Slattery History Final 2014 Frank Sullivan PDF

Slattery Family History
Family History and Stories
Frank Sullivan
Release 1.0
Slattery Family History Page 1 January 2014

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Table of Contents
Approach ................................................................................................................................................ 4
Sources ................................................................................................................................................ 5
Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 8
Irish History ............................................................................................................................................ 8
Key Dates.............................................................................................................................................. 11
Early History of the Slattery Family up to 1874 ..................................................................................... 12
John Patrick Slattery’s Civil War service ............................................................................................... 13
Early History of the Slattery Family up to 1874(Continued) ................................................................... 14
Family ................................................................................................................................................... 15
The children John and Mary Slattery:................................................................................................. 15
The family of John Bernard Slattery .................................................................................................. 18
John Francis Slattery (1877–1936) ..................................................................................................... 28
Mary Ellen (Nell) Slattery Tierney (1883-1970) ................................................................................. 31
Joseph Eldred Slattery 1885-1982) – by Joe Slattery .......................................................................... 35
Tess Slattery O’Keefe (1894–1995) – by Maureen O’Keefe Ward ..................................................... 38
Slattery House ................................................................................................................................... 47
Family Photographs ........................................................................................................................... 57
Grandchildren of John and Mary Slattery ........................................................................................... 70
Letters from John B Slattery .............................................................................................................. 75
Faith...................................................................................................................................................... 80
Business ................................................................................................................................................ 86
Real estate ......................................................................................................................................... 86
Slattery Building................................................................................................................................ 88
Slattery Company ............................................................................................................................ 102
History of the Slattery Company .................................................................................................. 102
The Roaring Twenties .................................................................................................................. 104
Slattery had a dream .................................................................................................................... 119
The Life of J B Slattery by Eric Brock ................................................................................................. 121
Photos ................................................................................................................................................. 125
Family Stories ..................................................................................................................................... 133
The Slattery Building Ghost? ............................................................................................................... 137
Follow-up ............................................................................................................................................ 138

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Approach
Many times the history of a man’s life is written in chorological order: from his birth to his death.
Although this makes sense I thought that this approach would not provide enough clarity of what was
important to John Bernard Slattery (JBS) and how he lived his life. Therefore, as the story of JBS begins,
I thought that it would be clearer to write this document with the emphasis on the man, his family
and the contributions he made to his adopted city. Therefore, that is the format of this
document.
As you read this please remember two caveats: Some of the dates used are not precise – some are but
others had to be imputed based on known dates; the other is that both Joe Slattery (and others) have read
through and edited this document a number of times and done our very best to make this as accurate and
readable as possible. We hope that you learn a lot about our common ancestor, John Bernard Slattery.
The approach used in compiling this biography was to assemble in one place the historical facts on the
life and accomplishments of JBS. It is clear that he lived a very active and productive life, and
demonstrated this by the impact on his family, his faith, and on his adopted city. In addition, there is a
parallel track left by another young Irish family, the O’Keefes, in southern Mississippi. Tess, his youngest
daughter, married Ben O’Keefe in 1921 and in so doing intertwined two great families. There is a link to
the O’Keefe family history included below.
Sources
With the foregoing in mind, this document is a compilation of information I have gathered via my many
discussions with Bill Slattery, using photos provided by Bob Carmichael, reference material compiled by
my mother, Florence Tierney Sullivan, and the extensive research materials and notes provided by Joe
Slattery, who is considered the Slattery family historian.
In addition to this, I have included a great interview with Tess Slattery O’Keefe, and photos that Tess had
in an old album, both provided by Maureen O’Keefe Ward. Maureen is the first born child of Jerry and
Annette O’Keefe, the first grandchild of Tess Slattery O’Keefe and, like Joe and I, a great grandchild of
JBS. Some in my generation remember Maureen when we visited Biloxi on vacation in the late ‘40s and
early ‘50s. I remember vividly staying in that big house on the beach, swimming and fishing in the Gulf,
and walking to the funeral home on Howard Avenue.
Additionally, as previously indicated, I am blessed that my Mom was interested in documenting the
family history. She did this in a time when there was no internet and no genealogy section at most
libraries but started to accumulate family scrapbooks of her children early in her married life. I remember
well the old square shaped Kodak camera that it seemed she carried with her everywhere. She also created
scrapbooks with stories and pictures of JBS, her grandfather, which covered his family, faith, and
business.
Mom was 12 years old when JBS died and she had fond memories of him. He was a bigger than life kind
of grandfather (aren’t they all?) and he made a huge impression on her. This family history uses a good
part of what was included in her ‘history scrapbooks’.

Joe Slattery told me that he caught the bug in the mid-80s and met with my Mom as he began to gather
family information. But to say that Joe has taken this to a whole new level is a big understatement. As a
matter of fact he heads up the Genealogy Section of the Shreveport Library and as such has significant
tools at his disposal. I have worked closely with Joe in producing this document.
My Mom also met with Eric Brock, who wrote extensively on the people and events in Shreveport, to
give him background and details about the family. I have included one of the articles he wrote for the
Shreveport Times later in this document. Sadly he passed away in 2011 at a young age.
About five years ago the Slattery Co. asked me to work with Bill Slattery to document his job
responsibilities and the various processes used in the company. Since I had done this for years while
working with IBM’s subsidiaries in the U.S. and abroad I approached this request in the same way.
However as I worked with Bill I began to learn not only about the company, which was required to
deliver the result of my assignment, but also about the family history. As my deliverable I produced a
book for use by the board of directors that contained the financial history, meeting minutes, job
description and processes, and the history and legal description of all the properties owned by the Slattery
Co. (The company owns the surface and mineral rights of all of the properties except for Rodessa, Oil
City and Bauman Chute where the mineral rights are owned directly by the family.)
While working with Bill I drove back and forth from Dallas to Shreveport and had the opportunity to give
a ride to Alice Sebastian when she wanted to visit her friends (she spent most of her life in Shreveport). I
was happy to do this but again there were unexpected benefits. As we rode together and talked she shared
her memories. Working with Bill had significantly increased my knowledge of the company and the
family and Alice filled in a lot of information on life in Biloxi. A roundtrip from Dallas to Shreveport
took about six hours and I cannot remember a time that we ran out of things to talk about. If the casual
talk waned I always had questions that either addressed a void in my knowledge during my work with
Bill or was stimulated by what we had been discussing. She had great stories about her siblings and about
the loss of the O’Keefe homestead during the depression and how they were able to return this structure to
the family in the ‘80s.
Note: For those who don’t know the Porter Avenue story: During the Great Depression the O’Keefes lost
their home in Ocean Springs that had been in the family for years. As Alice told the story she and her
little brother Jerry sat on the front steps and she was distraught at the loss. Jerry made the statement that
one day he would get the home back and in fact he did. The following is a short description that I
extracted from the O’Keefe family story as recorded by the Ocean Springs, Mississippi Historical Society.
“Unfortunately, this architectural jewel was lost by the O’Keefe family during the Depression, when it
was repossessed in December 1938, by the Home Owners Loan Corporation, a Federal corporation. A
balance of $5612.17 was owed on the property. It was sold by this Government agency to William ‘Willy’
F. Dale (1899-1990) in December 1939, for $3850 (JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 71, pp. 580-581 and Bk.
74, pp. 158-160).
One of the great success stories of Ocean Springs was the return of the O’Keefe family residence on
Porter Street to the family. When they lost it in the 1930s, the Ben O’Keefe family relocated to Biloxi and
resided on Fayad Street behind the O’Keefe Funeral parlor at 601 West Howard Avenue. A young
Jeremiah J. “Jerry” O’Keefe III (b. 1923) and his sister, Alice O’Keefe Sebastian (1922-2011), vowed

that someday, they would reclaim their former home in Ocean Springs. (Alice O’Keefe Sebastian,
September 13, 1999 and The Ocean Springs Record, July 3, 1986, p. 2, July 10, 1986, p. 2, and December
3, 1987, p. 1)”
The move to Biloxi was covered as it continued.
Ben and Tess O’Keefe and their family, Alice Mary O’ Keefe Sebastian (1922-2011), Jeremiah J. “Jerry”
O’Keefe III (b. 1923), Dr. John B. O’Keefe (1925-200), and Joseph B. O’Keefe (1930-1999), relocated to
Biloxi when Mrs. Tess O’Keefe acquired a home and lot on Fayard Street from Josephine Fayard
Voivedich (1862-1940) in July 1937. This residence was in the rear of the O’Keefe Funeral Parlor at 601
West Howard Avenue. (HARCO Land Deed Bk. 216, pp. 29-30)
During the final year of WW II, Ben and Tess O’Keefe and young Ben, moved into the old Hopkins place
at 823 West Beach Boulevard. Mrs. O’Keefe acquired this home on a 2.3 acre tract on the east side of
Hopkins Boulevard and fronting the Mississippi Sound for $20,000, in February 1945, from Dr. Ralph
Hopkins of New Orleans. (HARCO Land Deed Bk. 273, pp. 29-30)
This is what the family referred to as a “Captain’s home” and where we stayed when we visited before the
death of Uncle Ben (1954). It was during these visits that I remember Maureen and Jody and the
Shreveport cousins played and explored the water, sand and neighborhood. The house on the west side of
Hopkins Boulevard across from the O’Keefe home was owned by the Barq family (think root beer).
In November 1960, several years after Ben O’Keefe expired in his beach front domicile, Mrs. O’Keefe
and her son, John B. O’Keefe, sold 823 West Beach Boulevard to Gulf Towers Inc. (HARCO Land Deed
Bk. 471, pp. 57-58)
This is a link to a thorough history of the O’Keefes which covers the family up until the end of the 20th
Century.
http://biloxihistoricalsociety.org/node/208
While JBS was alive the family was close and communication was simple. JBS expressed this wish to
keep the family close in his instructions to his son John in a letter (later in this document) requesting the
preparation of his will. When his son Joe went to California around 1910 he wrote to him often asking
him to return. It seems that keeping everyone close to home was near and dear to his heart. He even built
a home for the family of his son, Rob, on Boulevard after the death of Rob, to ensure that Rob’s widow
and his granddaughters Grace Ellen and Rosemary would be close.
Even later, after Tess married and moved to Ocean Springs/Biloxi, he took trips to visit her and they made
trips to Shreveport. After the death of JBS there were always members of the O’Keefe family who
attended the Slattery Company meetings and many vacations and visits were shared in Shreveport and
Biloxi. However, over the years, particularly in this century, we have lost that closeness as a family.
Maybe the publication of the Slattery and O’Keefe histories and photos will afford us opportunities for us
to share stories and get to know each other again.

Introduction
What would you put in a document that would allow you to get to know a person like John Bernard
Slattery? Including documents and sharing photographs would provide part of the picture. Further on you
will read articles from the newspapers of his day and, later still, I have incorporated an article by a
seasoned journalist that was written and published over half a century after his death. Additional insight
will be gained by hearing directly from JBS via letters written to and by his children, including a letter to
Nell Slattery Tierney during his last trip to his alma mater in the spring of 1927. And additional facts and
background are provided in the oral history of Tess Slattery O’Keefe, his youngest daughter, recorded in
the last part of her life.
As stated earlier, it seemed to me that JBS had clear priorities of what was important to him: his family,
his faith, and work done in and for his adopted city.
Because of the fact that the father and mother of JBS had just emigrated from Ireland it is also helpful to
understand the background and history of Ireland that influenced them. Dynamics in their home countries
molded all immigrants in general and those from Ireland in particular. Over the centuries the Irish have
been terribly mistreated, first by invading armies and later by the English. For centuries, the Irish were
dehumanized by the English, even described as savages thus making their murder and displacement
appear all the more justified.
But this history also incubated the widely recognized determination and fighting spirit of the Irish. They
were constantly harassed, their land was taken from them, and they had no representation in their own
Parliament, but, they never gave up. From the 17th to the 20th century there were persistent efforts by the
Irish to own and manage their land and to be allowed to practice their Christian faith. In addition, I also
believe that this longing for freedom was a reason that so many Irish enlisted in the Civil War. Many,
including even their officers who witnessed their fierce fighting, were amazed at their courage and
determination but, put in context of their determination in their homeland, this makes perfect sense.
Irish History
Almost from the beginning of its history Ireland was invaded and the population was suppressed,
colonized and even subjected to slavery. But, in particular, from the 5 th Century with the coming of Saint
Patrick and afterward when the land was Christianized, the religious fervor remained high for the Irish
people. In the wake of Christianity there was a flourishing of culture/learning connected with the churches
and monasteries which spread to other parts of Europe. This early Christian culture helps account for the
influence of Catholicism in Ireland to this very day.
However, when King Henry XIII broke with the Catholic Church in the 16th Century he tried to force
Ireland to break as well. Ireland refused and from this point on there was terrible religious persecution of
the Irish by the English Protestants.
Later, the English authorities in Dublin established real control over Ireland for the first time, bringing a
centralized government to the entire island, and successfully disarmed the native lordships. However, the

English were not successful in converting the Catholic Irish to the Protestant religion and the brutal
methods used by crown authority (including resorting to martial law) to bring the country under English
control heightened resentment of English rule.
From the mid-16th to the early 17th century, crown governments carried out a policy of land confiscation
and colonization known as Plantations. Scottish and English Protestant colonists were sent to the
provinces of Munster, Ulster and the counties of Laois and Offaly. These Protestant settlers replaced the
Irish Catholic landowners who were removed from their lands.
The 17th century was perhaps the bloodiest in Ireland's history. Two periods of war (1641–53 and 1689–
91) caused huge loss of life. The ultimate dispossession of most of the Irish Catholic landowning class
was engineered, and recusants (those who would not attend Protestant services) were subordinated under
the Penal Laws.
We must wonder again how this strife and the discrimination of the Irish helped form both their outlook
and determination in life. Again and again over the centuries the Irish were removed from the land they
owned, and in even more extreme cases, in the 15th to the 18th century, Irish prisoners were sold as
slaves. For centuries, the Irish were dehumanized by the English, described as savages, so making their
murder and displacement appear all the more justified in 1654 the British parliament gave Oliver
Cromwell a free hand to banish Irish "undesirables". Cromwell rounded up Catholics throughout the Irish
countryside and placed them on ships bound for the Caribbean, mainly Barbados.
The denial of the Irish right to worship as they pleased, land ownership and a representative Irish
government continued through the 18th century and were ultimately only granted through the various
uprisings and rebellions.
This background paints a picture of many Irish who immigrated to America in the 19 th and 20th Centuries.
We can visualize John Slattery and Ellen Ryan as they took their voyage to the “new world”. Previously,
while still in Ireland, they must have heard from friends and neighbors who came to our shores and
learned what the Constitution and Bill of Rights really offered its citizens.
The very problems that they lived with over the centuries seemed to be addressed by this new country and
their Constitution and Bill of Rights. And, as an aside, the fact that the Americans just whipped the
British, their old enemy, to achieve its liberty must have appealed to them. America is a unique
experiment in the history of mankind. The idea of rights coming from God and not man (unless allowed
to happen) had not been tried on a national level anywhere before.
We can only imagine the joy felt by our ancestors as they arrived in America with its guarantee of
personal liberty and religious freedom. The term life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness was a concept
that they could only anticipate. We know that discrimination existed in some areas of this country against
the Irish, and especially against Irish Catholics. The "No Irish Need Apply" signs were hung out and
preferences were given to Protestants. This is true even today in Northern Ireland. Perhaps it is in this
atmosphere that the Irish hung together or worked in concentration in some disciplines (law enforcement,
railroading) and chose to fight to free a whole group of people in the Civil War.
Clearly there were many ‘carpetbaggers’ who came south with the Union troops after the Civil War who
used the loss by the South as an opportunity to make quick profits and leave. A story making the rounds

when JBS was alive was that someone pointed him out and said he was ‘a Northerner’. A friend of his
took exception at this saying that he was a Shreveporter who ‘had lived longer in Shreveport than he had
lived up North and was one of us’. As his life was coming to an end JBS had earned his place among the
citizens of Shreveport.

Key Dates
1872 – JBS graduates from the University of Wisconsin
1872 – JBS accepts a position at Port Gibson Mississippi. He will serve for two years and study law and
pass the bar in Mississippi.
1874 – JBS is asked to consider moving to Shreveport by two of his friends; one who is Postmaster and
the other who is Mayor.
1874 – JBS moves to Shreveport. He studies law and passes the bar to practice law.
1876 – JBS and Mary Herron are married in Omaha Nebraska.
1876 – JBS and his bride return to Shreveport and are told he has been elected in the Republican Party to
District Attorney. JBS moves into an apartment with his bride.
1880s – The family moves to a building in Fairfield, Louisiana (will be Fairfield Avenue). They will live
in an abandoned Union Barracks until the Slattery House is completed.
1901 – Mary Frances Herron dies at age 47 before she could move into the new house.
1903 – The Slatterys move into their new home. The home was designed by noted architect N.S. Allen
and built by the Garson Brothers.
1907 – A building across from the Courthouse on Texas Avenue in opened. The building will be known
for about five years as the Slattery Building.
1909 – The national Knights of Columbus convention is held in Shreveport. Some of the events are held
in the new Slattery Building.
1912 – After the Slattery Building is completely renovated to its use, the Woolworth Co. opens its new
store on Texas Avenue.
Circa 1920 – JBS builds the D’Artois Oil Refinery near the corner of St. Vincent’s and Hollywood. He
hires George D’Artois to manage the refinery.
1924 – The Slattery Building is opened at Texas Avenue and Marshall Street. It cost about $1 million and
has seventeen floors. For several years it was the tallest building between New Orleans and St.
Louis.
1927 – JBS attends his final University of Wisconsin reunion as he has done every five years. He dies
later that year of pneumonia. He was 83.

