WILLIAM HARRISON SLACK -- 2nd VETERAN CAVALRYTWO YEARS ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI - William Harrison Slack was marriedtwice. He moved his family to Burke and his first wife, Emerline J.Davenport, died in 1843 at age 25 and was buried in the Wright Cemeteryin Burke, NY. In 1843, William married his second wife, HannahDavenport, Emerline's sister and four children were born to them -Franklin Harrison, Frederick William who died at age three in May 1853and another child was born who they gave the name of his deceasedbrother, finally, their last child, Levi was born in 1855.The eldest of the three boys, Franklin, enlisted in the newly-formed2nd Veteran Cavalry in Plattsburgh on December 14, 1863, under thename Francis H. Slack. At the time, he was living in Peru and received atown bounty of \$150 for his enlistment and another \$200 from thecounty.For the next two years, he and his regiment patrolled both sides of theMississippi River in Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. OnNovember 8, 1865, the 2nd Veteran Cavalry was mustered out atTalladega, AL.After the war, Franklin returned to the North Country to farm. In 1867,both of his father died and by 1869, he was married to AlveraEstabrooks, from Au Sable Chasm, and was living in Sacramento County inCalifornia where he lived for the rest of his life. He became a ranchowner and operated a successful dairy business.Frank died when he was only 41 years old and at least 3 of his eightchildren were left to mourn him. He was buried in the Masonic LawnCemetery in Sacramento under a military headstone. Four of his childrenhad been buried there before him.After his death, several of his children were involved in trying todefraud his estate, and by March 1889, this widow, Alvera, settled withthe children to avoid further litigation. Each child was given \$400 outan estate that was worth more than \$40,000.In 1893, Alvera married Edward Elliot, and she died in 1899. She wasburied in the Sacramento City Cemetery. Brother Frederick died inCalifornia in Mendocino. CA, and brother Levi, left to look after theirmother, moved to Wisconsin where they are both buried.
