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Grave marker for Jacob Slusher (son of Christopher Slusher, Sr.), located in Jacob Slusher Cemetery, just off Laurel Branch Road.

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Slushers having 20th biennial reunion July 20

The twentieth biennial reunion of the descendants of Christopher Slusher, Sr. (1757-1845), will be held at the VFW Park in Floyd on Sunday, July 20, 2008.  The doors to the VFW Hall will open at 10 a.m.; a potluck lunch will begin at 12:30 p.m. A short business meeting of the Slusher Family Organization will be held at approximately 1:30 p.m. The balance of the afternoon will be for visiting, sharing family memorabilia and stories, and socializing with out-of-state relatives or neighbors discovered to be relatives!

Everyone interested in examining some of the organization’s wealth of genealogy information, or who would simply welcome an interesting and enjoyable reunion, is invited to attend. 

No one has to be a dues-paying organization member in order to attend the reunion.  Anyone desiring to become a member may send biennial dues of only $5.00 per family to Alice H. Hollandsworth, Treasurer, 960 Horse Ridge Road, NW, Willis, VA 24380.

Christopher Slusher, Sr., the settler ancestor of most of the Slushers in Floyd County, was the youngest son of the German immigrant Peter Schlosser, who came to America through the port of Philadelphia in 1732 on the ship, the Dragon. The inscription on Peter’s grave marker in the old Reformed churchyard in Sharpsburg, MD, (see picture) is in German. It reads, in translation: “Here rests in God Peter Schlosser born 20 January 1710 and died 8 January 1790. His age was 80 years, 11 months, and 3 days. When you awaken the dead on that day, so also reach out your hand to my grave.”

Some years after his service in the Revolutionary War as Private First Class in Captain Stone’s Company of the Second Battalion of the Lancaster County (Pennsylvania) Militia, Christopher migrated down the valley of Virginia to Montgomery County.  The brass plaque in the Floyd County Courthouse recognizing Floyd’s Rev. War veterans includes Christopher’s name. 

By 1803 Christopher and his family settled on 600 acres in what is now Floyd County, and eventually owned over 1600 acres by the time of his death, Dec. 11, 1845. Sadly, the location of Christopher’s burial place and grave marker is presently unknown. Descendants searching for the location believe it should be within relative proximity (a couple of miles or fewer) of his son Jacob Slusher’s homeplace (a portion of which is presently owned by his great-great-granddaughter, Jane Slusher Williams,) and the present Jacob Slusher Cemetery near Laurel Branch Road. The inscription on Jacob’s stone: “In memory of Jacob Slusher. Born Sept. 2, 1797. De. Oct. 3, 1871” has an unusual whirling raindrops engraving within three concentric circles and twelve stars within the two outer circles. (Anyone having any information about the possible location of Christopher’s marker and/or the meaning of the engraving on Jacob’s stone is asked to contact Janet S. Keith, 2341 Union School Road, SW, Willis, VA 24380.)

In 1970 descendants of Christopher Slusher, Sr., met at the Laurel Branch Church and formed the dues-paying Slusher Family Organization for the expressed purposes of having funds to gather genealogical research, making copies of records, getting a more complete family history, preventing unnecessary duplication of research, and resolving questions or fine points.  Since that time a tremendous amount of information has been gathered, organized, and shared among family members.

Christopher and Eva Hancock Slusher had at least ten children.  Christopher, Jr.,(1781-1853) married Hannah Meyers and moved to Lafayette Co., Missouri in 1828 where they raised a family of eleven children, only the youngest of whom was born in Missouri. Land in Virginia owned at one time by Christopher, Jr., included a trading post and tavern which today is the site of the Town House Motel in Hillsville, VA.

Peter (1784-1870) married Celia White and was deeded 200 acres by Christopher, Sr., on Mira Fork of Greasy Creek.  Their children were Mary, Martha, Elizabeth and Joseph. Martha’s descendants include Roger Hollandsworth of Floyd Xpress; Elizabeth’s descendants include Sam and Dan Bolt of the Bolt Brothers bluegrass band.

Elizabeth (1787-1860) married Solomon Harman and had Jacob S., John, Benjamin, Margaret, Mary Ann (Polly), Stephen, Peter, Mathias, and David.  Jacob S. operated the Harman Mill on West Fork and by 1845 had a mercantile store at the location; a descendant is Donald E. Hylton, well-known retired Floyd ditching contractor. Descendants of John include Allen and Brian Harman of C.W. Harman & Son Farm Center and Howard Conduff, Floyd dentist.