Early History of the Slattery Family up to 1874

(This is a prequel to Nell Slattery Tierney’s biography of her father, John B Slattery).
By Joe Slattery
The first person with the Slattery name was William O’ Slattery. He was born in the year 1310,
approximately. His father was named Owen O’ Hickey, and his nick name was O’ Slatiairaidh (O’
Slattery). “Slatiaraidh” means to ask for the rod, in other words O’ Slattery means needs a whipping.
William O’ Slattery had a son named John O’ Slattery. The early O’ Slattery families lived in County
Clare, Ireland. There as an ancestral town Bailyslattery in eastern County Clare. Today that town’s name
is Newgrove. O’ Slattery families spread out to other counties in southwestern Ireland, such as Tipperary,
Limerick and Kerry. And at some time the “O” was dropped. The succession of Slattery families for the
next 500 years is not known, as written records are lacking.
Our earliest known Slattery ancestors were Robert Slattery and Bridget Manahan Slattery. They lived in
the town of Rootiagh/Rutagh, County Limerick (near Herbertstown), Ireland. There was a son, John, was
born in 1818. Ellen Ryan was from Emly, Ireland, which is about 6 miles southeast of John’s home. Emly
town is an old medieval cathedral town. It is located in the southwestern part of the County Tipperary just
miles from the County Limerick border.
John Patrick Slattery left Ireland about 1842 and arrived in the U.S. at Providence, Rhode Island. He
married Ellen Ryan on July 12, 1842 at the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul in Providence. Ellen Ryan
was 7 years older than John Slattery. Her parents were Edward Ryan, born 1780 and Ellen Baggott. They
were married February 16, 1806. Ellen Ryan had two full brothers: John born in 1808, and Edward born
in 1812. Ellen Baggott Ryan died about 1812 and Edward married again to Margaret Mackey on August
15, 1813 in Pallasgrean Parish, County Limerick. They had six children: Margaret, Mary, James,
Hannah, Patrick and Catherine. Edward Ryan Sr. died in the 1830’’s. His eldest son by Ellen Baggott,
John, came to the U.S. about 1838. John Ryan saved his money for several years and had enough in 1842
to for his brother and sister, Edward and Ellen, to come to the U.S. It is possible that John Slattery and
Ellen Ryan knew each other in Ireland as they only lived a few miles apart and also that they might have
been on the same ship coming to America. Ship passenger lists for 1842 for the port of Providence are
missing. By 1847 the rest of the Ryan family were in the U.S. – Margaret Mackey Ryan and her six
children.
John and Ellen Slattery were living in New York City by 1844. Their first son, John Bernard Slattery, was
born June 22, 1844, and he was baptized at St. Mary’s Church. The second child was Robert Francis
Slattery who was born in 1845. Baptismal information for Robert has not yet been found. The third and
last child was Edward Henry Slattery. He was born June 27, 1849 and he was baptized at St. Joseph’s
Church in Greenwich Village, New York City. John Patrick was a blacksmith and was living at 58
Hamersley St. in 1850.
When John and Ellen Ryan Slattery were living in New York City, there was an older woman living with
them, and her name was Bridget Manahan. So, John's mother came to the U.S. also.
When John and Ellen separated, she and her three sons moved to Rock County, Wisconsin to live with
Ellen’s brother, Edward Ryan. This was in Plymouth, close to Janesville. Ellen and the boys stayed there
for seven years. About 1858 the family moved to Sauk County, Wisconsin which was two counties to the
west. Ellen purchased some farmland where she lived for twenty years.
When the Civil War began in 1861, John Patrick Slattery, who remained in New York City, joined up
with the 51st New York Infantry Regiment. His muster-in date was September 7, 1861. John fought in the
battles of New Bern, Roanoke Island, Second Manassas, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg and
Vicksburg. In the Vicksburg siege John become ill and died later of fever on August 24, 1863 in the
military hospital at Covington, Kentucky. He was buried in the Catholic Cemetery next to the Covington
Cathedral. This cemetery called “St. Mary’s Burying Ground” was deconsecrated and the graves were
moved to a new St. Mary’s Cemetery in Nearby Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky sometime in the 1900’s.
John Patrick Slattery’s Civil War service

The father of JBS joined the 51st Infantry New York in New York City
Mustered in: September 7, 1861

Mustered out: Died after the battle of Vicksburg, August 24, 1863, Covington, Kentucky
The following is taken from The Union army: a history of military affairs in the loyal states, 1861-65 -
- records of the regiments in the Union army -- cyclopedia of battles -- memoirs of commanders and
soldiers. Madison, WI: Federal Publishing Co., 1908, volume II.
Fifty-first Infantry.—Cols., Edward Ferrero, Robert B. Potter, Charles W. LeGendre, Gilbert
McKibben, John G. Wright; Lieut.-Cols., Robert B. Potter, Charles W. LeGendre, R. Charlton Mitchell,
Samuel H. Benjamin, John G. Wright, Thomas B. Marsh; Maj., Robert B. Potter, Charles W. LeGendre,
R. Charlton Mitchell, John G. Wright, Thomas B. Marsh, George W. Whitman. The 51st regiment
contained six companies of the Shepard Rifles, two companies of the Scott Rifles and two companies of
the Union Rifles and was organized in New York City, where it was mustered into the service of the
United States July 27 to Oct. 23, 1861, for a three years' term. It left the state for Washington on Oct. 31,
with 850 members, was assigned to the 2nd brigade, 2nd division, Gen. Burnside's North Carolina
expedition, and embarked at Annapolis Jan. 6, 1862, for Roanoke Island. The first active service of the
regiment was at Roanoke Island, where it fought with courage and steadiness. The battle of New Berne
followed in March, in which the 51st suffered the most severely of any regiment engaged—71 men being
killed or wounded. Until July 6, 1862, the command was quartered at New Berne, when it was ordered to
return to Virginia, and upon arriving at Newport News was assigned to the 2nd brigade, 2nd division, of
the 9th corps. It participated in Gen. Pope's campaign in August and September; was present at Kelly's
ford; was closely engaged at Sulphur Springs, the second Bull Run and Chantilly, with a loss in the
campaign of 89 killed, wounded and missing. The regiment was withdrawn to Washington, but soon took
the field for the Maryland campaign; was active at South Mountain and Antietam, losing in the latter
battle 87 killed or wounded in a most brilliant charge across the stone bridge, which alone would have
made the fighting qualities of the regiment renowned. In November, the 51st was engaged at Jefferson,
Va., and Warrenton Springs and late in the month moved to Fredericksburg, where it took part in the
battle in December with a loss of 73 members. After sharing the hardships of Burnside's "Mud March,"
the regiment established winter quarters near White Oak Church, but was soon transferred to the
Department of the West and with the 9th corps arrived at Vicksburg in June. It participated in the siege
operations and the pursuit to Jackson, Miss.; then proceeded to Tennessee, where it participated in the

battle of Blue Springs; was active at Campbell's station, and assisted in the defense of Knoxville during
the siege. In Dec., 1863, a large proportion of the command reenlisted and received veteran furlough,
rejoining the regiment with new recruits at Knoxville. In Feb., 1864, the 9th corps was ordered to join the
Army of the Potomac at Brandy Station, where it arrived May 1. In the Wilderness campaign the loss of
the regiment was 79 during the first two days, including Col. LeGendre, who was wounded in the eye.
The command distinguished itself for heroism in the terrible month which followed; then proceeded to
Petersburg; was active at the mine explosion, the Weldon railroad, Poplar Spring Church, Hatcher's run,
at Fort Stedman, and in the final assault on April 2, 1865. The original members not reenlisted were
mustered out during the autumn of 1864 and the veterans at Alexandria, July 25, 1865. The total
enrollment of the regiment was 3,050 and it received in June, 1865, the veterans and recruits of the l09th
N. Y. Its total loss in all its engagements was 925, while 202 died from wounds and 385 from accident,
disease or imprisonment. At Peebles' farm, Va., the regiment was surrounded and 332 members captured.
Col. Fox in "Regimental Losses" says of the 51st, "Few regiments saw a more active service and none left
a more honorable record.
Early History of the Slattery Family up to 1874(Continued)
By Joe Slattery (Continued)
When the family in Wisconsin heard that John had died, his son, JBS, searched for the burial site and
found it in Covington. Ellen started receiving a widow’s military pension in 1863 and continued to
receive payments until she died in 1899. John Bernard Slattery did not serve in the Civil War even though
he was 17 years of age when the War began. He was busy taking care of his family and the farm. Also,
starting in 1863 JBS attended Milton Academy and then Milton College in Milton, Rock County,
Wisconsin. The College started in 1867. John’s brother, Robert Francis, was at the Academy in 1866. JBS
completed two years at Milton College by 1870 and then went on to finish his degree at the University of
Wisconsin at Madison.
On January 9, 1870 Robert Frances Slattery married Ellen Doolan in Richland County, Wisconsin.
Sometime in the 1870’s Ellen, Robert and Edward Slattery changed their names to Slater. They probably
did this because of the anti-Irish sentiment in the area. JBS did not change his name as he had moved to
the South in 1872. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1872 with a College of Arts degree.
He found out that there was an instructor’s position open at Brashear Academy in Port Gibson,
Mississippi, applied, and was hired. He worked at the Academy for two years. While in Mississippi he
studied law and was admitted to practice as an attorney in 1873. JBS had two friends from Wisconsin
who had settled in Shreveport. One was Michael Walsh who was Mayor in 1874. There other was
William McKenna who was Postmaster. They told JBS that he should move to Shreveport as it was a
growing town. In February of 1874 John Bernard Slattery moved to Shreveport.

Family
Mary ("Minnie") Herron Slattery and John Bernard Slattery were married by Rev. John Jeanette in the
Cathedral at Omaha, Nebraska on Tuesday Sept. 19, 1876. Her sister Margaret E. Herron of Omaha was
her maid of honor marriage and Anthony J. Langdon was best man; was buried in Catholic (St. Joseph’s)
Cemetery, Shreveport La.
Typed notes set out the news clipping of their marriage:
Mr. Slattery and his bride have arrived in Shreveport, and, in congratulating them upon their happy
union of hearts and hands, we indulge the hope that their lives may be long in the land, their days
crowned with peace, plenty and all the blessings of earth they may desire.
There is no doubt that the most important aspect of JBS’ life was his family. JBS and his wife, Mary
Francis Herron Slattery had 12 children. As was the case in many families, some of the children were lost
shortly after birth and others died before achieving adulthood. There were many diseases in the
Shreveport area and it seems that TB was one of the most viral. There were also many unexplained
illnesses that were still unknown by the Medical Doctors. Four of their children lived to have children
(Rob, Nell, Joe and Tess).
The children John and Mary Slattery:

Child’s Name Date of Birth Date of Death Age at Death
John Francis Aug. 21, 1877 Nov. 10, 1936 59
Robert Ambrose Mar. 6, 1880 Mar. 23, 1923 43
Ellen Agnes (Nell) Aug. 6, 1883 Sep. 15, 1970 87
Joseph Eldred Feb. 1, 1885 Oct. 13, 1982 97
Teresa Josephine Sep. 18, 1894 Jul. 27, 1995 100
Slattery children other than John f who had no children

Edwin Thomas Oct. 17, 1878 Aug. 7, 1880 1
Mary Francis Dec. 8, 1881 Oct. 23, 1882 10 Mos.
Francis James Sep. 18, 1886 Sep. 13, 1905 18
Graduated with the first class at St. John’s College (High School); was a good athlete;
developed TB and was taken out west by his big brother, Joe, for his health; he
died in 1905 at age 18. Presumably Joe took both Frank and Tess to Pueblo,
Colorado to stay with the Herron family.
Thomas Anthony Sep. 18, 1888 Mar 19 1904 15

Was an excellent student; died of a ruptured appendix (called consumption at
the time, as it was not understood by Doctors yet).
Paul Thomas Jun. 29, 1890 Feb. 21, 1947 56

Served his country in WW I; was a big baseball fan and took his nephews to see games;
Was the captain of the St. John’s track team; was gassed in WW I;

and was a lifelong bachelor.
William Bernard Feb. 3, 1892 Mar. 29, 1960 68

Served as the President of the Slattery Co. after the death of John F; was also a lifelong
bachelor.
Louis Aloysius Sep 28 1899 Nov 4 1899 6 Wks.
Note that between November, 1899 and September, 1905 JBS lost his wife and three children (Louis,
Frank and Tom). As you will read in the following oral history of Tess Slattery O’Keefe JBS did not want
to risk losing his youngest daughter and in about 1904 He sent her to live with the sisters of his wife in
Colorado. She was accompanied by Joe Slattery (he was probably about 20) on the trip. From this
testimony it would seem that JBS sent her in the summer of 1904 at age 9 (it is assumed that her brother,
Frank, also was taken west at this time. He however did not survive). It seemed that she lived in Colorado
through junior high school and then went to Our Lady of the Lake High School and College in San
Antonio, Texas where she graduated and returned home around 1911. When she graduated she had an
advanced level of education in her mind and declined her father’s offer to go away again for University
study. Tess remembered that one of her brothers had gone to California; this is Joe who returned after
Tess returned home.
In terms of JBS’ top priority in life there is no doubt that his great love in life was his family. He married
his college sweetheart and moved her to Shreveport to begin their family in 1876. He was already active
in the life of the city and had just been elected to the position of District Attorney having only arrived in
Shreveport two years earlier. In the post-Civil War years it was not unusual for a carpetbagger to achieve
this. What was unusual was for that person to stay, adopt his city and live to accomplish so much.
He and his wife would have twelve children, nine who lived to adolescence and seven who grew into
adulthood. Of these seven, four had children Rob, Nell, Joe and Tess.
He also pursued the expression of his faith in his adopted city and demonstrated this as he supported the
building of the first Catholic Church in downtown Shreveport, Holy Trinity, which opened in 1896. He
next played a key role in enabling the Jesuits to come to Shreveport to start Catholic education for young
men. He negotiated for and bought land on Texas Avenue for this new school. A new church was built as
part of the school. The new school and church were named St. Johns College Prep and St. John’s
Berchmans, respectively. They both opened in 1903. He then helped in the effort in 1927 to buy land on
Jordan Street from the Ed Jacobs estate for the school and church. The new church building was
consecrated in 1929 after his death, and St. John’s College Prep was able to open in its own building next
to the church. Because of the Depression and WW II, St. John’s was only able to finish their school
building in the late ‘40s. On the original estate purchased in 1927, a Catholic grade school was eventually
opened next to the church in 1949. The family later funded the Slattery Library, in 1953, as an extension
of his work before he died. The efforts of JBS made a significant difference to the spiritual education and
life of Shreveport.

He also did his part in supporting the new school in sending his sons to St. John’s through the years: Joe,
Frank, Tom, Will and Paul; Joe, who graduated in 1905, was in the first graduating class that attended all
of grades at the school.
From the time he could afford it, JBS began purchasing land in and around Shreveport. A picture of the
first Slattery building, included later, has a distinct sign on its front window advertising ‘farm and timber
land’. Joe has provided a list of properties he bought from 1877 to 1900 and it is large. Among the most
important purchases were the Slattery Buildings: the first on Market Street, the second on Texas Avenue
(eventually Woolworth) and the third across Texas Avenue at Marshall which remained in the family for
over 70 years; The oil and gas properties owned by the family directly; and The Lower Farm. One of the
wishes JBS expressed to his son John in requesting his will was to try to hold on to the land. How right he
was! In the 1930’s and today his children then and many of his descendants now continue to be blessed
by the income from the oil and gas discovered under the land he bought. All of the mineral rights and
most of the surface rights, other than those sold during the depression in support of his building, are intact
today.

The family of John Bernard Slattery

ELLEN RYAN SLATTERY
Ellen Ryan Slattery was born about 1811 in County Limerick, Ireland to Edward/Edmund Ryan and Ellen
Baggott. In 1821, she and her family were living near the town of Ardroe, which is about 3 miles
southeast of the town of Caherconlish. She came to the U.S., married John Slattery in 1842 in
Providence, Rhode Island, and resided in New York City soon afterwards. Ellen and her 3 sons, John,
Robert and Edward, left New York City in 1851 to go live with her brother, Edward Ryan, in Rock
County, Wisconsin. They stayed with him about 7 years, and then bought land in Sauk County,
Wisconsin and moved there. In the late 1870’s, Ellen, Robert and Edward Slattery moved to St. Paul,
Minnesota. They changed their surname to Slater about 1880. Ellen lived with her son Edward, at first,
and then moved in with son Robert by 1895. Ellen Ryan Slattery/Slater died in 1899, about 88 years of
age. She is buried in Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul, Minn.


Figure 1 - Rob Slater, the brother of JBS, with his family.
ROBERT FRANCIS SLATTERY
Robert Francis Slattery was born in November of 1845 in New York City. Robert married Ellen J.
“Nellie” Doolan in 1870 in Richland County, Wisconsin. He and his family moved to St. Paul, Minn. by
1880. He changed his surname to Slater like his brother, Edward, because of prejudice against the Irish.
Robert and Nellie had 6 children. One of their granddaughters was Dorothy Slater, who visited the
relatives in Shreveport several times. Robert died on 30 May 1913 in St. Paul and is buried in Calvary
Cemetery.

Figure 2 - In rear Bertie and Maud slater; Front left to right Will, Frank and Ed Slater: the children of Rob Slater.

Figure 3 - Ed Slater, the son of Rob Slater and the nephew of John Slattery, ran for sheriff in St. Paul.

Figure 4 - Another picture of the nephew of JBS, Ed Slater and his family. He had an interesting obituary in the
St. Paul paper upon his death in 1946. The above photo shows him with JBS in his uniform that it seems he
became identified with during his life and was taken at 2076 Dayton Avenue in St. Paul.
OBITUARY OF Edward H. Slater in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, dated August 26, 1946.
One of Minnesota’s grandest legionnaires, a veteran of the organization from the date of its inception,
Comrade Edward H. Slater, died early Tuesday morning, August 20 th, at the Veterans Hospital at Ft.
Snelling. He was 74 years of age, and passed away after an illness that took him to the hospital last
December.
He was known by hundreds of legionnaires in Minnesota and elsewhere as “Ed”. In the formative stages
of Post 8 in St. Paul, he joined up with them and despite his advanced age he, until less than a year ago,
could be found on meeting nights, at conventions at any legion gathering, mingling with his comrades.
Ed as a member of the Minnesota National Guard for 20 years; he served as adjutant of his own Post for
five years and back in the earlier days of the Legion, Ed was “up front” as drum major of the first such
organization sponsored by that post. That sprightly step that led him at the lead of his corps back in those
days, never diminished in its immersive appearance, even back but weeks ago. There was a dignity in that
step, even as there was dignity in the character which framed his impressions of the American Legion.
There will be many who will miss Ed. Among those will be his immediate survivors, including his wife,
Katherine; his three daughters, Mrs. Russel Dick, Mrs. William Pike, Dorothy and Robert Slater, all of St.
Paul; Two brothers – William, of Mahtomedi, and Frank, of Van Nuys, California; two sisters, Mrs.
Bertha Riley and Maude Slater, both of St. Paul. The Slater home is located at 2076 Dayton Avenue.

Uncle Sam
If you had placed a star-spangled plug hat on the head of bewhiskered Ed Slater you would have had
Uncle Sam in person/ Ed knew it. He cultivated this similarity to “Mr. United States.”
Ed, as you probably noticed in Tuesday’s Dispatch, died Monday.
He was a colorful, refreshing figure – familiar to thousands of St. Paulites as the gilt horses on the State
Capitol.
He never failed to greet you with “I trust I see you well.” If you met him ten times a day you heard that
salutation each time.
Sand
Ed, a veteran of Mexican border service in 1916, of World War I and a National Guard member many
years, was an untiring worker for the American Legion. He had hoped to serve in the Army during the
Spanish American War but the artillery unit he belonged to was not accepted.
So when World War I came along he was quick to enlist although he was way above the draft age. At
Camp Cody, N.M. he was placed in charge of the camp bakery. Desert sand was often found in the bread
he turned out – it couldn’t be helped.
“When anyone howled”, Ed once told me, “I simply said sand in the fodder is good for the digestion.”
He claimed that Cody’s heavy sand content in the bread resulted in the healthiest camp in the United
States.
Marshall
For many years Ed enjoyed his annual assignment as a policeman at the State Fair. He liked the
authority of a badge or a uniform. In the early days of the Legion’s Post 8 drum corps he as a drum major.
He had a Pioneer Press route on Daytona Bluff 60 years ago. He was the custodian of the old state
capitol on Wabasha Street until its destruction some years ago.
Ed was born in Sauk County, Wisconsin in 1872. He attended Van Buren and Sacred Heart schools here
and won his baseball “M” at Mechanic Arts.
Among the things of which he was proud was his appointment by Archbishop John Ireland as marshal
for the laying of the cornerstone of the St. Paul Cathedral.

Figure 5 - Edward Slater

EDWARD HENRY SLATTERY
Edward Henry Slattery was born on 27 June 1849 in New York City to John Slattery and Ellen Ryan. He
was the youngest brother of John Bernard Slattery. Edward married Mary Jane Kitson in Richland
County, Wisconsin in 1875, and moved to St. Paul, Minn. soon afterwards. He changed his last name to
Slater by 1880. Edward was a railroad conductor. He moved to the state of Washington by 1910, first
living in Kennydale and then in Seattle. He ran a general store in Kennydale, and was a boilermaker at a
shipyard in Seattle. Edward and Mary Jane had 7 children. A grandson of Edward and Mary’s was Fr.
Jack Slattery, a Jesuit priest. Fr. Jack changed his surname back to Slattery. Edward died on 14 July 1934
and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Seattle, Washington.

