Slingerland, John I.

Born: 1804-03-01 Albany County, New York

Died: 1861-10-26 Albany County, New York

Flourished: Albany County, New York

Slingerland was a New York farmer and politician. He attended public schools in Albany County. After receiving his education, Slingerland became involved in agriculture. From 1843 to 1844, he served in the New York State Assembly. In 1846, he won election as a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives. While serving in Congress, Slingerland made national headlines when he alerted anti-slavery activists to the plight of seventy-six enslaved people who had attempted to escape the slave ship, The Pearl. Slingerland's description of the incident encouraged abolitionists to redouble their plans to eliminate the slave trade in the District of Columbia. Not a candidate for re-election in 1848, Slingerland returned to New York and farming. From 1860 to 1861, he again was a member of the New York State Assembly.

Gravestone, Slingerland Family Vault, Slingerlands, NY; Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1996 (Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 1833; Josephine S. Pacheco, The Pearl: A Failed Slave Escape on the Potomac (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005), 1, 84, 88, 92, 93, 94, 96-97, 98.