WARREN JACKSON SLATER -- 118th INFANTRYONE YEAR WITH THE 118th INFANTRY - Warren Jackson Slater was a pioneerguide of the old Adirondacks and a veteran of the Civil War. He diedvery suddenly on the William Barbour Estate on Big Tupper Lake on hisway to the farmhouse to answer a telephone call during the afternoon ofMarch 8, 1921. His body was found in the path by the wife of theassistant at the estate. During the morning, he helped with the firewoodand his death came as he would have desired, as it said in his obituary,"with the least possible trouble to others."Friends said he had a stern sense of duty, as he saw it, and was deeplyreligious in his beliefs. His mistakes, when he saw them, were alwayscorrected in so far as he could correct them, even though the correctionmight require that he "cut off his right hand or pluck out his eye."Warren was born in Jay, Essex County, on May 30, 1849, the son of AndrewJackson Slater and Mary Dudley, who had very Puritanical ideas, and theyoungest of seven boys. His parents both died before he was six and hewas brought up by an uncle who thought that to spare the rod would spoilthe child. Flogging was not unusual for the boy while he was tied up byhis thumbs.In February 1865, he ran away and enlisted in the 118th Infantry inPlattsburgh. On account of his being small of stature, and only fifteenyears old, he was detailed as a doctor's orderly when he got toVirginia. After a transfer to the 96th Infantry in June 1865, Warrenmustered out with the regiment on February 6, 1866. He set up acarpentry and building business in Saranac Lake after spending athree-year apprenticeship in Manchester, NH.He was also a guide and knew every trail in the Adirondacks. In thefirst general survey of the Adirondacks, he guided and was personalassistant to Verplanck Colvin. They visited every peak in the area andhe assisted in putting in the copper markers at the highest points. Formore than twenty years, he was a guide and caretaker for the rich andfamous.Warren also fulfilled his civic duties and was justice of the peace,deputy sheriff and school board member, often as president. He was alsoa member of several fraternal groups and a member of the G. A. R.Thrice married, he had only one child survive him. Warren died in 1921,when he was seventy one years old and was buried in the Pine RidgeCemetery in Saranac Lake with his first two wives. His third wifemarried again and died in Michigan in 1964,