John Francis Slattery (1877–1936)
Although childless, John was no doubt the most important child in both his father’s life and that of his
siblings. John was the first of twelve children and the first son. John and Mary were married in 1876 and

lived on Texas Avenue in what is now downtown Shreveport. The Slatterys were married on September
19, 1876 and son John Francis was born on August 21, 1877.
Of all of his family, John largely followed in his father’s footstep. After attending the local schools he
continued his education in the Jesuit College of Grand Coteau, Louisiana and in Saint Mary’s College at
St. Mary’s, Kansas. He then read law and was admitted to the bar in 1900. For many years he practiced in
association with his father and following the death of JBS he continued his work under the firm name of
Slattery and Slattery. He was an attorney of pronounced ability who prepared his cases with great
precision and care and was recognized as a strong advocate before the courts and as an able and wise
counselor.
John also succeeded his father as president of the Slattery Co. and had his offices on the tenth floor of the
building. Outside of the company he served for a number of years as United States Commissioner (The
United States commissioner system was established in 1793. Commissioners were used in federal courts
to try petty offense cases committed on federal property, to issue search warrants and arrest warrants, to
determine bail for federal defendants and to conduct other initial proceedings in federal criminal cases.)
There was also an interesting military chapter in his life record, for he was a Spanish-American War
veteran having enlisted for service in the Second Louisiana Infantry when the country became involved in
war following the destruction of the Maine in Cuban waters. He was not of age at the time and had to
secure the consent of his parents. He became an honored member of the W.H. Mabry Camp of the
Spanish War Veterans.
John was a founding member of the Shreveport Country Club. His chief interest, much like that of his
father, was in the growth of his church. He was a communicant of St. John’s Catholic Church and a
charter member of the Knights of Columbus, which accorded him an honorary degree several years prior
to his death. He occupied a prominent place in the councils of his church and in its affiliated societies.
John like most of his fellow citizens went through a baptism of fire following the economic holocaust of
1929. But with that courage built upon an abiding faith in the God whom he always served, he met every
responsibility and, when it came to put aside the mortal and take on immortality, he was able to say “I
have fought the good fight; I have kept the faith”.
It is clear having read all that I have about John that he was a leader in his practice of law, in his
community and in his family. John took over the family at the death of his beloved father and led them
through the equitable distribution of his estate through the seven years of the depression while he was
alive. The family would use the income from the Woolworth Building and sell some of the property,
mainly downtown and within the city to make it through. They were able to keep together the most
valuable property: the building, the Woolworth income and the property in Caddo and Desoto Parishes.

Figure 6 - Mrs. John F. (Edna) Slattery taken in the early '50s in front of the Sullivan’s home on
Thornhill.

Mary Ellen (Nell) Slattery Tierney (1883-1970)
In the next few pages you will read a short story by his oldest daughter, Nell, on her recollections of her
own father. Following this there is a short history of JBS written by Nell with her remembrances of his
life.
Nell had just graduated from high school in the class of 1900. JBS and his wife had been planning the
new house at Fairfield, Louisiana, outside of Shreveport. They had moved from their house in downtown
Shreveport and had been living in a Union barracks on their land, waiting for the new house to rise. The
house would come to be known as the Slattery Mansion by Shreveporter and later as The Slattery House
as it was made part of the National Historical Registry. Many in the family came to call it simply the big
house.
But her mother would never get a chance to live in the house. She was claimed by TB during the winter of
1901. At this point Nell would take over tasks from her mother and, when the family moved into the
“Slattery Mansion”, she would live in that house all but three weeks of her life. These three weeks mark
the time her mother went for a visit to Omaha, Nebraska and give her birth.
Nell was not able to go to college right after high school since she was in charge of the household at first,
got married to Robert Tierney in 1911 and had four daughters. Later she lost her husband in the Spanish
Flu in 1919. But she never gave up and finally graduated from St. Vincent’s College in 1942 after her last
daughter was married.

JOHN B. SLATTERY - Written by Nell Slattery Tierney
My father, John B. Slattery, was born in New York City June 22 nd 1844. He had two brothers, Ed and
Rob. When my father was six or seven years old his family moved to Wisconsin on a farm. The name of
the nearest community was Janesville. Papa had to walk miles every day to go to school. They lived in a
log cabin and Wisconsin then was a frontier state. There was a lot to do on the farm but my father loved
to study and I’m sure he, like so many other self-made men, studied hours by lamp light and fire light.
Always there was his ambition to get a good education, to be a college graduate.
His first years of college were spent at Milton College at Milton Junction Wisconsin. He would work on
the farm, chopping wood and anything that came to hand. Finally he had saved enough money to go to
Madison, Wisconsin to the University. By this time he was twenty eight years old or rather by the time he
was graduated. The Civil War had been over for seven years and the south had lost so many of its fine
educated men. In some parts of the south everything was gone; homes, plantations, slaves, everything-
most of all its men.
My father’s father served in the war but my father was not called on to go. My grandfather died during
the war and was buried somewhere in Kentucky. My father traveled all over till he found his grave.
After graduation the city or town of Port Gibson, Miss. needed a principal for their High School and
asked my father to take the job. So he did and was there for a year and a half, resigning to come to
Shreveport to practice law.
Two of Papa’s school mates had been in Shreveport for several years. One, a Mr. McKenna was Post
Master and the other Mr. Walsh, Sheriff and afterwards Mayer of Shreveport. They had been writing to
my father about how wonderful Shreveport was and to “come on over”. In February 1874 my father said
good-bye to lovely Port Gibson.
Port Gibson was a beautiful little town untouched by the war. Beautiful plantations lay all around the
town. My father marveled at this but it was many years afterwards that we read Grant and his men rode
up the hill that surrounded Port Gibson and looking down upon the town with all its churches said “it’s
too pretty we’ll spare it” – and so the General and his men rode on and Port Gibson was saved.
To get to Shreveport my father had to go to New Orleans and get a boat to bring him up Red River to
Shreveport. Transportation was slow and it took a week or ten days to make the trip. While my father was
in Port Gibson a terrible epidemic of yellow fever well-nigh wiped out Shreveport. Four or five of our
wonderful priests gave up their lives in ministering to those afflicted. The Sisters from St. Vincent’s also
nursed the sick and lost their lives too. The next year the yellow fever took its heavy toll in Port Gibson.
Thus my father escaped both epidemics.
Shreveport in 1874 and for many years afterwards was very small and most of the business houses were
on the levee or Commerce St. Some called it a “mud hole” but my father loved it always. Used to say he
never wanted to live in the north again although he was most loyal to his Alma Mater- U of W and went
back every five years to his class re-union even going back in June 1927, his death occurred in Sept.
1927. His brothers had moved to St. Paul and he visited them and his old mother each time he went to his
re-union. His mother lived to be ninety-two years old.
My father hung his shingle out and started his law practice in 1874. In September 1876, he left
Shreveport, for the village of Papillion near Omaha, Nebraska and, which has since been swallowed up by
Omaha, to marry my mother whom he had known when they both attended the University of Wisconsin.
My mother and her family in the meantime moved to Nebraska. They were married in Sept. 1876.
Shreveport was and still is only thirty miles from Texas and was a wild and wooly place. Cattle were
driven overland and oxen teams and wagons loaded with cargo to be put on boats bound for New Orleans
wended their way in from Texas. There was much lawlessness and gambling and killings were very much

in vogue – for many years Greenwood road was very dangerous – thugs and thieves and killers were
rampant and many gruesome tales were told thereof.
My mother said the first thing that greeted her when she arrived was the sight of a white man hanging by
his neck to a limb on the Court House Square. And a present which my father received on his return from
his wedding was the job of District Attorney. The election was held while he was away – needless to say
he was delighted.
Before I go on I want to write something about my beautiful, cultured mother. My mother was born in
Madison Wisconsin, February the thirteenth 1854. She had five sisters – all noted in Madison for their
beauty. After my mother’s two years of college she taught school in the public schools – her subject was
German which she spoke fluently. She sang, played the piano and harp, loved good books and was
devoted to the works of Shakespeare. A lovely lady. A most devoted wife and mother and a wonderful
cook.
My father and mother were the parents of twelve children, nine boys and three girls – two boys and one
girl died in infancy. The children were John, Edward, Rob, Mary, Ellen (Nell), Joe, Tom, Frank, Paul,
William, Tess and Louis. Mother contracted tuberculosis and died when only forty- seven years old.
When my father came to Shreveport there were a few Catholics and few of those prominent. Carpet
baggers had embittered southerners against the northerners – and so my father said he had four strikes
against him. He was catholic, northerner, Irish and a Republican. However when the southerners realized
that he was not a carpet bagger come to get what he could and get out – that he had come to stay, they lost
much of their hostility.
Mr. Guy always called Papa “the salt of the earth” – Judge Wilkinson said how much he loved my father
and when I said something about him being a northerner he said “he wasn’t a northerner he lived down
south much longer than he lived in the north”. Others have said how wonderful he was, so fine and good.
So is it any wonder that I have an exalted family love.
With the help of my saintly mother and not fearing debt, my father accumulated quite a bit of real estate.

Nell Slattery Tierney (1883–1970)
The Slattery family was very well known in Shreveport and the family had many friends who worked at
the papers. It was not unusual for Nell to call the papers to report that her daughter had done so and so or
that her grandson was in town from somewhere on this way to somewhere. Therefore it was not surprising
to find a farewell to Nell Slattery Tierney on the Editorial Page in the Shreveport Journal on Friday
September 18, 1970.
Mrs. Robert A. Tierney
Homemaking as Mrs. Robert A. Tierney practiced it was a fine art. Long will she be remembered in
Shreveport not only for her contributions to the social, cultural, and spiritual life of the community, but
also for her personal qualities. Mrs. Tierney, who died Wednesday at the age of 87, was one of the great
ladies of the city.
Her home at 2401 Fairfield, a landmark itself, reflected her fine taste, her graciousness, and hospitality. It
was her residence for all but the first three weeks of her life. She made that house a wonderful place for
her family and numerous friends. The large parties she gave included guests of all ages, from children to
elderly folk, and everybody thoroughly enjoyed the company and entertainment.
Daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. John B. Slattery, Mrs. Tierney served as vice president and director of
The Slattery Co. up to her demise. The death of her husband in the influenza epidemic of 1919 left her
with responsibilities of the head of a family and looking after business interests.
A member of St. John’s Berchmans Roman Catholic Church, Mrs. Tierney was active in the Queen’s
Workers and other religious organizations. In recognition of her service to the church and the pontiff the
late Pope John XXIII awarded her a medal and conferred on her the title of Lady Tierney.
Mrs. Tierney belonged to the St. Vincent’s Alumnae Association, the Marquette Reading Club, the
American Legion Auxiliary, the Women’s Department club and the League of Women Voters. Many
civic improvements and cultural events have benefited from her support.
The Journal offers condolences to her daughters, Mrs. M. G. Kendall Jr., Miss Josephine Tierney, Mrs.,
E.H. Sullivan, Mrs. James T. Carmichael, all of Shreveport; her sister, Mrs. J Ben O’Keefe of Biloxi,
Miss; her brother, Joseph E. Slattery of Shreveport; and other survivors.

Joseph Eldred Slattery 1885-1982) – by Joe Slattery
Joseph Eldred Slattery lived nearly his whole life of 97 years in Shreveport. In 1911, he went out to
California to live, but came back to Shreveport at his father’s request by 1912. His middle name, Eldred,
came from a friend of his father’s. When Joseph was a young man, he played baseball for the local team,
Nelson & Ratcliff. This may have been a semi-pro team, or at least they provided food, travel and lodging
for the players when playing on the road. Several years later, Joseph managed the Holy Name baseball
team in Shreveport. In 1907, his father’s building in the 500 block of Texas Street (across from the
Courthouse) was torn down, and a new building was begun. Joseph was involved in the construction of
this building. One day a load of bricks fell from the second floor and barely missed hitting him on the
floor below. In 1909, the Knights of Columbus State Convention was held for the first time in northern
Louisiana in this building. The structure was soon known as the Woolworth Building when the
Woolworth Company began leasing it in 1912. Joseph was secretary/manager of the D’Artois Oil
Refinery on St. Vincent Ave. from 1925-1938. He also helped to manage the Slattery Building with his
brother, Will. He was president of the Slattery Company from 1960 until his death in 1982. Joseph was
called “Hipa” by his grandchildren. He enjoyed the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing. Hipa was
shooting firearms (even firing successfully at skeet), and skinning squirrels well into his 80’s. He kept a
herd of about 75 Black Angus cattle on the Lower Farm property for many years. His obituary from the
Shreveport Times newspaper of October 15, 1982 follows.
“Joseph Eldred Slattery, a lifelong resident of Shreveport died Wednesday afternoon, October 13, 1982,
after a brief illness. He was born in Shreveport, La., on February 7, 1885, the son of Mr. and Mrs. John
Bernard Slattery. Mr. Slattery was a member of St. John Berchmans Co-Cathedral, the Knights of
Columbus council 1108 and the Holy Name Society. On February 1 st of this year, the St. John-Jesuit
Alumni Association presented a plaque to Mr. Slattery, a 1905 graduate, as alumnus of the year. Mr.
Slattery was president of Slattery Company, Inc. He is survived by two sons, J.B. Slattery and Bill
Slattery, of Shreveport, two daughters, Mrs. John A. Walker of Shreveport and Mrs. J.E. Boggess of
Columbus, Mississippi; a sister, Mrs. J. Ben O’Keefe of Biloxi, Mississippi, twenty-three grandchildren,
and fifteen great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. A Rosary service will be held at 7:00 p.m.,
Thursday at Osborn Funeral Home and a Requiem Mass will be at St. John Berchmans Co-Cathedral at
1:00 pm on Friday with Father Donald B. Dickerson S.J., officiating. Burial will be at Forest Park
Cemetery. His grandsons will serve as pallbearers. The family requests that memorials be made to the
charity of donor’s choice.
Several stories were told to me by Bill Slattery about his father concern his riding of horses in his young
years. One story was about the habit of the Slattery boys to race from the Slattery building on Texas
Avenue to the Fairfield property occasionally after finishing work. The other related to a ride by the kids,
probably the Slattery and Tierney kids, to “ditchfield” on the lower farm. They would start out on a
summer morning and ride horses down to and spend the day swimming in ditchfield and having a picnic.
Ditchfield was dug by the Confederates on what was to become the Lower Farm in order to repulse a
Union advance and is still there today.

Figure 7 - The Joe Slattery Family c1936 – Left to right: Joe, Jr., Ellen, Joe Sr., Margaret, Bill, Mary Frances,
Margaret, J.B., George.

Joseph Slattery is sitting on top of the boat, “The Doll”, which was reportedly built in the yard of Howard
Doll’s house on Fannin Street. The wife of Joseph and the wife of Howard’s son Charlie were sisters.
The boat was floated down the Red and Mississippi rivers and sold.
Figure 8 - "The Doll"

Tess Slattery O’Keefe (1894–1995) – by Maureen O’Keefe Ward

Before the death of Tess Slattery O’Keefe, her granddaughter Maureen O’Keefe Ward sat down with her
to record her memories about her life. Maureen is the first born child of Jerry O’Keefe, the first
grandchild of Tess and a great granddaughter of JBS.
Teresa Slattery O’Keefe, who we called Nannaw, was the next to youngest of the twelve Slattery
children. She had a baby brother, Louis, who was born on Nannaw's birthday in September, but who died
in February, just a few months later. He might have been ‘Louis Aloysius.’ “My mother died shortly
after the birth of this final child; I was not in good health as a child and was shuttled between relatives for
rearing. These relatives were on Slattery side, lived in Wisconsin and Pueblo, Colorado. I boarded at Our
Lady of the Lake in San Antonio for high school.”
Nannaw recalled: "When I was growing up, there was nothing across and all around us except on the side
there was a cotton patch. And the gypsies used to come and camp right across the street from us and my
mother said "close the windows, close the doors, make out nobody's home; we don't want to be bothered
with them." So she'd gather us all in the house and everything was dark, closed up tight. Finally they'd
move on when they got ready. This was out in the woods -- there wasn't any town then. We were a good
ways out of town. Dad went into town every day in his horse and buggy to practice law; he'd drive in and
drive out.” Her mother, formerly a teacher, didn't teach anymore after she got married, as far as Nannaw
knew.
About growing up in Shreveport, she said "we had a [black] family that lived there. We had a great big
place, way down on the corner. The [black folks], the woman cooked for us and did the wash; the man
took care of the cows, and horses and pigs. It was more like a farm; we had fresh vegetables, fruit trees,
raised our own chickens, milked the cows, made we butter. We used to play with the little old [black] kids
all the time, up and down in the yard.”
Her brother Will was about two years older than she. They were the two youngest except for the baby
Louis who died. She recalled, “We played around together a lot and everything. . . . One time we had a
persimmon tree way down in the back yard and we weren't supposed to get up in it because the limbs
were old and all. But one day Will decided that he would -- there were some persimmons that he couldn't
reach. I went down to the persimmon tree with him; I said ‘you better not get up there; Mama says no’.
“The limb broke and he fell. He was scared to tell Mama. He said, ‘don't tell Mama, don't tell Mama’. I
walked up to the barn with him, and he got up into the cotton seed. We always had a big pile of cotton
seed, for the horses and everything. I said ‘I am going to tell her’. So I ran into the house and told Mama
and she came out and got him. He had broken his arm. He was afraid and didn't want me to tell, but I said
I am going to tell her. Mother was a pretty strict disciplinarian and he was afraid to tell her what
happened. She rushed him to get his arm fixed after I told.”
About the foods she ate while growing up: “We ate just regular food; fixed most different things, the
colored woman did. She did most of the cooking, the colored woman did.” Nannaw didn’t remember
having fried chicken every Sunday (as she did in later years heading the O'Keefe family): “we had it, but
I don't remember what day [of the week]. We raised chickens so we had a good deal of chicken.”
About her schooling, she said “I went to St. Vincent's, the nearest school. They had all the grades through
high school. I started there at first grade and went there until about the 6th grade. Father sent me out to
Colorado to stay for about three years -- maybe for 7th and 8th grades.

