake Cotton Mills. was born in Somerset, Mass., November 13, 1824,
a lineal descendant of Edward Slade, who came from Wales to Newport, R. I., with the early settlers of that colony.
William, son ot Edward, settled at Slade's Ferry in 1680, and was the founder of the Slade family of Somerset.
The father of John P. died when the son was three years old, and his mother when he was fourteen. He went to live
in the family of Capt. Robert Gibbs, a farmer of Somerset. He obtained his education in the schools of his native
town and at Myers Academy at Warren. R. I. Having been thrown upon his own resources in his youth he early acquired
a spirit of self reliance, and by his energy and perseverance soon acquired a reputation among his associates for
enterprise and correct business methods. He entered upon his prosperous career in 1841 at Fall River as a clerk
in a grocery and drug store. Eight months later he went to Georgetown, South Carolina, where he engaged for a few
months as a clerk, then as partner with his cousin, F. P. Cummings. They were cotton dealers and general merchants.
Two years later Mr. Slade purchased his partner's interest, settled up the business and returned to Fall River
where he has since resided. During the next seven years he served as clerk and conductor for the Fall River (now
the Old Colony) Railroad Company: from 1855 to 1858 he was a clerk and salesman for Hale Remington, general commission
merchant. In 1858 he engaged in the wholesale commission and insurance business and has continued it with success
ever since that date. In 1879 Mr. Slade associated with himself his eldest son, Leonard N. Slade, under the firm
name of John P. Slade & Son. As the cotton manufacturing industry began to develop in New England, Mr. Slade,
with other progressive citizens, recognized the admirable facilities afforded by the water power of Fall River
and gave encouraging support to all new enterprises for the manufacture of cotton goods. In 1863 he was one of
the original subscribers to the Granite Mills corporation, which was organized in his office and in which he served
as director. When the Davol Mills were organized in 1867 he became one of the directors; he assisted in establishing
the Shove Mills in 1872 and was made a director and the first treasurer; he also served as president of this corporation
from 1875 to 1880. For several years he was a director of the Weetamoe Mills and since 1881 has been president
of the Laurel Lake Mills. In all of these enterprises Mr. Slade has displayed marked executive and administrative
ability. For a period of forty years he filled the position of secretary of the Five Cents Savings Bank, an institution
that has been of the greatest usefulness to the city and now carries deposits to the amount of nearly $4,000,000.
Since 1865 he has served as a director of the Fall River National Bank, the oldest financial institution in the
city. In politics he is a Republican. In every position he has filled and in all the corporations with which he
has been connected Mr. Slade has displayed energy, enterprise and good judgment.
From:
Our county and its people
A descriptive and biographical history of
Bristol County, Massachusetts
Prepaired and published under the auspices of
The Fall River News and The Taunton Gasette
With assistance of Hon. Alanson Borden
The Boston History Company, Publishers, 1899.
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