Barbara (1789- ?) and husband Elijah Turman were deeded 200 acres from Christopher in 1834. Their children were Charles, Christopher, Elizabeth, George, Matthew, Huldah, Joseph, Mary, and Benjamin. Christopher’s descendants include Alex Bond of Willis. George’s descendants include Joe Turman, Floyd deputy sheriff of Willis.

David (1790-1840) married Nancy Cox and was deeded 180 acres in 1837 from Christopher. Children were Levica, Cynthia, Ananias, Susan, Sparrell, Mary Ann, Landon, Lewis Hamilton, Julia Ann, and Elizabeth. Descendants of Ananias include the late Archa Vaughn, Jr.,past president pro tem; June Capps Norris, genealogist; and Anne Capps Robertson, historian and past president whose son-in-law, Tom Schlosser, presently serves as president. Descendants of Lewis Hamilton include Virginia Graham Brown, corresponding secretary, and Alice Hatcher Hollandsworth, treasurer.

Susan Catherine (1792-1815) married Cary Simmons; their children were Eva, Louanna, Elizabeth, Noah, Obediah, Mary Ann, Margaret Catherine, Barbara. Descendants of Noah include the late Hugh Simmons of Willis who married Neva Dell Slusher, a descendant of Jacob, Susan Catherine’s brother. Another Noah descendant, the late W.J. Boone, married Winnie Kate Hylton, a descendant of Jacob.

Solomon (1796-1878) married Permelia Reed and was deeded 200 acres on Greasy Creek in 1834 from Christopher. Solomon was a founding father of Laurel Branch Church of the Brethren where the first Slusher Family Organization reunion was held in 1970. Their children were William, Sarena, Eva, Allen, Sarah, Celia, and Solomon, Jr.  Lonzie Alderman of Willis is a descendant of Allen. A descendant of Sarah includes Al Creasy, a historian for the organization. Descendants of Solomon, Jr., included Edward, Donald, and Marvin Slusher.

Jacob (1797-1871) married Telithe Hylton (sister of Burwell Hylton who married Jacob’s sister Mary Ann) and in 1834 was deeded 200 acres (part of an 1816 survey) by Christopher. Their children were Jeremiah, John B., Leroy, Francis Marion, Oliver Perry, George Washington, and Mary Malissa.  Jacob was a farmer and carpenter who built “a house for school teaching” that became known as the “Slusher School.” (The school was located behind the present home of Jolee Harmon Crawford, a descendant of Oliver Perry.) By 1878 Jacob’s son, Jeremiah, held church services in the school until it was deemed unwise to use the school building for public worship; that congregation eventually built a meeting house, the Laurel Branch Church. Descendants of Jeremiah include Vicky Maberry Howery, Glenna Weddle, Arnold Slusher and Mike Slusher of Floyd. A great-granddaughter of Oliver Perry is Janet Slusher Keith, recording secretary for the Slusher Family Organization since 1970.  Janet’s son Kevin and his wife, Melissa, continue the farming tradition on land directly passed down from Christopher (See picture); Kevin is the seventh generation to farm the land on Laurel Branch Road. Jacob’s great-great-great-granddaughter, Venda Radford Keith, presently serves as one of the organization’s historians.

Stephen ( 1800-1841?) married Charlotte Hylton (sister of Burwell and Telithe) and received 100 acres from Christopher in 1829. Their children were Elizabeth, Henry, Susannah, Catherine, Mary Ann, Samuel, and Eva Jane. Descendants of Elizabeth include Uldine Dickerson Duncan and Vesta Dickerson Alderman. Descendants of Henry include the late Carlin Maberry, Mel Linkous, former organization president, and the late Lance Knowles, former treasurer.

Mary Ann (1803-1888) married Burwell Hylton. Their children were Ira, Riley, Julie, Lorenza, Nathan, Jacob John, Mathias, Eva, Nancy, Henderson, Ananias, Levi, and Catherine. All ten of their sons fought in the Civil War, and all but one, Nathan, were either captured, wounded and/or killed. Ira’s descendant Donald E. Hylton has connections to Christopher through both Elizabeth and Mary Ann and Donald’s wife, Brenda Slusher Hylton, has connections through Jacob.

In fact, anyone with family history in Floyd County going back to the early 1800s will likely discover that he/she has some connection to Christopher Slusher, Sr.  If all descendants of Christopher Slusher, Sr., attend the reunion, a large percentage of Floyd County’s population will be at the VFW Park on July 20.