“Mother had died of TB and I was so young father was worried about me and wanted me to be in a better
climate. I was just barely six when she died; [she] died in Feb. Went to school in San Antonio for four
years - 9th through 12th and graduated there. Must have been a boarding school; didn't even come home
for Christmas; stayed from September to June.” She said the Sisters kept them busy; she wasn't lonely.
“We had bus rides, Christmas doings, bought presents for the nuns, something crazy.”
“I was sent to stay with Aunt Fannie, Mrs. Langdon, in Pueblo. Aunt Fannie had six or eight children. “
“This was not the same aunt that my grandmother Herron went to live with -- that was Aunt Fannie's
sister, Aunt Maggie. Aunt Maggie and Aunt Fannie had married two brothers named Langdon and both
lived [in Pueblo], two blocks apart from each other.” (As for the correct spelling of Fannie and Maggie’s
family name, Nannaw used both “Heron” and “Herron”. She believes Herron is better spelling; Heeran is
wrong.)
“Aunt Maggie only had one child and he wasn't near my age, so I decided to stay with Aunt Fannie. This
got Aunt Maggie so mad because I wouldn't stay with her but instead stayed with her sister. In Aunt
Fannie's family, Josephine was just one year older than I was; my cousin Johnny was just a little bit older
than that; on up. . . I stayed with them all the time. Aunt Maggie got so mad.
“One day I went down to visit Aunt Maggie, walking, of course, and this cute little dog from the
neighborhood followed me. When I went into Aunt Maggie's house, the dog went under the house. When
the lady who owned the dog missed it, she called Aunt Maggie and accused me of stealing it. Aunt
Maggie sure 'let her have it’. I was so mad and hurt at having been accused of stealing the dog! After a
while the dog came out from under the house and went on off. . .”
More about time in Shreveport: “I used to go down to my dad's office and study law with him; I would
walk down with him or ride the bus and would come back by street car. At the office, I would sit around
for a while and would then just go on home.
“Most of my brothers and sisters stayed around Shreveport; one of them traveled off to California to get a
job, but he came back. John, my oldest brother, was a lawyer and he had his law office with my father.
Others went to school for a while. Paul and Will were in the office, working with my father, but they
weren't lawyers. I don't know what they were doing.”
[Re Slattery building]: “My father had always had that in mind — wanted to have a building. He said
‘Oh it would cost a fortune to put it up’ and we all urged him to go ahead and do it — to build it. He'd
wanted it all of his life. He'd worked hard for the money, and [we all said] go ahead and do it, so he did.
“Oh he was so proud of that building! He said one day when they were building it, he was standing over
at the post office, which was right in front. He was standing on the steps, just watching for a while. Some
little girls came out laughing and said, ‘Look at that old geezer, I bet he never has seen a big building
before.’ He got the biggest kick out of that.
“He was fairly advanced in years when he built that building, way up in years. He was still practicing law
in a way, probably not too much by then; kept the office open and would go in. We finally did pay for it,
many years after he was gone. We are still getting some money out of it now. He left everything he had to
all of the children; they've been dividing it through the years.
“I remember my brother Tom. He scared the little [black children], he dressed up like a policeman or
something, scared them to death with that.”
Re the toys she played with as a child: “I had a doll mostly. My brothers played outside and I'd play with

them. They'd dig ditches and make a pond that went from one place to another with a ditch. One time I
remember that one of the chimneys fell in on the house and almost covered up one of the boys. The
house was very, very old; the fireplace fell in one day.
“I used to go out on the back porch and feed the horses bread. They'd come up and eat out of my hand.
These were the horses for the horse and buggy. Had only one or two horses, never more than that. One
time we sold one of the horses and a couple of days later the horse was back at the gate, just begging to
come in. It got out from where it was sold and came home.
“One time when we were building the new house, we had a young horse, a colt, and we had a board over
the steps and it walked up that board and came on into the house. It went all through the house, looking
around, looking around.
“This new house was completed in about 1902. I was born in 1894. The new house was finished shortly
after mother died in 1901. Papa built it for her especially, but she died in 1901 and we moved into the
house in 1902, it was finished. It was very sad for him. He'd been so anxious -- he couldn't afford to
[build it earlier], you know, and then when he could afford to, she died just before it was ready.
"She had been sick for about a year or two. We'd been around to a few places trying to get her well of
tuberculosis. We went to Hot Springs and different places but it didn't do any good. He was very
disappointed because he had it built specially for her."
As to where she got her "sweet tooth", she laughed: "I don't know; we had some desserts all the time, you
know, different things, but I don't know what special one."
“When we first moved over here to Biloxi, I used to make all kinds of candies, you know. We were
having such a hard time, I wanted to make candy and sell it, but Ben wouldn't let me -- wouldn't hear to it.
I used to help him in the office sometime, if they had a funeral or something, but he wouldn't let me do
anything like that [making candy to sell]. I said 'Why not?’ Nobody around here was making it, you
know, to sell . . . And I said ‘I could make a good bit of money on that’, but he wouldn't hear to it.”
Re fun memories from her time in Colorado: “We used to go . . . I had a sled and ice skates in Colorado,
and we went … my aunt Fannie lived on a high hill right on the corner. We'd come down this way and
go all the way down. She let us learn to ice skate but she wouldn't let us do it too much. She was afraid
the ice would break and we would drown. There was a lake right in town, in the park. This was Aunt
Fannie.
“We used to go, Josephine and I (she was just a little bit older than me) …Aunt Fannie's husband, Uncle
John, was crippled. He was thrown out of the buggy and broke his leg and it never did heal good; he was
a cripple. But he used to drive and he'd take Josephine and me with him. We'd go out on Sunday; we'd go
hunting; we'd go out in the boat; he taught us how to row the boat; he'd let us row.”
As for what they hunted, “Just anything we could see -- with guns. He was right there with us to see that
nothing happened. We went mostly for the ride; we liked to go out on the water -- in the boats. We just
walked along the lake to see what we could see around. There wasn't much really to hunt. The guns were
just regular shotguns. He would supervise us all the time. He could shoot a gun. He could do anything
except walk good. He was in the abstract business, doing title searches, etc. He had a real good . . . made
good money. Aunt Fannie did the cooking and everything; we helped her.
“That was like a real adventure to do those things; we didn't spend much money, though, we just rode out
with him. He could go on the lake any time he wanted to; and that didn't cost anything, just maybe just a
few bullets and that didn't cost anything.”
During the two years she lived in Colorado, “I didn't come back to Shreveport for any visits. I just stayed
out there and then when I came home, I stayed home.
“One time I was sick out there and the doctor got so mad. He said ‘Nothing's wrong with this girl, she's
just home sick -- you're not writing to her. . . you get busy and write to her more!’ Oh, he was furious --
he said ‘There's not a thing wrong with her!’ So they wrote to me more after that. Aunt Fannie was so
worried because she had the responsibility for me, and she called in the doctor and he said ‘Not a thing
wrong with her’.
“I said I didn't spend much time at home. After I graduated, I spent more time there then . . . I came back
to Shreveport after graduating from San Antonio and just stayed there. My father said, ‘You can go to any
university in the United States that you want to.’ And I told him, I said, ‘I thank you, but I'm not going
anywhere! I'm sick and tired of being away from home." I said ‘I'm not going anywhere’ and I didn't.
“I was finished with school. I didn't go to college. What we took in San Antonio, I figured we'd had [the
equivalent of] two years of college. You know so many subjects that we had, they have in the first and
second years of college now. It was a Catholic school, Our Lady of the Lake, in San Antonio. The college
had started when I graduated in 1914.
“When I returned to Shreveport, I didn't do anything, just stayed at home -- until I got married in 1921.
During those years at home, I did some volunteer work, just fooled around the home.”
As to how she met her husband ("Ben" O’Keefe, who we call ‘PawPaw’), “Mary O'Keefe was teaching
school in Shreveport and she was staying at different places and they kept going up on the rent and she
didn't want to pay it. My father was always interested in young folks that way. And he asked me if I
would share my bedroom with her. I had two beds in my bedroom and he asked me if I'd do that for the
winter. So I said, well I would, and he just charged her a little rent, not much and she stayed there, then.
“We had a fair every year in October -- a state fair and she wanted Ben to come up for the State Fair. And
so my father said, ‘well, we've got plenty of room and he can stay here.’ So he came up. And she gave me
to understand that he was engaged to the widow in Ocean Springs and I needn't give him any attention nor
did anyone else need to. They were very disappointed that I married him. I was about 24-25 at that time
and I was a month older than him.
As to how the Slattery family had met Aunt Mary in the first place, “my father met Aunt Mary because
she was a Catholic and went to St. John's and we all went there and he was interested in helping young
folks and that's how it all started. But as I say, she gave me to understand that I need not pay him any
mind (laughing).”
As to how she got along with Aunt Mary while Mary lived with them in Shreveport, “Well, I didn't see
too much of her. She was teaching school all day long, and at night she'd go out and on the weekend with
different people. She'd been there for a good while before she came to our house.
“So he [Ben O’Keefe] came up for the fair and he liked me and made [Mary] invite me back [to Ocean
Springs] the following summer time. He made her invite me down to visit them. So I went down for a
few days and then the next year, he made her invite me again. Aunt Mary would go home again during
the summer time. And she came back to Shreveport the following winter.”
As to whether Nannaw took Ben to the fair on that first visit: “Yeah, we went around and saw that he had
a good time while he was there.”

She doesn't remember how he ‘popped the question’. “They never said anything to me about coming into
the family for about two months after they knew it. I would stay only 3 or 4 days on these visits.”
Nannaw doesn't remember Aunt Mary returning to Shreveport during the winter between the proposal and
the marriage: “I think she stayed down in Ocean Springs.”
Nannaw volunteers: “They (Aunt Mary, etc.) were crazy about this widow that lived in Ocean Springs at
that time. And all of them wanted him to marry this widow. Because after he announced that he was
going to marry me, they didn't say any word for about two months -- didn't talk to me for about two
months! They knew it [during] the second summer [she visited], I'm sure. We decided to get married
during my second visit down to the coast.”
“I know they didn't want me; they wanted the widow. I knew the widow when I came down to visit, she'd
come over. Ben's two aunts lived there; one lived in New Orleans and came over quite often; the other
lived with us. Can't remember their names. The aunts would be sitting on the front porch; the widow
would come by and say, "Come on Aunts, and let's go for a ride" -- and they'd go off and leave me sitting
on the front porch by myself. Ben wasn't around; he'd be at work. He didn't like that. That's the way
she'd do. Can't think of the widow's name either; she was crazy about Ben. She'd have married him in a
minute. She must have been pretty young.
As for Ben's mother, “They lived in the big house in Ocean Springs. She was very nice. I liked her, but I
didn't get to know her too well. She died before we were married. She died in January or February and we
were married in April. The wedding was in Shreveport at the old St. John's -- it's not there anymore, been
gone a long time. It was out just across from the cemetery.”
She recalled: “Mary didn't want me to be dressed in white as a bride when I married Ben. She said her
mother had just died and it wasn't proper to be wearing white; I should wear black. [Nannaw's impression
was that Mary was just being spiteful because of her opposition to Ben's marrying her instead of the
widow.]
The following announcement of Tess and Ben’s marriage appeared in the Shreveport paper on April 26,
1921:
The marriage of Miss Teresa Josephine Slattery and Mr. J. Benjamin O’Keefe was solemnized at
a nuptial mass on Tuesday Morning at 9 o’clock in St. John’s church, Father Fields being the
celebrant.
The alter candles cast a soft glow over the many roses that banked the alter. Palms and ferns
formed the background.
Preceding the entrance of the bridal party Mrs. Charles Doll, accompanied by Mrs. Joseph
Silversburg, sang “O Perfect Love”. During the impressive ceremony the Ave Maria was sung by
Mrs. John Slattery, and Messrs.’ Ernest Hawkins and Henry Farmer. While the register was being
signed Mrs. Slattery sang “O Promise Me”. Miss Genevieve Carmody played the wedding music,
which included the bridal chorus of Lohengrin and the wedding march of Mendelsohn.
The bridesmaid was her cousin, Josephine Langdon, who wore a gown of grey crepe de chine
with touches of pink in the trimming and a crepe hat with formal wreath of Harding blue and rose
pink flowers. She carried an arm cluster of pink Killarney roses tied with pink tulle.

The maid of honor was Miss Mary O’Keefe, the groom’s sister. Her gown of harding blue
georgette was hung over blue satin and her girdle was of silver ribbon. Her picture hat of leghorn
had a black satin crown and a beautiful pink rose as the trimming. She too carried Killarney roses
tied with pink tulle.
The bride entered with her father, John B. Slattery. Her gown was of heavy white Canton crepe
and beautiful Chantilly lace. Her hat of Chantilly was trimmed in white Ostrich. Her bouquet of
bride’s roses and sweet peas was tied with broad white satin ribbon and showered with valley
lilies.
The groom was attended by Mr. Paul Slattery as best man and Mr. William Slattery as
groomsman.
Immediately after the ceremony a lovely wedding breakfast was served at the bride’s home, the
bridal party and a very few of the closest friends. Pink gladiola, snap dragons and roses were the
flowers used in decoration of the home. The beautiful wedding cake was wreathed in pink roses,
the candles were shaded in pink, and the ice course and bonbons were in pink and white.
Part of the bride’s bouquet was sent to her mother’s grave, the other half Miss O’Keefe caught as
it was tossed from the stairway by Mrs. O’Keefe as she went to change to her travelling suit of
blue Trico tine, with which she worn a hat of blue and grey hose, slippers and gloves.
Mr. and Mrs. O’Keefe left that afternoon at 2 o’clock going first to Vicksburg. They will visit
first in Hattiesburg and then go to New Orleans for a little stay before settling in their home in
Ocean Springs, Miss.
The many handsome gifts bore evidence of the popularity of the bride and groom.
After the wedding inn Shreveport, “Ben and I went to Vicksburg on our honeymoon and we stopped there
and we stopped at Jackson. Then we came on to Ocean Springs; we were living there then. His mother
had died in about February. April 1921 was the wedding. Ben's father had died many years earlier; I never
did know his father at all. They said he was so nice though, really nice.
When asked about the family’s guest house operations, she said “that must have been Ben's mother before
I knew her. They had what they called a Tally Ho - a big open buggy. They'd meet the trains every
Sunday during the summer and they'd take the arriving people wherever they wanted to go -- like a taxi
service. They ran a taxi, sold wood, kindling and coal. They were doing that; but not too much after I
married; but for a while after we were married they continued to do that. Ben handled all of that for ages.
He had some trucks that hauled dray when they were fixing the [apparently some military facility] in
Ocean Springs.
As for living in that big house in the early years of marriage, she stated “Aunt Mary was living there with
her aunt (Auntie Connors) and it was hell. I just didn't like it. They treated me like an outsider, more or
less.
“I belonged to a card club over there; Mary did too (the same one). When she'd get mad, there were two
ladies that were sisters that she didn't like; she got mad with me one time cuz it was my turn to have them
and she'd had a falling out with them, and she got mad because I was having them and I said shucks that's
not me; I don't have anything to do with that; of course I'm going to invite them. I told them I was having
it and they came. Aunt Mary stayed for the game, but was really mad at me. I said, "well it's not my fault;
I didn't fall out with them; I liked them; and I said that doesn't have anything to do with me.'

“[Mary] was aggravating at times. It was just a bad situation. I said I would never have done that again.
Mary had a room upstairs along with Auntie. Mary used the dining room, the living room and all the
downstairs too, except my two bedrooms. We had two bedrooms downstairs. We started having the kids
pretty quick. We stayed in one bedroom and the kids in the other. There were two beds in one bedroom;
one big bed in the front bedroom -- on the right side of the house as you go in. The left side was the living
room and the dining room right behind that and then a little dinette and then the kitchen to the back.
“One day we were there eating dinner and somebody wanted to open the door to the stove and put in
some coal and start a fire; a snake had come down and fell right on out onto the floor. It scared us.
[A normal day in the big house in those days went something like this. “Mary was teaching school and I
was at home taking care of the kids. The big meal was at night. We'd all eat together and of course she'd
eat out at school at noon and I'd eat there at noon. Auntie would stay around; she always made up the
beds upstairs for Mary. They used one side upstairs; no one used the other side.
[Ben’s brother] “John was gone so much of the time; he would stay upstairs on that side when he was
there. They worked in Louisiana in the summer and in the winter they went to these foreign countries
(Cuba). That's where Jody broke his neck (1932). [Jody] was the sweetest thing to me and the children.
He'd do anything for me; I was just crazy about him. He died a long time after we were married; I had all
my children by then. He and John used to go to the foreign countries in the winter. “
Hearing Jody’s full name, Joseph Hyacinth, reminded Nannaw that the Hyacinths were O’Keefe cousins
who lived in New Orleans.
As for Jody's death in Cuba, “they had a pond to swim in and they had just put up a new swimming board
and he was the first one to try it. They had put it where it wasn't very deep and when he dove over, his
head went into the sand. John went down and brought him home. He was so good to the children and they
just loved him. When I was going to Shreveport and if Ben couldn't go, he'd take me on over to New
Orleans and put me on the train. He was really sweet; he'd do so many things. I don't recall how old he
was when he died.
Her husband Ben, in those years, “was a practical joker. One year at Mardi Gras time, they dipped some
lady's dog in some kind of coloring -- she was really crazy, mad. He and Mr. Elmer Williams were always
into something. One time, they got a lot of shrimp and crabs and stuff and when they got back to the
Williams house they opened up the trunk and all of them crawled out into the yard. I think they'd had
some drinks. They drank a lot in those days, those two -- too much.”
Regarding their move from Ocean Springs to Biloxi, she said “all the children had been born. Ben [her
youngest child] was going into first grade when we moved over -- in 1937. Ben [her husband] had opened
up a funeral parlor [in Biloxi] and it was more convenient. He wanted to get over to Biloxi anyway. They
had a funeral business in Ocean Springs and opened one in Biloxi too. They kept the one in Ocean
Springs but it was mostly over in Biloxi. The funeral home was originally a house and he took it over,
bought it. We lived right behind, very close; it was very convenient to run home for lunch -- very
convenient except when they were running around. And I'd go over and keep office sometimes in the
morning - that was convenient for me.” [Rieman had his funeral home at that time too.]
Her daughter Alice had been born over in Biloxi. “My father insisted that for my first one that I come
over into the hospital. When Johnny was coming along, I didn't want to come over to Biloxi and leave
Alice over there [in Ocean Springs]; so I had the three boys at home in the front bedroom [in Ocean
Springs]. The doctor gave me a sponge and I'd put it on my nose when the pain was very bad and then

would take it off -- chloroform or smelling salts. I just used it as I needed it.
“I got along fine, except with Johnny. The doctor drank a lot -- he was the only doctor. I was torn with
Johnny. See, I was in labor from Sunday midnight about, until Friday afternoon. I almost didn't survive
and then I was torn and I didn't know it until I started menstruating again. I woke up one morning and I
was blood from head to toe. I couldn't get over it!
“So Ben put me on the train and sent me to Dr. Nix's clinic -- he was a friend of the family, and oh the
doctor was furious! He said ‘You mean to say they let you come over here by yourself? You could have
died on the train.’ And I said, ‘Well, I wanted Ben to stay with the children; I didn't want to leave them; I
said I told him to stay there with them.’ Boy, he was mad; he sent me to the hospital in his own car right
away." [She doesn't remember how she got from the train to his office. She was in the hospital for about
two weeks.]
[She also had a miscarriage] “between Johnny and Ben -- just a couple of months along, and then Ben
came] I didn't know it until I went to the doctor; he said I think it's been dead a couple of days. He just
took it and I went on home.
“It was terrible, a doctor drinking like he did. He was the only doctor in Ocean Springs. Different people
said ‘have him in the morning.’ And I said, ‘well how can you have your pains — always regulate that to
have it in the morning?’ You can't always regulate that; you don't know whether you're gonna need him.
It was some times. Oh goodness.”
[Maureen remembers the big bed in the front room of the later home on the front beach in Biloxi.
PawPaw would sit in the bed and call for his coffee. And we'd bring it in and he'd pour it on the saucer
and let us drink it out of the saucer.]
MW contemporaneous notes re Nannaw’s death on 7/27/95:

Nannaw died this evening at approximately 6:30 p.m. central time, in her home at 136 Caillavet St.,
Biloxi, Mississippi, with many of her family around her. She had taken to bed about a week ago and
refused food and water for several days, told Dad ‘I'm dying’, and sent away the nurses who came to
minister to her.
The priests visited her daily with Holy Communion and many of the family were able to come and visit
her. She told them as they arrived ‘Thank you for coming.’ She received the Sacrament of the Dying an
hour or so before dying.
When she passed away this evening, Dad and Mom were there (Jerry and Annette), Aunt Alice (whose
husband Leo Sebastian had died just a few weeks earlier), Uncle Ben, my sister Kathryn, my brother Jeff,
and Uncle Johnny's former nurse. (Uncle Johnny was en route from New Orleans, where he worked, and
arrived about an hour after she died; my sister Susan had been there until 5:45 p.m., leaving shortly before
she died.) Nannaw passed away very peacefully and did not appear to suffer. She lived a long and fruitful
life.
Upon my return to D.C., Nickie Castinero O’Keefe (Uncle John’s widow) reminisced that Nannaw told
her a few years earlier that she had never prepared a meal in her whole life.

Frank Sullivan’s Note: I grew up with the O’Keefes and Aunt Tess and she was big part of our lives.
When she visited she made the rounds and had a way about her that made each of us feel special. It is
informative that my grandmother was called Nanaw, her grandmother, Tess, was called Nannaw by her
grandchildren. I told Maureen O’Keefe Ward, who has helped with this project, that it was further proof
to me of how close they were. To see them together was to witness the love and respect they had for each
other. And, we could count on seeing other O’Keefes in town for the Slattery Co. meetings.
My family visited Biloxi in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s and stayed in Uncle Ben’s ‘Captain’s House’ on
Beach Boulevard (we stayed in the round bedroom on the first floor). In those days we could walk across
a two lane road and right onto the sand. The best vacation ever! I remember that Uncle Ben always had a
joke to tell us or a trick to play on someone. He was a very entertaining and sweet man.

Slattery House
Figure 9 - The Slattery "Mansion", Slattery House or Big House as it came to be known.
The Slattery family moved from downtown to their land on Fairfield in the early 1880’s with the purpose
of building a home. For the first 20 years on Fairfield they lived in a large structure used by Union troops
as a barrack. When they moved they probably had two sons and would experience the birth of the rest of
their children before their new home was ready for occupancy.
The Slattery House was designed by the family but, sadly, Mary Frances would not live to move into her
new home. I believe that JBS made the place all that he could but, of course, without the love of his life.
At the time that the family moved into the new house, around 1903, there were eight children who moved
in: Rob, Nell, Joe, Frank, Tom, Paul, Will and Tess. The ninth child, John, had built his home next to his
father’s on Fairfield and moved there about 1903 as well. When they moved into their new home Rob was
23, Nell was 20, Joe was 18, Frank was 17, Tom was 15, Paul was 13, Will was 11, and Tess was 9. Nell
had graduated from St. Vincent’s in 1900, Joe and Frank began attending St. John’s and the other children
attended St. Vincent’s. In the early part of the last century Catholics girls attended St. Vincent’s and
Catholic boys attended St. Vincent’s until the ninth grade when they transferred to St. John’s.
JBS lost a young son in 1899 his wife in 1901 and then Tom in 1904. It was probably at this time that he
decided to send Frank and Tess away hoping to avoid the same fate for them. But, even with this Frank

died in September of 1905. JBS seem determined to spare his youngest daughter and she would not return
to Shreveport until about 1911 when she graduated from St. Mary’s in San Antonio. She was about 17 at
the time.
JBS asked Nell to help him with the house and children when her mother died and she did. She put her
college studies on hold and spent the rest of her life as the homemaker of the Slattery house on Fairfield.
She was married in 1911 and stayed in the home as her children were born, from 1912 to 1917. The
husband of Nell, Bob Tierney, died from the Spanish Flu in 1919 and my mother and her three sisters
continued to live in the Slattery home until they (Lolly, Florence and Roberta) married. After Lolly lost
her husband Ted to cancer in 1943 she moved back into the big house. Josephine was an unmarried
school teacher and lived in the big house until her age and health required her to move into a health
facility. Nell returned to St. Vincent’s and graduated in 1942, the last year that St. Vincent’s offered
studies past High School.
My Mom told me that while she was growing up, when they wanted to buy something, clothing for
example, the merchants would call on them in their home. Part of the explanation is that at that time
clothes were ordered from a catalogue and there were few places to go and shop like there are today. In
those days they would give a local merchant a general idea of what they would like for a special occasion
and they would bring the merchandise to the house for them to make their selection. I have included a
photo of my mother taken in 1936 when she was about 21 and she certainly seems to be well dressed!
An important fact of home life in the big house over the years was that my grandmother never drove and
relied on others her entire life. During the years that JBS was alive she counted on Joe, Rob or Paul. Later
she usually depended on her children, two of whom lived with her. In the will of Uncle Paul he left his
1940 Studebaker to Nell which she either gave to someone else or sold! I had heard a story that Nell tried
driving and eventually had an accident with her children onboard, some of whom were injured. This
scared her so much that she never drove again. This accident happened either on Margaret Place as she
turned from Fairfield by Dance’s Florists on the way to Schumpert Hospital or on Highway 1 south of
Shreveport on her way to Biloxi.
Later in life Will, who was the[ president of the Slattery Co. and also never drove, walked to the trolley
on Line Avenue each morning and took the trolley on Southern Avenue home each evening. He always
stopped at a candy store downtown and bought a good selection for the basket he kept for the kids, right
up to his death in 1960.
There were special gatherings and meals held on Independence Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. These
were always well attended where great meals such as hamburgers on the 4th and fried chicken or turkey
and dressing on the other special days. The table bought by JBS in the dining room would seat only about
12 so for family gatherings multiple card tables were placed in the dining and front rooms for the ‘kids’. I
highlight kids because I sat at one of these tables for a long time at the family gatherings while the older
aunts, uncles, my parents and cousins had seniority.
Christmas was a special time for all of the Slattery clan during which Roosevelt arrived with big pine
trees, recently chopped down on the Lower Farm, to be erected and decorated by all. On Christmas
morning the family would gather at the Big House to open gifts after having done so at our own home.
July 4th also meant a lot of fireworks in the front yard while it was still legal.
And each year, in what was begun during the lifetime of JBS, an open house held for the family and all of
the friends of the Slatterys. It was an in and out open house and hundreds attended. There was a luscious
buffet in the dining room and ample room to browse in the Library and Parlor and talk with folks you
may not have seen since the last open house. When weather permitted the floor length windows in the
Parlor were opened and the crowd spilled out onto the front porch. I met all of the politicians and business
people in Shreveport and once met N.C. McGown who was the Chairman of United Gas where I
eventually worked while I went to college. Mr. McGown was one of the witnesses at the founding of the
Slattery Co. in 1925 and later started his company.
The most significant part of the house to the kids over the years was definitely the attic. When I asked
Rosemary Slattery Davis about what she remembered best, one of her great memories was going to the
Big House to play in the attic on rainy days. That place was huge (especially to little kids) and was the
scene of many a play/fight/story and where one could hide for quite a while during ‘hide and go seek’.
During the early lives of the great grandkids of my era we were particularly terrified of someone or
something named BRASSCOUP who lived in the dark attic. What or who is BRASSCOUP? No one
seems to know but watch out! Maybe when the house was changed to a bed and breakfast and the attic
was converted to an apartment, BRASSCOUP moved out! When I meet the family who now lives in the
house I will have to ask them how their kids are getting along!!!
Another recollection by Rosemary was the chauffeur driven limo bought by John F. for his wife, Edna.
Edna had the chauffeur drive the Slattery and Tierney kids to St. Vincent’s on school days. Edna had an
accident while on her honeymoon and, because of a stiff leg, never drove. Since Joe Slattery lived on the
corner of Thornhill and Boulevard, the Rob Slattery’s house was on Boulevard, and the Tierney lived in
the Slattery House, this must have been quite a thrill for all of them. I have a picture in my mind of the
limo pulling up to school loaded with Tierney and Slattery kids during the depression. Must have been a
real kick!
Life changed for the better at the Slattery House in 1955. At the time Josephine Tierney who was
unmarried and taught school offered her nieces and nephews a choice. Would the kids like a sailboat for
Cross Lake or would we like a swimming pool? Well it was unanimous! A pool it would be.
Beginning in the summer of 1955 until the house was sold the pool was there for all of the ‘Slattery’ kids.
Many of us got water logged, on purpose, and got great tans that lasted long after summer ended. This
also gave many of us a new place to hold birthday parties and celebrations for baseball championships
and such.
Josephine lived in the Big House until she entered a retirement center and the home was finally sold in
1990. But the end result was great for this proud house. The first owners were two doctors who had
moved from New Orleans to practice medicine at the LSU Medical Center. They began a renovation but
the final changes were made after they sold and the Slattery House was converted into a bed and
breakfast. Currently the home is lived in by a family with little children and now if you drive by you may
see a lived in look with toys scattered on the lawn, just as it should be.
It was important to JBS to keep the family close and towards that end he bought all but one lot on
Fairfield and all of the lots on Boulevard and Dalzell. The following lots were purchased by JBS and are
reflected in an exhibit used in the probate of his will in 1937.
The grand plan of JBS:
Figure 10 - The Thornhill Plat from the Probate of the JBS’ will in 1937.

In his will, JBS gave the Big House and the associated lots to Nell. On Boulevard he left one lot to Paul
(Paul had given half of his lot to Lolly and Ted Kendall and, later, the other half to my parents and both
families built homes), and one lot to Will. He left the lots on Dalzell to Tess and Joe. His son, John,
owned the lot on Fairfield next to the Slattery house but by the time the will was probated John had
passed away. The lot on the corner of Boulevard and Thornhill was purchased by Joe and he lived there
until 1937 when he moved to his new home at 3663 Fairfield. He rented the house from 1937 to 1945
when he sold the house to my parents.
As I mentioned above, the second half of Paul’s lot was given to my parents to build a house. They sold
the house when my Dad moved to Texas during the war. When they returned they bought the house
that Joe had lived in on Thornhill and I was raised there. The house was sold in 2004 after the death of
both my Mom and Dad. So in essence my Mom lived on the same block for all but 12 months of her life.
One of the most interesting facts that Joe and I discovered concerned the home of the widow of Rob,
Grace (O’Dwyer Slattery), and Grace Ellen and Rosemary. We were not sure when the house was built, if
Rob lived in the house or when they might have moved in. We know that they lived at 1938 Walnut
Street and learned that the house at 943 Boulevard (see plat, above) was actually built in 1925 by JBS for
Grace and her girls. It is another unexpected find that supports the fact of how important family was to
him. Rob died in 1923 and then his family was moved to Boulevard. During the great depression Aunt
Grace and the girls lived in this home.

Figure 11 - Nell Tierney at the newly completed Slattery House. This house would serve as her
home for all but three weeks of her life. Notice what looks like a corral just off the front porch. Can
you remember the Slattery house before the front porch was screened in? It looks like Aunt Nell
has a well-trained dog!

Figure 12 - Bill Slattery and Florence Tierney probably in the winter of 1936 – see the following photograph (how
about those outfits!).

Figure 13 – A cold and snowy day in 1936.

Here are the Slattery boys at home at 2302 Thornhill Avenue c1920.
Figure 14 - Joe and his sidekick J.B. at their home on Thornhill Avenue.

No gaming system or HD television? No problem. This is the famous ‘roller coaster’ in the front yard of
the Slattery House that was ridden by many a child. This together with the badminton court, magnolia tree
and the fun/scary attic could keep kids busy.
Figure 15 - Anonymous grandkids or great grandkids? Note that there is no wall between Uncle
John’s house and the Big House.

Family Photographs
This family photo was taken about 1887 (Frank was born in 1886).
Figure 16 - John and Mary Slattery with children: Mary holding Frank, John, Nell and John
holding Joe, Rob.

This could be titled “Grandpa in his glory” – with his grandchildren. Taken in 1925 (both George and
Johnny O’Keefe were born in 1925 and given the clothes this is probably the summer of ’25.)
Figure 17 - Rear: Lolly, Jo, Florence, L to R: J.B., Berta, Alice O'Keefe, Grandpa holding Johnny
O'Keefe & George Slattery, Front: Nell Slattery, Rosemary Slattery. Mary F. Slattery, Grace E.
Slattery, and Jerry O'Keefe. Obviously the O’Keefes are in town.
Bill Slattery told me a story from when his father lived on Thornhill Grandpa used to walk around the
block and stop at every home to get a glass of buttermilk. He said that as he walked he was like the
“Pied Piper” with grandkids following him as he went.

These are early pictures of John Francis in the 1870’s, Nell and Joe in the 1880’s and Tom in the 1890’s.
Figure 18 - Tom was known for his personality and scholarship. He died in 1904 at the age of 15.

Note: The handwriting on many of the pictures is that of my Mom, Florence Tierney Sullivan. She had a
distinctive and beautiful stroke up to her death. She did a lot of research into the family history and
prepared books that she left to all of her children on the Slattery, Tierney and Sullivan families and on
the Slattery Co.
The following is a picture of Mary Francis Herron c 1875.
Figure 19 - Mary Francis Herron, Age 21.

This is a picture of four of the Slattery children taken in the 1940’s.
Figure 20 - L to R: Tess, Will, Paul and Nell

JBS and his grandchild (his first grandchild, Mary Ellen Kendall was born in 1912.)
Figure 21 - JBS and Mary Ellen Tierney (?). The age of JBS seem to confirm that this was “Lolly”.

Figure 22 - John's photo in uniform during the Spanish American War, 1898

Figure 23 - Paul Slattery c1918

Figure 24 - Nell on graduation from St. Vincent’s, 1900

Figure 25 - Will Slattery on graduation from Spring Hill College in Mobile Alabama, 1913

Figure 26 - Tess at age 6.

Figure 27 – Tess around age 10.

Figure 28 - Rob Slattery, the father of Grace Ellen and Rosemary Slattery.

Grandchildren of John and Mary Slattery
Childs Name Grandchild Birth Date Date of Death

Robert Ambrose Slattery Grace Ellen Apr. 18, 1919 Dec. 13, 2011
Married Grace O'Dwyer - 2/2/18 Married Harry A. Johnson on Jan.31, 1942
Rosemary May 21, 1922
Married Jackson B. Davis on Jan. 15, 1944
Mary Ellen (Nell) Tierney Mary Ellen (Lolly) Oct. 12, 1912 Mar. 29, 1973
Married Robert A. Tierney - 7/25/11 Married Mattelue G. Kendall on Jun. 14, 1935
Josephine Fidelis Feb. 14, 1914 Jul. 2, 1988
Florence Catherine Aug. 6, 1915 Sep. 1, 2000
Married Edward H. Sullivan on Sep. 2, 1939
Roberta Ann Aug. 6, 1917 Apr. 18, 2006
Married James T. Carmichael on Jun. 28, 1941
Joseph Eldred Slattery Margaret Mary Jan. 11, 1914 Jun. 19, 2003
Married Margaret D'Artois 4/2/13 Married John A. Walker on Dec. 27, 1944
Joseph E. Jr. Feb. 13, 1915 Jun. 22, 1943
John Bernard Feb. 7, 1917 Apr. 22, 1998
Married Billie Stephens on Apr. 29, 1950
Mary Frances (Put) Apr. 13, 1920 Oct. 30, 2003
Married Julian E. Boggess on Feb. 7, 1948
Ellen (Nell) Feb. 4, 1924 Jun. 19, 1967
Married John A. Parks on Jul. 18, 1947
George Patrick Apr. 5, 1925 Mar. 19, 1975
Married Pattie Cotter on Oct. 20, 1951
Catherine 1927 1927
William Paul Oct. 21, 1930
Teresa Josephine Alice Mary Apr. 7, 1922 Nov. 22, 2011
Married Ben O'Keefe - 4/26/21 Married Leo J. Sebastian on May 16, 1943
Jeremiah Joseph Jul. 12, 1923
Married Annette R. Saxon on Mar. 8, 1944
Married Martha Peterson on Jul. 27, 1999
John Bernard Jan. 30, 1925 Mar. 14, 2004
Married Sue Biddy on Jul. 4, 1954
Joseph Benjamin Nov. 25, 1930 Mar. 17, 1999
Married Jennie Boone on Jun. 20, 1954
Figure 16 - The grandchildren of JBS

This picture was taken of the grandchildren in front of the Big House in the summer of 2000.
Figure 29 - From left to right front row: Grace Ellen Johnson, Roberta Carmichael, Margaret Walker and Mary
Frances Boggess. Back row: Alice Sebastian, Bill Slattery, Rosemary Davis and Jerry O’Keefe.

JBS at work and marrying off his last child and daughter. Notice the great hats for JBS and Will, and the
wedding party!
Figure 30 - JBS with Will; The wedding party of Ben and Tess O’Keefe

The Nell Tierney and Joe Slattery kids about 1920.
Figure 31 - Given the age of the children this was taken about 1919
How about that car!
Figure 32 - Joe and J.B. outside of their home on Thornhill Avenue.

This First Communion picture was taken about 1922(?).
Figure 33 - J.B. Slattery and Roberta Tierney

Letters from John B Slattery
By the fall of 1901 JBS had lost the love of his life, Mary Herron Slattery. Tuberculosis was a terrible
problem in America and Mary had died with TB. So he must have had his mortality on his mind when he
wrote a short note to his son and attorney, John F Slattery.
Shreveport, La, Sept. 13, 1901
John F. Slattery
Dear Son,
I deem it prudent to make my will, lest owing to accident my life should be cut off, and my affairs
be so much more complicated.
I do not think I have any preference for one child more than another, but as you are the oldest and
more settled then Robert and have always been a dutiful son, I believe you will make a better use of the
property left you, and can handle it better for the general good. I give you over and above your share, all
that I hand to a stranger, feeling that you will give a helping hand to any of your brothers and sisters that
may need it, always providing that their necessities are not brought on by dissolute habits. I wish that
each of my sons should obtain a good College education, and that Tessie have a good education in a good
Catholic school. I would advise that my life insurance amounting to ten thousand dollars be used to pay
off mortgage indebtedness and that all the property in Shreveport, La. should be kept together as well as
the Hope and Slaughter house place and the Boggy place. The rest of the property might be sold to pay
off indebtedness or to improve the Texas St. Property.
Try to keep the children together, I advise you to marry as soon as you find a suitable companion,
and the same is good advice for each of the other children, if that is their vocation. I desire that my funeral
services should be simple and not showy, and hope that you and each of the other children will believe
that I cared for life only that I might be of benefit to them, and that you will all live so that we meet
together with your darling mother in heaven.
May God’s blessing be showered on my darling family in this life and that we may all meet in
heaven, is the wish and prayer of your loving father/
J.B. Slattery

O’Keefe Brothers
Realtors
Ocean Springs Miss.
November 30, 1925
J.E. Slattery: Dear Son, I am writing today to John to give you the check he gives me and you can deposit
it in your bank, and give Nell one hundred dollars and fifty dollars and pay the grocery, gas, telephone,
and ice bills for the home. I will try and be home next Saturday morning unless I stay over another week
for Tess and the children, as she wants to have them get fully over the whooping cough. They bark a little
yet. The weather here is delightful. I went fishing once. A gar took my first throw and kept the bait,
sinker, bob and half of the fish of the fish line. It spoiled my fishing that day as I only caught two small
fish. I will try and go again soon. How are you getting along at the refinery, and with the Dixie Co.?
What is Will D’Artois doing, and the old man also. Are they bothering you any? This place is no business
place but only a quiet restful one. I am enjoying myself but am anxious to get home as soon as I can.
Give my love to all.
Affectionately your father
J.B. Slattery
P.S. I received a letter from Nell this morning.

D. Ryan & Sons

Embalmers and Funeral directors
33 South Main Street
Janesville, Wisconsin
Mrs. R. A. Tierney
June 15, 1927
Dear Nell, We arrived here all right; they met us with car at depot. Ed Ryan came to the depot for us and
took us to Dan’s and Nellies. They are all well; I do not know what day we will go to Madison, as we are
a little ahead of time. I have not seen any of the relatives except what we saw last night. We took sleepers
from Texarkana to St. Louis and chair’s car the rest of the way. Paul stood the trip all right and I am
feeling well, I did not get very tired. We will probably not go to Madison before Friday or Saturday. I
hope you are all well and tell the girls and boys to be good, and write me at Madison care of Park Hotel,
as I will probably be there several days. Tell Will to write me also, and let me know how things are
moving along, John can write me also as well as Joe. Love to yourself and children, Joe and family, John
and Edna and Grace and children. The girls can write also write me, when they get tired of playing jacks.
Lovingly your father,
J.B. Slattery
Note: JBS returned to his Alma Mater every five years and on his final trip to Wisconsin he was the
oldest surviving graduate of the class of 1872. His mother was Ellen Ryan Slattery and she had lived with
the Ryans when she first moved from New York. Her mother had died in Ireland and her father remarried
and had six children by his second wife. The Ed Ryan mentioned by JBS in his letter was his first cousin.
and was the son of JBS’ uncle, Edward Ryan, who died in 1883. This cousin moved to Shreveport briefly
but did not like it and returned to Janesville, Wisconsin.
Figure 34 - The Park Hotel, Madison WI

Another way to know someone is to read what is in their will. The final will was written by JBS in 1919
and amended in 1922.
Shreveport, July 22nd, 1919
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, I, John B. Slattery, a resident of
Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, being of sound mind and well disposed, and knowing the
uncertainty of life and the certainty of death, make this my last will and testament, revoking all others.
First: I will and desire the payment of all my just debts.
Second: I will and bequest to my daughter Ellen, now the widow of Robert A. Tierney, my home
place in Block “B” of the Thornhill Subdivision with its present frontage on Fairfield Avenue, and to
extend back on parallel lines as far as the home place of S.A. Guy on Block “C” of the Thornhill
subdivision extends of Dalzell Street together with all my furniture, books, etc. with my permission to
transfer any of my personal effects, and I will and bequeath to her, block four (4) of lot twenty two (22) of
the city of Shreveport La., which is now occupied by the Woolworth Co.
Third: I will and bequeath to my daughter, Teresa, block three (3) of lot twenty two (22) of the
city of Shreveport La., in front of the Parish Courthouse, and now occupied by the Boston Shoe Co. and
Wagner & Co. also I will and bequeath to her the west half of the lost fronting on Dalzell St. which lies
between the part willed to my daughter, Ellen, and property owned by Dr. Garrison, and to extend back
between parallel lines one half the distance between Dalzell St. and the Boulevard in Block “B” of the
Thornhill Subdivision.
Forth: I will and bequeath to my son, Joseph E., that part of my property on Dalzell St. lying
between the part herein willed to my daughter Teresa, and Dr. Garrisons home place, and extending back
the same distance as the lot willed to my daughter Teresa.
Fifth: My lots in Block “B” of the Thornhill Subdivision fronting on the Boulevard and all
standing in the name of my son, John, Which I transferred to him to enable him to borrow money on, and
also the thirty-six feet which stands in my name, I will and bequeath to my sons Robert A., Paul T. and
William B. in equal parts, the eastern third to my son Robert A., the middle third to my son Paul T. and
the western third to my son William B. this property on the Boulevard to extend south to one-half the
distance to Dalzell Street.
Sixth: I will and bequeath to my sons, Robert A., Joseph E. Paul T. and William B. Five
Thousand dollars each, to enable them to buy or build homes.
Seventh: I will and bequeath to my only living brother, Edward, one thousand dollars and in event
of his death, before mine, I bequeath it to his daughter, I also will and bequeath to the widow of my
brother, Robert, one thousand dollars, to Mrs. J. J. Langdon of Pueblo Col. One thousand dollars and to
my dec’d wife’s sister, Mrs. Joseph Johnesofsky of Nebraska, one thousand dollars.

Eighth: I will and bequeath to the Congregation of the Daughter of the Cross, Two thousand
dollars for the erection of an Alter to the Blessed Virgin, in the new Chapel at St. Vincent’s as a memorial
to my deceased wife.
To Sr. Beatrice of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and to her Successor in charge of the Schumpert
Memorial Sanitarium two thousand dollars; to the President of St. John’s College in Shreveport one
thousand dollars for an alter for the Blessed Mother and also five thousand dollars as an endowment fund
for St. John’s College.
Ninth: I will and bequeath to Rt. Rev. Bishop Van Deven, Bishop of Alexandria and to the
successor in office for St. Joseph orphanage at Alexandria one thousand dollars; to the home for the
homeless on Jordan St. at Shreveport, La. Five hundred dollars.
Tenth: The balance of my property as well as my life insurance after the payment of my just debts
and these legacies, I will and bequeath to my sons, John F. Robert A. Joseph E. Paul T. and William B.
Slattery in equal portions. I desire that my son John F. Slattery should transfer the lots on Dalzell St.
willed to my sons, Robert A. Paul T. and William B. free of any encumbrance placed on them by him and
if he fails to do so I will and bequeath to said sons, Robert Paul and William the value of the property so
willed to them to be taken out of the portion willed to my son John F. Slattery.
I appoint my sons, John F. Slattery and Joseph E. Slattery co-executors of this my last will and
testament without bond.
This done, written, dated and signed by me at Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, on this the
nd
22 day of July A.D. 1919.
John B. Slattery
Shreveport, January 21st, 1922
As a codicil to my foregoing will, I desire that lots three and four block Twenty two, bequeathed to my
daughters, shall be optional with them to accept or to take an equal share in my estate with my other
children and if they accept the lots the revenues there of shall be equally divided between them and any
encumbrances on them, shall be paid out of the balance of my estate willed to their brothers.
John B. Slattery
Note: Lots three and four on which the Woolworth Building sat was included in the Slattery Co. when it
was incorporated in 1925. Although JBS died in 1927 it was not until 1937 when his will was probated
that Nell and Tess renounced their ownership of these lots and accepted a child’s share left by their father.
The land not included in the company remained undivided and it was put into the company by the
children in exchange for stock in the early ‘50s.
The only properties owned by JBS, and still owned outright by his heirs, are those producing mineral
rights in Oil City, Rodessa and Bauman Chute. The reason for this is that beginning in the mid-1930’s
these properties paid royalties directly to his children (and Grace Ellen and Rosemary).

Faith
His second love was certainly his faith. JBS was active as a Catholic and was a driver behind establishing
and funding the Trinity (opened in 1896) Catholic Church in downtown Shreveport (still open today).
Figure 35 - Holy Trinity Church, Shreveport, La. - built in 1896
He also became active in the Knights of Columbus. He never did anything in a small way and he hosted a
national meeting of the Knights in Shreveport in 1908. He modified his building on Texas Avenue
(known then as the Slattery Building) for this purpose and part of the agenda was held in the building. A
train came north from New Orleans with over 500 Knights. It needs to be said that in those days the
southern part of Louisiana was primarily Catholic due to the influx of the Irish and Italians. The northern
part of Louisiana was primarily Protestants, mainly Baptist. So it took great courage for him to be a host
of this type of meeting in Shreveport. He also played a major role in bringing the Jesuit priests and was a
constant support to the Daughters of the Cross. The nuns built a girls school, St. Vincent’s school and
college, south of where he would build his home.
He seemed to set his sight on young people’s Catholic education and helped buy the land and then build
St. John’s College on Texas Avenue. As Shreveport was growing he was a driver behind starting another
church, St. John Berchmans, first on Texas Avenue as part of the school, and then on Jordan Street. The
church and two schools would eventually be housed on this land, and he helped negotiate the purchase
from the Ed Jacobs estate. Many of his children, Nell, Joe, Frank, Tom, Will, Paul and Tess would attend
and or graduate from St. Vincent’s and St. John’s. Many of his grandchildren have also attended and

graduated from both schools. Today St. Vincent’s has closed and St. John’s (Loyola) is a coed school and
his descendants continue to both teach and attend this school.
In the early ‘50s the family donated the funds to St. John’s High School to build its library. This library
carries his name. Almost the entire family, as shown in the following photograph, gathered in 1953 for the
dedication of the library.
How many of the Slattery family do you recognize? They are listed below but don’t peek?
Figure 36 - The Slattery family at the dedication of the Slattery Library at St. John's High School in
1953.
Attendees on front row: Nell Carmichael, Bob Carmichael, Alston Johnson, J.B. Davis, Frank
Sullivan, Mary Kendall Schonhoff, Rob Davis, Florence Sullivan Fowler.
Attendees, L to R: Father Kennelly, S.J., Principal, Alice Sebastian, Nell Tierney, Grace Ellen
Johnson, Florence Sullivan, Edna Slattery (behind Frank Sullivan), Roberta Carmichael, Barbara
Kendall, Josephine Tierney, Tess O’Keefe, Will Slattery, Rosemary Davis, Ben O’Keefe, Lolly
Kendall, Margaret Slattery, George Slattery, Joe Slattery, Paula Kendall, Bill Slattery, John
O’Keefe, M.D., and Father Bryant, S.J., Pastor.

St. John’s College
Figure 37 – Underclassmen students at St. John's College in 1905. Will is in the fourth row on the
left (with glasses) and Paul stands to his left.

This was taken in 1910 which would have made Will Slattery about 18.
Figure 38 – This is the senior class photo in 1910. Will Slattery is in the back row, second from the
right.

This was taken in about 1897. Anyone know who the big kid on the back row is?
Figure 39 - A school photo at St. John's College when the school was on Texas Avenue. Frank and
Joe are in the first row on the left.

Figure 40 - The graduation class of 1905 with Frank and Joe. Frank died later in the year, just short of his
birthday.

Business
Real estate
Real Estate Purchases by JBS
History compiled by Bill Slattery and Joe Slattery
1874 John B Slattery arrives in Shreveport after spending two years in Port Gibson at the Brashear
Academy where he was a the principal.
1877 Purchased the Blanchard property (Highway 1)
1880 Purchased the Ida property
1886 LLC - Purchased Rodessa
1887 LLC - Purchased Oil City and Bauman Chute. JBS was the original buyer of Bauman
Chute, having a land grant from the federal government.
1887 - 1888. Purchased the building and lots at 518 and 520 Texas Street where JBS had his office. It
was remodeled in 1908 and became known as the (first) Slattery Building for four years.
1889 - 1893. Purchases the “Lower Farm”
1919 Purchases the Black Place (part of the Lower Farm, in Desoto Parish)
1912 Woolworth leased the (first) Slattery Building for 40 years, until 1952. The lease paid $40,000 a
year and a percentage of sales. The rent alone is the equivalent of approximately $940,000 in
2013 purchasing power. It is fair to say that JBS had over $1M a year in income (in today’s $s).
1923 - 1924. JBS built the current Slattery Building at 509 Marshall St. (corner of Texas St.) at a cost of
over $1 million. None of the Shreveport banks would give JBS a mortgage to build it, so it was
financed by the Whitney Bank in New Orleans.
1925 Started the Slattery Company (SC) which included the current Slattery Building, the Woolworth
Building and a few lots in the city (or parish?). 2,100 shares of stock were issued. None of the
“country” property (Myra, Rodessa, Oil City, Blanchard, and Lower Farm) was included in the
Slattery Company.
1927 John B. Slattery died at the age of 83 and left his Slattery Company stock equally to his seven
surviving children: John, Rob (was deceased. His shares went to Grace Ellen and Rosemary),
Nell, Joe, Paul, Will, and Tess. He also left 1/7 of the “country” property to each these seven
children. The income from the country property was from oil & gas and timber. There was also
Income from the D’Artois Oil Refinery in town on the St. Vincent lots.

1930’s. Leased Rodessa, Oil City, and Bauman Chute for oil and gas exploration. Lease is signed by the
surviving five children (Nell, Joe, Will, Paul and Tess) and by Edna, the widow of John F
Slattery, and Grace Slattery, the widow of Rob Slattery on behalf of Grace Ellen and Rosemary
Slattery.
1930 - 1940 During the Great Depression, the SC sold town property where Slattery Blvd is now and a
few lots downtown.
1949 The mortgage on the Slattery Building was paid off. However, the family borrowed $500,000 to
upgrade the elevators and air conditioning.
Early 1950’s The country property was put into the Slattery Company and the seven owners were each
given 12 shares of Slattery Company stock (equals current total of 2184 shares). However, since
Rodessa, Oil City, and Bauman Chute were already leased, the seven owners retained the mineral
rights.
1952 Woolworth re-signed the second lease on the Woolworth Building increasing the annual payment
to $50,000 or about $440,000 in today’s dollars. Beginning in the 1960’s with the building of
shopping centers in residential areas of Shreveport the downtown began to decline. The lease was
for a second 40 year period but was bought out by Woolworth in the ‘80s.
1980 Arkla Gas, the main tenant in the Slattery Building, leasing 14 of the 16 floors, moved out of the
building. This was a major financial blow. The Arkla lease began in 1935.
1997 The Company sold the Woolworth Building. It was full of asbestos from a 1950 remodel.
1998 Sold the Slattery Building. During the Oil Boom of the 1970’s, when the Slattery Building was at
100% occupancy, many new buildings were constructed downtown. But later, during the Oil
Bust of the 1980’s there was too much office space downtown, so the older buildings lost tenants.
There was a discussion of selling country property in order to renovate the Building, as it needed
a new AC, elevators, waterproofing, etc. But, they decided not to sell country property.
2000 or 2002 Sold the Blanchard property, approx. 400 acres. We had never struck oil there. However,
even though we sold the surface rights, the Slattery Company has retained the mineral rights and
there is currently a small gas well that is producing.
Note: The LLC indicates the property that has been assigned to our new Limited Liability Corporation,
Slattery Minerals. These mineral properties are owned personally by the Slattery heirs.

Slattery Building
This is the first Slattery Building on Texas Avenue. The building was demolished and replaced by the
Woolworth Building. Woolworth opened in 1912 and was modernized in 1952 with an extension of the
contract with the Slattery Co. The Woolworth bought out their lease in 1982.
Figure 41 - The first Slattery Building on Texas Avenue. Note JBS in the center right (his
son Frank is to his right) and a sign for the Slattery Land Company buying and selling
farm and timberland – c1902. JBS had his office in the “Slattery Building” until it was
renovated and leased to the Woolworth Company in 1912. He was joined by his son, John,
in about 1903 and they formed Slattery and Slattery until JBS’ death in 1927.

This is a picture looking west as the Slattery Building is erected in 1923. To the left is the Commercial
National Bank Building, which was the tallest building (built in 1911 at 124 feet), until the Slattery
Building was completed in 1924.
Figure 42 - Texas Avenue in 1924 as the building is erected.
The following is a very descriptive article in the Shreveport paper on the new, wonderful Slattery
Building. In 1924 this was a big deal for the city and a turning point from a city with a population of

about 44,000 in 1920 to 77,000 in 1930. JBS was a man of vision in that the city had only about 7,000
citizens when he arrived.
Figure 43 - An ultra-modern Building for Shreveport.

Figure 44 - A newspaper article on the opening of the building in 1924

JBS decided to spend money on his building to include a gothic finish instead of building a “box”. He
thought the additional investment would make the building more memorable. When he had asked a friend
of his what he thought about the more expensive design his friend told him that he had seen a building in
Dallas that had a fancy feature and now every time he saw a fancy building he thought of Dallas. This
was good enough for JBS as he wanted people to think of Shreveport. The feature cost his $100,000 or
about $1.3 million in today’s dollars.
Figure 45 - The gothic details on the top four floors.

This is a picture of the Woolworth Building (part of the Slattery Co.) before the building was renovated
by Woolworth in 1952 which was the end of the first contract signed by JBS in 1912. Woolworth
resigned with the company for another 40 years.
Figure 46 - A favorite trolley stop in front of the Woolworth Building by many during the ‘40s and
‘50s. This photo appears to be taken in the early ‘40s.

Figure 47 - The first Slattery Building was leveled and the Woolworth Building was built in 1912.
This story appeared with the re-opening of the Woolworth Building in 1952.

John B. Slattery in his 80th year.
Figure 48 - A grateful city recognizes JBS.

The evening paper had a story on the opening of his building.
Figure 49 - August 18, 1924

This is an antique postcard that was available about the time that the building opened.
Figure 50 - A celebration of a new era in Shreveport

This is an early picture of the Slattery Building and one with Will and Paul Slattery in the office.
Figure 51 - A payment coupon signed by Rob Roy and John F Slattery and a view of the building next to
the new courthouse that was completed in 1925.

This is another picture taken of the Slattery office from approximately the 1930’s. This shows Joseph
Slattery at the standup desk and Will in the interior office. At the time Will was the president of the
Slattery Co. and Joe managed the country properties and helped run the D’Artois refinery.

This is a picture taken of the Slattery Building c late 1940s (dated by the approximate age of the cars.)
Figure 52 - Looking east on Texas Avenue celebrating the 4th of July.

Figure 53 – The Slattery Building at Christmas; With Shorty in the upper right. He was famous for his smile in
welcoming all to the building. When the elevators were run by operators he used his clicker he held in his hand
to tell an elevator to depart. When the family upgraded the elevators to automatic in the 1950’s he was held
over due to his popularity and value to the building operation in general. He retired from the company, having
spent his entire life with the Slattery Co.

Slattery Company
History of the Slattery Company

1874 John Bernard Slattery arrives in Shreveport after spending two years in Port Gibson at the
Brashear Academy where he was a teacher or principal.
1877 JBS purchased the Blanchard property (Highway 1)
1880 Purchased the Ida property
1886 Purchased Rodessa
1887 Purchased Oil City and Bauman Chute. John B. Slattery was the original buyer of Bauman
Chute, having a land grant from the federal government.
1887- Purchased the building and lots at 518 and 520 Texas Street where JBS had his office. It was
1888 remodeled in 1908 and became known as the (first) Slattery Building for four years.
1889- Purchases the Lower Farm

1893
1919 Purchases the Black Place (part of the Lower Farm, in Desoto Parish)
Figure 54 - A road through the Lower Farm taken this year (credit Mary Sullivan Aboujaoude, my
daughter).
As related by Bill Slattery it was not unusual for the Slatterys to ride their horses from the home in
Shreveport down to the Lower Farm and swim in the ‘Ditch Field’, a defensive position dug by Confederate
soldiers in their attempt to defend Shreveport. It is still there today.

1912 Woolworth leased the (first) Slattery Building for 40 years, until 1952.
1924 - 1925. JBS built the current Slattery Building at 509 Marshall St. (corner of Texas St.) at a cost of
over $1 million. None of the Shreveport banks would give JBS a mortgage to build it, so it was
financed by the Whitney Bank in New Orleans.
1925 Started the Slattery Company which included the current Slattery Building, the Woolworth
Building, the Glenwood Subdivision, and a few other lots in the city and parish. 2,100 shares of
stock were issued. None of the “country” property (Myra, Rodessa, Oil City, Blanchard, and
Lower Farm) was included in the Slattery Company.
1927 John B. Slattery died at the age of 83 and left his Slattery Company stock equally to his seven
surviving children: John, Rob (was deceased. His shares went to Grace Ellen and Rosemary),
Nell, Joe, Paul, Will, Tess. He also left 1/7 of the “country” property to each these seven
children. The income from the country property was from oil, gas, timber. There was also
Income from the D’Artois Oil Refinery in town on the St. Vincent lots.
1930’s The family Leased Rodessa, Oil City, and Bauman Chute for oil and gas exploration.
1930’s During the Great Depression, the SC sold town property where Slattery Blvd is now and a few
lots downtown.
1949 The mortgage on the Slattery Building was paid off. After the note was paid off another loan was
taken out to install air conditioning and automated elevators.
1951 (Approximately) The country property was put into the Slattery Company and the seven owners
were each given 12 shares of Slattery Company stock (equals current total of 2184 shares).
However, since Rodessa, Oil City, and Bauman Chute were already leased, the seven owners
retained the mineral rights.
1952 Woolworth signed the second lease on the Woolworth Building
1980 Arkla Gas, the main tenant in the Slattery Building, leasing 14 of the 16 floors, moved out of the
building. This was a major financial blow.
1997 The Company sold the Woolworth Building. It was full of asbestos from a 1950 remodel.
1998 Sold the Slattery Building. During the Oil Boom of the 1970’s, when the Slattery Building was at
100% occupancy, many new buildings were constructed downtown. But later, during the Oil
Bust of the 1980’s there was too much office space downtown, so the older buildings lost tenants.
There was a discussion of selling country property in order to renovate the Building, as it needed
a new AC, elevators, waterproofing, etc. But, they decided not to sell country property.
2000 or 2002 The family sold the Blanchard property of approximately 400 acres. We had never
struck oil there but there is currently a small producing gas well and drilling nearby.
History compiled by Bill Slattery and Joe Slattery, April 2011.

The Roaring Twenties
One of the character traits that was undeniable about JBS was his love for his adopted home town. In his
biography written at his Alma Mater, the University of Wisconsin, he was described as having: “a fiery
temperament and his manners were gentlemanly. He possessed fortitude. He had a quick mind and his
speech was eloquent and logical.” This was written approximately 52 years before his death and he must
have honed and perfected these character traits over his lifetime.
He had already bought and sold a great deal of land and he was described in the early 20th Century as ‘one
of the largest land owners in Caddo Parish’. He had entered into a contract with the Woolworth Company
for the use of his first office building that paid him $40,000 annually, or about $950,000 in today’s
dollars. He had financed the D’Artois Refinery. But he was not finished. At the age of 80 he wanted to
make another mark on Shreveport. And so it was that in 1923 he began his greatest venture yet. And why
not? He had raised a strong family; John Francis was a lawyer and his partner, and Joseph Eldred was
his operational manager for purchasing and selling land, providing oversight of the refinery and for
managing his Caddo and Desoto properties.
The economy of the United States during the Roaring Twenties was strong and roared along. The
unemployment rate at the time was four percent.
Economically, the era saw the large-scale diffusion and use of automobiles, telephones, motion pictures,
and electricity, unprecedented industrial growth, accelerated consumer demand and aspirations, and
significant changes in lifestyle and culture.
Real GNP growth during the 1920s was relatively rapid, 4.2 percent a year from 1920 to 1929 according
to the most widely used estimates. (Historical Statistics of the United States, or HSUS, 1976) Real GNP
per capita grew 2.7 percent per year between 1920 and 1929. By both nineteenth and twentieth century
standards these were relatively rapid rates of real economic growth and they would be considered rapid
even today.
The following chart shows the GNP growth through the ‘20s with a significant drop off as the great
depression began.

In net, it was a time of great innovation and opportunism.
It is safe to say that if JBS had been able to look forward to 1929 he would have never built the 16 story
building that carried his name. But of course no one could do that. So it was that he proceeded to borrow
over one million dollars and build his hallmark in Shreveport.
The following is an article in the Shreveport paper from that day.
Shreveport Times – August 18, 1924
Eighteen months ago announcement was made that all previous records in local buildings would be
surpassed. An office building 17 stories high that would place Shreveport in the ranks of the real sky-
scraper cities of the South would be erected at Texas and Marshall Streets. A short time after plans and
specifications were completed a perspective of the building appeared in the Times. The architecture was
to be Gothic and the structure was to rank not only in size and height but in beauty with the best buildings
of the country.
The work went forward; the contract was awarded amounting to slightly more than $1,000,000. The
Central Construction Company was the builder.
The first week was to tear away the old two-story building that stood on the site. This old building had
been a land mark in Shreveport for years. It had been occupied by businesses of various natures. Before
local option prohibition went into effect a saloon was operated on the corner. After that it was converted
into a restaurant.
Before the original building was erected the site was a slough extending out of the old Silver Lake, and
according to pioneer citizens during high water rafts and small water craft would ply up and down this
slough to the very spot on which the Slattery Building now stands. This was further revealed when
excavation work began and an old raft buried 15 feet was dug up.
Today marks the formal opening of the building under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce.
“The Country Joke”

(Appeared in the Times with the above article.)
There is a good story going the rounds of Shreveport that may help you to envision John Slattery.
What seems to be a poor farmer from the rural districts was standing in Texas Street, not long ago, head
tilted back and hat-brim pushed down over his eyes, gazing critically at the magnificent façade of
Shreveport’s finest new building.
Two flappers glanced at the awkward figure in amusement and tittered:
“Guess they don’t have buildings like that where he comes from,” one of them remarked to the other, “He
better be careful or somebody will sell him that building before he gets out of town.”
The old countryman caught the remark. It was his turn to grin in amusement. Nobody could sell him that
building. He owned it.
The above article that was published the day before the opening of the Slattery Building was factual but
only showed some of what must have been quite a bit of excitement on the opening of such an
exceptional structure.
Some of the building was already rented and Arkansas Louisiana Gas would take most of this beautiful
place as their own.
JBS incorporated the Slattery Company in 1925. In addition to the building additional assets were
included in order to secure the loan of $1,000,000 from Whitney Bank in New Orleans. Those who
appeared before the notary for the incorporation were JBS, Bulow W. Marston, Robert O. Roy, John F.
Slattery and Joseph E. Slattery.
Witnesses of the transaction were N.C. McGowen and W.B. Slattery.
The board of directors of the corporation was Bulow W. Marston, Robert O. Roy and John F. Slattery and
the officers were John F. Slattery, president, B. W. Marston, vice-president and R.O. Roy, secretary-
treasurer.
Shares issued were:
J. B. Slattery 2096
B.W. Marston 1
R.O. Roy 1
J. E. Slattery 1
J. F. Slattery 1
Total 2100

At the time a person had to be a shareholder to have a seat on the board or to hold an officer position.
Later during the depth of the depression this was changed to allow overseers from the bank (Whitney
Bank of New Orleans) to sit on the board.
Within the incorporation a schedule was included of the values of these properties:
STATE OF LOUISIANA
PARISH OF CADDO
We the under signed constituting the board of directors of the Slattery

Co. Inc. of Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, hereby appraise the property to be taken
by said corporation from J.B. Slattery in payment of the stock subscribed by him as follows:
Woolworth Building $150,000
The Slattery Building, one lot and the other leased 800,000
All lots in the South Highland Subdivision

See note below 165,000
Downtown land and Buildings 30,000
Brook’s Land
See note below. 25,000
TOTAL $1,170,000
VALUE OF EACH SHARE: $582.06
What a glorious day this must have been. All of the family was there along with all of his grandchildren.
First there was a ribbon cutting ceremony on Marshall Street. How proud the whole Slattery clan must
have been. Then a tour of the beautiful lobby with all of the marble and brass. Finally, there had to be a
ride on the brand new elevators to the 16th floor and then to walk up to the roof to view Shreveport, the
river and Bossier City.
Optimism in the ’20s was rampant and the booming economy helped JBS achieve his lifetime goals in
life. He was the father of 5 children and had 13 grandchildren; he had acquired a large amount of land in
Shreveport and Caddo Parish, started an oil refinery and had built and opened the tallest office building
between New Orleans and St. Louis.
Every business day JBS took his carriage or walked to his building. He practiced law with his son and
relied on Joseph to manage existing property and to buy and sell his real estate, and to oversee the
country property and represent him in the operation of the D’Artois Refinery. As the economy grew the
company grew. He had lived to see his personal goals realized. But, after attending the 55th reunion at his

Alma Mater and returning home he passed away on September 29, 1927 at the age of 83.
Note: The 78 acres of the "Slattery Pasture" (bounded by Stephenson, Gilbert, Dudley and Creswell)
was sold in February 1936 to the Haynesville Mercantile Company, Inc. This company held loans of the
Slattery Company in the amount of approx. $78,000 dollars, and the deed called for discharge and
cancellation of these debts in exchange for the 78 acres of land.
Figure 55 - Slattery's Pasture
The "Brock Lands" were originally comprised of 93.39 acres. 50 acres were sold first, leaving 43.39. A
Mr. Brock also owned land in this area of Cedar Grove off of Line Ave. near the present day Eden
Gardens School, and the land became known as the "Brock Lands". The Slattery Company kept the
43.39 acres for many years, and allowed black tenants to stay there. Some of these blacks were Tommie
Thomas, Walton Byrd, Robert Anderson, and Dennis Holloway. In 1950, close to 43 acres was sold to
Clarence G. Gibson for about $32,000, leaving one-half acre which the City of Shreveport bought years
later.

Inventory of John B Slattery’s assets filed after his death - dated December 31, 1927
Real Estate
Description Value
Land bought in the Glenwood Subdivision $1,250.00
The Big House and the land on which it sits $18,600.00

Other lots in the Thornhill Subdivision - Dalzell Street $9,360.00
Other lots in the Thornhill Subdivision - Boulevard Street $1,440.00
Other property:
Bauman Chute $5,141.00
Mira $2,000.00
Blanchard $8,000.00
Oil City $2,000.00
43.39 Acres in Brooks Land $10,847.00
Oil City $2,000.00
Rodessa $3,000.00
Lower Farm $18,870.50
Land bought in the South Highland Subdivision $9,075.00
Total $91,583.50
Although JBS put most of his assets into the Slattery Company in 1925, worth about $5 million in today’s
dollars, he still died with a personal net worth of over $1.2 million in todays $s.
At the time the Slattery Co. was incorporated all of the surface and mineral rights north of Shreveport at
Rodessa, Pine Island and Bauman Chute and on the Lower Farm, which is the land south of Shreveport in
Caddo Parish and Desoto Parish, were kept by JBS. Although he died in 1927 it was not until 1937 that
his assets were distributed to his children. Before this distribution all income was shared equally by the
children. This would have been comprised of dividends on the stock or the harvesting of timber.
No one saw the crash coming and it hit all Americans hard. Almost overnight the unemployment rate
went from virtually full employment to 25-30% unemployed. There was no safety net in those days. And,
of course this hit the Slattery family just as hard as the rest of America.
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 was one of the main causes of the Great Depression. “Black Thursday,”
“Black Monday,” and “Black Tuesday” are all correct terms to describe the Crash because the initial crash
occurred over several days, with Tuesday being the most devastating.

On “Black Tuesday,” October 29, 1929, the market lost $14 billion, making the loss for that week an
astounding $30 billion. This was ten times more than the annual federal budget and far more than the U.S.
had spent in WWI. Thirty billion dollars would be equivalent to $377,587,032,770.41 today.
During the worst years of the Depression (1933-1934) the overall jobless rate was 25% (1 out of 4 people)
with another 25% taking wage cuts or working part time. The gross national product fell by almost 50%.
It was not until 1941, when WWII was underway, that unemployment officially fell back below 10%.
10,000 banks failed between 1929 and 1934. This was about a quarter of all banks.
Just five years after the depression began and nine years after the Slattery Co. was incorporated the board
of directors amended their initial filing to reflect the reality of the effect on the fortunes of the company.
The number of seats on the Board of Directors was increased from three to nine and the election of
officers and the voting process was detailed.
On December 18, 1936 as the depression deepened an Act of Reduction of Capital Stock was filed at the
Caddo Parish Courthouse:
That Slattery Co. Inc. was created with an authorized capital stock of 2,100 shares of common
stock of no par value, all of which stock is presently issued and outstanding, the declared value
for which such stock was issued, having been, in the aggregate, $1,220,000, and at which amount
said stock is set up as a liability on the balance sheet of the Slattery Co. Inc.; according to its
latest financial balance she (November 39th, 1936) has a deficit of $455, 549.15 and that
accordingly after giving effect to such deficit, and the value of such capital stock as reflected on
such balance sheet is $766,650,85; that Slattery Co. Inc. deems it desirable, pursuant to Act 350
of 1928, as amended, to effect a reduction of its capital stock by changing the declared value of
the 2,100 shares of no par common stock outstanding to $525,000.00, or $250.00 per share; that
the financial condition of Slattery Co. Inc. as set forth is said November 30 th, 1936 Balance Sheet
is as follows:

Balance Sheet
Slattery Co. Inc.
Shreveport, Louisiana
November 30, 1936
ASSETS
Cash $48,905.59
Accounts Receivable – past

due $16,175.38
From Present
Tenants 6,157.49
From Former Tenant and Others 10,017.89
Notes Receivable
Mortgage Notes - Past Due 6,044.54

Unsecured Notes 850.00 $ 6,894.54
Due from Estate of J.B Slattery $ 45,705.54
PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT
Office Furniture and Fixtures 308.40

Slattery Building 1,651,464.31
Woolworth Building 400,000.00
Market Street Building ____35,000.00
$2,086,855.71
Less - Reserve for Depreciation and
Amortization
of Leasehold ___432,766.32 1,654,059.39
Land - 3 lots Sunrise

Subdivision 600.00
Prepaid Insurance and Taxes 3,216.44

Prepaid Land Rent 750.00
Unamortized Bond Discount
and
Reorientation expense ___39609.35 33,775.77
Slattery Building Alterations Applicable to

Arkansas Natural Gas Corporation Lease

to be amortized from August 1, 1935 27,442.79
Total Assets ----- $1,834,477.05
Liabilities And Capital
Liabilities
Accounts
Payable 2,799.84
Accrued Taxes for
1936 24,588.34
Whitney National Bank of New
Orleans,
Trustee 15,344.4 42,722.56
TEN YEAR FIRST MORTGAGE REAL ESTATE AND LEASEHOLD

6 1/2% SINKING FUND BONDS AND INTEREST
Bonds Maturing May 1, 1945 $1,035,745.40

Interest Accrued $5,610.28 $1,041,355.68
Less: Cash in General Sinking Fund ----- $17,530.56 $1,023,825.12
Rents Collected in Advance 1,278.50
CAPITAL
Capital Stock, 2100 shares

No Par
Value $1,220,000.00
Deficit - Balance 6/30/1936 455,846.87
Profit - January 1, 1936 to

November 30, 1936 2,499.72 453,349.15 766,650.85
---------------------------------------------
TOTAL $1,834,477.06

The results affected by this filing as carried out by the shareholders and executed by Joe Slattery:
The capital of Slattery Co. Inc. will be reduced to $525,000,00, and $241,850.85 will be
transferred to surplus,
A reduction in the capital stock of the Slattery Co. Inc. is hereby effected by reducing the present
declared value of the 2100 shares, of no par common stock of Slattery Co. Inc. authorized and
outstanding, from $582.06 to $250.00.
,Reduction in capital stock is accomplished without reducing the actual value of the assets of the
corporation to an amount less than the total amount of its debts and liabilities, plus the amount of
the capital stock as so reduced,
All (of this being accomplished) in accordance with the provisions of Act 250 of the Legislature
of the State of Louisiana for the year of 1936.
This must have been a very difficult time for the family. If the 1920’s were the high water mark then
this had to be the low point. The bank that lent the money to JBS had been in liquidation since 1928
and the firm overseeing the liquidation now sat on the Slattery Co. board, assets were being sold, and
as a result, the stock was now worth 57% less. My Mom told me many times that the family came
“close to losing the building.”
Rosemary Slattery Davis told me that Rob Roy, who was involved along with other local business
men in helping JBS in the startup of the Slattery Co., and who was a local oil man, stated that ‘this
building is too beautiful to allow it to fail.’
As an aside, it is said that hindsight is 20/20. And so it is with the fact that the family chose to keep
the building and towards that end let land within the city be sold through the company. The land
helped the Slattery Co. make it through the Great Depression and enabled the company to pay salaries
to members of the family who worked for the company. The building helped support the children of
JBS through their lives.
During this difficult time and even with the selling of assets the family struggled to pay the note on
the building and to make a profit. But there are a few factors that helped the family make it through:
Arkla Gas which started leasing space in the Slattery Building beginning in 1935 continued to
lease more and more of the building. Ultimately they leased almost the entire building.

Figure 56 – circa late 1940’s Marshall Street side of Building – Arkansas Louisiana Gas was a great
tenant from the 30s to the 80s. At one time Arkla leased all but one floor of the building.
In 1937 the family signed a lease on the Oil City and Rodessa properties and received $11,200 in
bonus money (about $180,000 in 2013 dollars). In addition, oil and gas was discovered on the
land owned by the family in 1937 that went directly to each of the children (and to Grace Ellen
and Rosemary for their father’s share). There is no doubt that this helped the family in buying
homes, cars and paying high school and college tuition. The estate of JBS was probated later in
1937 and the monies began to flow independent of the estate to each of the children. Joe Slattery
bought his new home on Fairfield this same year and Bill told me he bought a big Dodge at the
same time.
The family was faithful in giving some of what they made through the Slattery Co. back to the
work of the church and to other charities in Shreveport and Biloxi. No doubt there were
significant needs by each during this time. This made business sense before the Slattery Co.
became a Sub-chapter S corporation.
One fact came out clearly to me. Much of the family lived off of the building during the depression. It
was a difficult time but having this source of income made life a little easier.
The depression finally ended in 1946.

And finally the note to Whitney Bank was paid off in 1949.
However immediately, based on a need to replace the elevators, install air conditioning and to undertake
needed maintenance on the building, the family had to borrow $500,000. Thus they began making
payments again.
Reading the minutes of Slattery Co. meetings beginning in the ‘50s reflect their focus returning to the
management of the company. A lot of the concerns during the depression and WW II were gone.
At the end of the 40 year Woolworth lease in 1952 it was re-negotiated for another 50 years. The new
annual lease payment was $50,000 (approximately $440,000 in current dollars). However beginning in
the late ‘50s and into the early ‘60s the move by companies and government departments to the suburbs
heralded the end of the ‘downtown’ centric economy.
After the Slattery building was opened the company used the phrase ‘Shreveport’s business address’ and
it was. And as demonstrated in the following table the Slattery Building enjoyed a monopoly in office
space for over 30 years but eventually there was a glut of space.
Year
Name Height Floors Built Comment
Slattery Building 186 17 1925 Tallest building in Shreveport
from 1925 to 1957.
Beck Building 265 20 1957 Tallest building in Shreveport
from 1957 to 1984.
Petroleum Tower 187 14 1959
Mid-South Tower 213 15 1968
Chase Tower 227 15 1976
American Tower 222 16 1979
Louisiana Tower 302 21 1984 Tallest building in Shreveport

from 1984 to 1986.
Regions Tower 364 25 1986 Tallest building in Shreveport
and northern Louisiana.
Hilton Convention
180 12 2007
Center
In addition to the increasing inventory of office space, there were other ominous signs for the
Slattery Co. When the building was constructed JBS only owned one of the two lots on which the
building sat. The terms of the 75 year lease stated that Justin Gras, who owned the other lot,
would own 50% of the building when the lease expired in 1999.
And finally, after four decades, Arkla bought a building and gave notice of their intent to move
from the building in the early ‘80s.
The downtown business environment continued to be hurt by more and more companies moving
to the suburbs (the city of Shreveport also moved city hall, the police department and jail away
from downtown). Even the State of Louisiana bought the United Gas building, which is outside of
downtown, instead of locating downtown.

There was a need to replace the air conditioning and elevators and to begin major maintenance on
the building.
After many years of trying, the family was able to buy the interest of the Justin Gras estate to mitigate this
financial exposure (the family could delay maintenance if they could not buy out the Gras estate but this
was not an appealing option.)
The family could continue to attract some tenants since the building is next to the courthouse but the
handwriting was on the wall. The Slattery Co. was offered and accepted a buyout in 1998 when the family
sold the building to an investor from Baton Rouge for $600,000.
The family Slattery Co. transitioned into a land company and, with the coming of the “Haynesville” field,
into an oil and gas company as well. The most valuable assets were and continue to be the land and
mineral rights both north and south of Shreveport. During the building the Interstate I49 a great deal of
income for the company was gained for land and such products as sand and gravel sold to the State.
The company was approached in 2008 by an oil and gas company to buy the mineral rights on one of our
properties and paid approximately $600,000 to drill to the Haynesville level to recover gas with a new
technical approach called ‘fracturing’ or ‘fracking’ for short. Eventually the family entered into
agreements for all but one of the company owned properties.
And the interest in drilling continues. In 2013 an oil and gas company acquired the ‘shallow’ rights to
drill on the Lower Farm for ‘wet gas’ which is to be sent via their pipeline to a facility just south of the
wells for processing into propane.
Wet gas is defined as ‘a natural mixture of hydrocarbons that may be gaseous or both liquid and gaseous
in the reservoir and that contains an appreciable proportion of compounds heavier than ethane (e.g.,
propane or butane) that are condensable when brought to the surface. Such gases usually are characterized
by the volume or weight of the condensables contained in a given volume of total gas produced. This
figure, computed for volumes at 15 C (59 F) and 750mm of mercury, is usually expressed either in
gallons per 1,000 cubic feet or in grams per cubic meter; for a gas to be classified as wet, it must contain
more than 0.3 gallon of condensables per 1,000 cubic feet of gas. The condensable is recovered and the
propane is marketed as liquefied petroleum gas and the hydrocarbons being made into gasoline. Our
leases are written in a way so that once a company brings in a well they must contract again with the
company if they wish to drill to another level.’
One of the true blessings from which the Slattery Co. has benefitted over the years, which are evident in
reading the minutes of the board and shareholder meetings, are the varied family skills, including lawyers,
engineers and architects. Many of the lawyers were and are experts in oil and gas and helped transition
the Slattery Co. from a focus on Real Estate Company to that of oil and gas. Going back to the last
century the family has benefitted from the management skills of Leo Sebastian and Bill Slattery, the legal
expertise of Jackson Davis and Harry Johnson, the architectural expertise of John Walker, and
engineering skills of Jim Carmichael and Ed Sullivan.

Many of the current generation have continued to assist the family with legal skills: John Slattery (son of
J.B. and Billie Slattery), Mike Parks (son of John and Ellen Slattery Parks), Bernard Johnson (son of
Harry and Grace Ellen Johnson), and Bob Sebastian (son of Leo and Alice O’Keefe Sebastian); the
architectural and engineering skills of Joe Walker (son of John and Margaret Slattery Walker); and, of
course, the research skills of Joe Slattery (son of J.B. and Billie Slattery). Many of the aforementioned
have also served on the board of directors with special projects and tasks in support of Bill Slattery,
especially that of Nell Carmichael (daughter of Jim and Roberta Tierney Carmichael) as she undertook to
facilitate communication between the board and the family, and Ben O’Keefe (son of Ben and Jennie
Boone O’Keefe) who has undertaken the reconciliation of the oil and gas sections and interest ownership.
A disclaimer: It is always a little risky to begin naming those who have played a key role in assisting the
family business. If I have not recognized a family member and I should have, please forgive me in
advance. This is not a purposeful oversight but more a lack of involvement with some activity within the
family/business.
Another blessing to family is the generosity of prior generations in that they were offered over $2 million
for the ‘Black Place’, a subset of the lower farm by a company developing properties along the Southern
Loop, and the offer was rejected. The generation before mine could have cashed out but chose to follow
what they thought was the direction of JBS to hold on to the land. We now reap the benefit of the oil and
gas property within the company. In addition, there continue to be rumors of what may lie beneath the
Haynesville shale, and, as the technology improves over time, oil and gas companies may in fact be able
to drill to deeper and deeper levels. Time will tell.

Starting in 2008, the Slattery Co. shareholders benefitted from the Haynesville Shale field in Caddo and
Desoto Parishes. This is one of many signs marking the Slattery wells.

Slattery had a dream
The following article which was published almost 60 years after the death of JBS gives a good
backward glance into what was happening on that day.
Shreveport Journal September 16, 1985
John B. Slattery, 80 years old, was very busy on the evening of Aug. 18, 1924. Over 3,000 guests had
come to admire his new building.
Still standing, the 17 story Slattery Building is a monument to one man’s dream and success. “When a lot
of people are retired,” said Mrs. Jackson B. Davis, Slattery’s granddaughter, “grandpa had a dream to
build an office building.” “He loved his adopted city and wanted to give something back.” And Slattery
wanted quality.
“The Slattery Building is complete in every respect,” E.L. Beckham superintendent of construction told
the Shreveport Journal on opening day. ”Our orders were to spare nothing that would make the structure
more complete or permanent. “Every brick, every stone and every bit of workmanship represents honesty
to the last degree.”
Costing $1,027,000 the building was to represent Shreveport.
The Slattery family history says that Slattery could have saved over $100,000 by keeping the corners
square but after asking a friend his opinion, Slattery reported said “I thought the extra $100,000 was
reasonable enough if it made folks all over the country think of Shreveport every time they saw a pretty
building. So we kept the top floors of the building beveled.”
Born in New York City on June 22, 1844 of Irish immigrant parents, Slattery moved to a farm near
Janesville, Wisconsin, when he was seven. He cared for the farm while his father fought and died in the
Civil War. While continuing to work, Slattery managed to complete high school and enter college at
Milton Junction, Wis. Later, in 1872, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin.
His first job was as a high school principal in Port Gibson, Miss. Slattery also studied law and clerked to
a law office until being admitted to practice law in Mississippi.
Early in 1874 he moved to Shreveport to join two friends, William McKenna, the Postmaster, M.A.
Walsh, the mayor from 1873-1874. He worked in the clerk of courts office and served as an unofficial
postmaster when his friend went away. On Oct. 5, 1974 he received his Louisiana law practice permit.
In 1876 he travelled to Omaha, Neb. to marry Mary Francis Herron, whom he had known in college.
They would have 12 children although 5 died while young. Mary died in 1901.
When he returned from his trip Slattery learned that he had been elected District Attorney on the
Republican ticket. “There were some who were bitter over his election” family history says, “and tried to
remove him from office.” He retained the office, however, for one term when the state constitution gave
the Democrats effective control.

Slattery resumed his private law practice eventually bringing one of his sons, John F. Slattery, into a
partnership, as Slattery & Slattery.
“But Slattery’s fortune was built on the natural increase in real estate values… As the Journal reported on
Sept. 29, 1927.
When he first came to Shreveport, Slattery “realized that the city was due to become a railroad center and
would be a city of steady and substantial growth.” the paper said. As Shreveport grew apace, Slattery
increased his real estate holdings in both the city and parish until in recent years he was one of the largest
property holding in this section.”
Beside the Slattery Building, he owned other downtown property, including the site for the original F.W.
Woolworth building. He also founded the D’Artois oil refinery of Cedar Grove.
Just before he died of pneumonia on Sept. 29, 1927, Slattery reportedly said he had thought of yet another
project for Shreveport.

The Life of J B Slattery by Eric Brock
Eric Brock, who died in 2011, was born on September 24, 1966, in Berkeley, California, but moved with
his family to Shreveport at a very early age and became one of her most devoted citizens. Mr. Brock, a
1988 graduate of Centenary College of Louisiana, was the author of over 500 articles on Shreveport,
Northwest Louisiana, and Louisiana historical topics. His columns "The Presence of the Past," for the
Shreveport Journal and "A Look Back" for the Forum Weekly and the sixteen books he wrote on
Shreveport and Louisiana history will help to preserve the memory of a life cut tragically too short. The
city of Shreveport will forever be indebted to Eric for his numerous contributions preserving Shreveport's
past.
One of his Forum News Weekly columns was on the life of John B Slattery. This column is republished
here.
JOHN BERNARD SLATTERY: HIS NAME AND LEGACY LIVE ON - By Eric J. Brock
This was originally published in The Forum News Weekly, Shreveport, LA,
January 21, 2004 issue, page 19. Copyright ©2004 by Eric J. Brock and Venture Publishing, LLC, all
rights reserved. Republished by permission.
At the northeast corner of Fairfield Avenue and Dalzell Street stands one of the finest homes on a street
lined with many of the city’s finest homes. Known by its builder’s name, 2401 Fairfield is still called the
Slattery House, though it has passed through the hands of three owners since being sold by Slattery
family descendants in the early 1990s.
The house was built by John Bernard Slattery, a longtime civic leader and businessman, who also built
the Slattery Building in Shreveport’s central business district. Born in New York City of Irish parents in
1844, Slattery was raised on a farm near Madison, Wisconsin, to which his family moved during his
childhood. He was educated there, went to Milton College, and in 1872 graduated from the University of
Wisconsin law school. Although he was of age to have served in the Civil War, John B. Slattery did not
see service, although his father did serve in the Union Army.
Upon graduation Mr. Slattery accepted a position, not as a lawyer, but as a teacher in a private academy in
Port Gibson, Mississippi. His friends from college days, William McKenna, then postmaster of
Shreveport, and Michael Walsh, mayor of Shreveport, urged him to leave Port Gibson and come to
Shreveport. When McKenna died suddenly in 1874 Slattery did just that, filling out his friend’s unexpired
term as postmaster before embarking upon the practice of law here. Both McKenna and Walsh had come
to Shreveport with the Union occupation army and had stayed.
From the time of his departure for Port Gibson in 1872 until 1876 John Bernard Slattery carried on a long
distance courtship with Miss Mary Frances Herron, a girl ten years his junior whom he had met while he
was a law student and she a coed at the University of Wisconsin. In 1876 the two were married in
Wisconsin and came to Shreveport early in 1877 as Mr. and Mrs. Slattery. In his absence, John B. Slattery
had been elected district attorney of Caddo Parish, a job that was waiting for him when the newlywed
couple arrived here.

Later, Mr. Slattery served as assistant clerk of court of Caddo Parish and was prominent in the real estate
business. Having great faith in Shreveport’s future, he invested heavily in real estate himself and by the
early 20th century was among the largest landowners in Caddo Parish. He also engaged in various
business ventures here and was a pioneer in the local oil refining industry, founding the D’Artois Refining
Company with partner George D’Artois (grandfather of the well-remembered Commissioner of Public
Safety of the same name), who had gained his experience in the oil industry during his youth in
Pennsylvania. Later, one of Mr. Slattery’s sons married Mr. D’Artois’s daughter.
In the 1880s John Bernard Slattery was among the leaders in the successful effort to bring the Texas and
Pacific Railroad to Shreveport and was later a strong proponent of municipal subsidies to bring the Red
River Valley and Kansas City Southern Railroads to Shreveport. The huge and vital presence of the KCS
Railroad here is due in no small measure to his vision.
Additionally, Mr. Slattery was a charter founder and leader of the Shreveport Progressive League and the
Shreveport Chamber of Commerce and served on numerous boards and committees of civic, business,
and church groups, such as the Catholic Knights of America and the Knights of Columbus. He was a
longtime member and supporter of Holy Trinity Catholic Church and contributed substantially to the
construction of the now-historic downtown church in 1896. He later was a founding member of St. John
Berchmans Catholic Church in 1902 and was instrumental in acquiring the land for that congregation’s
first building. He died in 1927 just as plans were being formulated for a new edifice for the church on
Jordan Street. Today the new congregation of Slattery’s time is St. John Berchmans Cathedral, seat of the
bishop of the Diocese of Shreveport. The present cathedral building, then a parish church, was completed
in 1929.
For several years the Slattery family resided on Commerce Street near Texas Street but around 1890 they
purchased a large tract on Fairfield, just at the city limits. This property contained a barracks-like
structure and a barn, probably remnants of the Union occupation during which time troops were billeted
along Fairfield south of town. For several years they family lived in the old barracks with the intention of
building a house where the barn stood.
A large house was needed as Mr. and Mrs. Slattery had twelve children. Their eldest child, John Frances
Slattery, who was his father’s law partner, decided to build his home right next door to his parents’ house.
Many people in town openly wondered why the Slatterys would want to live so far out of town, so far
from the center of things. Indeed, the location was then rather remote. The farthest streetcar stop in town
was a block north of the Slattery property and the streetcars turned around on the lot next door to John F.
Slattery’s place. But John B. Slattery, always a visionary, felt sure the city would continue to grow and he
was right. Within just two more decades the mansion he would erect on his lot near the edge of town
would be well within the city limits.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Slattery died in 1901 while her much anticipated home was still in its planning
stages. Nevertheless, her husband decided to go ahead and build their dream house and in 1902
construction commenced. Prominent Shreveport architect Nathaniel Sykes Allen designed the house and
the Garson Brothers contracting firm built it. Late in 1903 the Slattery family moved into the finished
house.
Some sources have put the date of the house at 1904 but an early photo of the newly finished home, dated
1903 and labeled “our house” by one of the Slattery children, confirms the earlier date. Also, although the
house has all the hallmarks of an N. S. Allen design, the only extant documentary evidence regarding its
construction cited the Garson Brothers, a firm which ranked foremost among northwest Louisiana
building contractors from the late 19th century into the 1930s. The Garson Brothers built houses,

however; they did not design them. Several years ago this writer stumbled upon architectural elevations of
the Slattery house in the N. S. Allen papers at the LSUS Archives, thus finally proving that Allen
designed the place. Presumably he also designed John F. Slattery’s residence next door, built at the same
time as his father’s home and also by the Garson Brothers. The John F. Slattery house, completed in
1904, bears every indication of also being an Allen design and this author feels 99% certain it is.
However, concrete proof such as was found to verify Allen’s design of the John B. Slattery house has yet
to be uncovered.
Both Slattery houses rank among the city’s foremost Victorians, the John B. Slattery house being the
largest remaining Victorian home in the city and one of only five structures positively attributed to N. S.
Allen (the others being the L. R. Logan Mansion at 725 Austin Place, the Antioch Baptist Church at 1057
Texas Avenue, the Line Avenue School at 1800 Line, and the former Odd Fellows Hall at 864 Texas
Avenue).
In 1923 John Bernard Slattery built the Gothic Revival downtown building which bears his name. A
seventeen story skyscraper, it was then the tallest and largest capacity building in Shreveport as well as
the tallest privately owned building between New Orleans and St. Louis. Until 1940 the Slattery Building
remained Shreveport’s tallest and, though today dwarfed by much larger buildings, it remains one of
downtown Shreveport’s most architecturally appealing office buildings and is a cornerstone of the
Downtown Historic District. Like the Slattery house, the Slattery Building remained in the hands of heirs
of its builder until the last decade of the 20th century.
Just prior to his death, John Bernard Slattery was planning to develop a large suburban subdivision on
land he owned located between what are now Linden Street, Dudley Drive, Line Avenue, and Parkway
Boulevard. Today the area is occupied by parts of the Glenwood and Madison Park neighborhoods but
then it was open land known as “Slattery’s Pasture.”
Ideas for a neighborhood on the site had begun to gel in John B. Slattery’s mind as early as 1922 but the
downtown building filled much of his time and it was not until it was open and largely occupied in 1926
that he began to make serious plans to begin work. Unfortunately, ground was never broken, at least not
by Mr. Slattery, who died in September of 1927, having already set his plans to paper.
A neighborhood did begin to arise within a decade of Mr. Slattery’s death and, in honor of the man who
had owned the land and first planned its development, Slattery Boulevard, which runs through the middle
of the neighborhood and is its widest street, was named after him. The neighborhood itself is formally
known as the Slattery Park Subdivision, although it is most widely regarded as being part of the larger
South Highlands-Glenwood neighborhood.
Few have left so large a mark on their city as John Bernard Slattery did on Shreveport. His mortal remains
rest at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery on Texas Avenue but his name and legacy live on – in the many
descendants he and his wife have living here today, in the landmark building which bears his name, in the
street and subdivision which also bear his name, and in the fabulous 101 year old wedding cake mansion
on Fairfield, which will always be known as the Slattery House.
Note: One measure of the gratitude of a city is in the naming of its streets. Here, also, JBS was
remembered. The following streets were named for him in the 20 th Century.
From 1910 to 1911 the third street south of his home was named Slattery Boulevard. This was
renamed in 1911 to Robinson Place after the banker who owned the home on the northeast corner
of Fairfield.

From 1911 to 1914 the street next to his home was named Slattery Boulevard but was rename to
Dalzell after a minister who was a hero during the Yellow Fever outbreak of 1873.
Finally in 1924 the egress through “Slattery’s Pasture” was named Slattery Boulevard and
remains that today.

Photos
Figure 57 - Shreveport in the 1950s – you can see the Woolworth Building on the right.

Figure 58 - The Slattery Building

The Washington Youree Hotel where many Slatterys, Tierneys and O’Keefes danced under the stars.
Alice Sebastian had wonderful memories of those days.

Figure 59 - St. Vincent’s in the 1950s. Many Slattery girls graduated from high school and the college.
The Daughters of the Cross Sisters came to Shreveport in the 1850’s and provided education and
boarding for Catholic girls to the college level. Until 1949, when the St. John’s grade school was built,
St. Vincent’s provided education for both boys and girls. When St. John’s College was opened in 1903
boys began attending beginning in the 9th grade.

Before the railroad came to Shreveport boat, traffic was the principle means of shipping to market.
Shreveport was one of the main cotton markets. Shreveport was also the closest market for cattle and
other goods shipped from the new Republic of Texas.
Figure 60 - The Red River in the late Nineteenth Century.

Figure 61 – Union Depot in Shreveport around 1892. JBS was a key player in bringing the railroads
to his beloved city. In the ‘50s I saw my father, Ed Sullivan, off on business trips many times. He
worked for United Gas Corporation which was formed by N.C. McGown who was the President
and CEO at that time. N.C. McGown was a witness to the documents at the incorporation of the
Slattery Co. in 1925.

Figure 62 - A claim to fame for Shreveport is the” king” himself. He gave a concert in 1955 as a ‘thank you’ to the
citizens of Shreveport for giving him his early platform. He returned in 1977 for his final concert, just months
before his death.

These are the photographs of John Bernard and Mary Frances Slattery that hung in the Slattery House.

Family Stories
As described earlier, the father of JBS gave his life during the Civil War. His first born son, John Francis,
volunteered for the Spanish American War. And the Slatterys would volunteer again during WW I and
WW II. Paul fought in Europe and was gassed during WWI which probably took his life prematurely.
*******************************
In WWII Joseph Eldred Slattery Jr. flew B17s over Germany and was killed in action. In the early days of
the European Campaign these bombing runs were carried out with no fighter protection past a certain
point. He held his ship, which was on fire, steady to enable his crew to bail before he left the craft.
The following article about Joe Slattery’s service in WW II appeared in the Shreveport paper and was
based on a letter a crewmate sent to Joe Slattery’s family in 1945, after the war.
Joseph E. Slattery Jr. was an 8th Air Force pilot killed when his plane was shot down over Germany on
June 22, 1943. Joseph E. Slattery III forwarded the following letter to the paper that the family received
from a crewmate in 1945.
“We had just reached the German coast when we were attacked by 15 German fighters. The eighth one hit
us with cannon shells in the wing and in the nose behind me. The shell set the interior of the nose on fire.
I went back between the pilot seats, told Joe that the ship was on fire and we had better bail out. I passed
out from lack of oxygen before I could I could jettison the hatch. I fell forward on the door and fell
through. My chute by chance caught on the door and was jerked open. I was unconscious most of the way
down. I was taken to a Catholic hospital where a priest told me that Joe had landed in his parachute and
that he was brought into the hospital and died from burns an hour after he entered. Joe stuck to his post in
order to give his crew enough time to bail out. He was one of the bravest and most courageous pilots I
have ever known.”
Detail that was sent to me by the 91st Bombardment Group of the 8th Air Force indicated that this was
Joe’s 9th bombing run and his first as the pilot of his plane.
A report by the 8th Army Air Corps on the bombing run where he gave his life:
Remarks: - One of the most accurate attacks of the war. Target completely washed out. Photographs of
bombs bursting on target and billowing smoke were one of the pictures of the war. Weather 5/10 to 8/10.
Enemy air opposition was by far the worst yet experienced by this group, between 150 and 175 E/A
(enemy aircraft) attacked. Nearly all were FW 190 with a few ME 109s and two JU 88s reported.
Encounters lasted one hour fifteen minutes and some crews reported as many as fifty attacks. Attacks
came from all sides. Flak at target was intense, accurate and a barrage type.
*******************************

His brother J.B. volunteered and was an instructor at the Great Lakes Naval Station until he requested
duty on the front lines. He was transferred to the Pacific Theater and transported soldiers and landing craft
for the Americans to come ashore as they island hopped across the pacific.
*******************************
Jerry O’Keefe flew Corsairs and became an Ace while protecting American war ships against Kamikaze
suicide planes. He knocked out five enemy aircraft on his first flight (required to achieve Ace status.)
The following is a brief history of Jerry’s WWII effort documented in Wikipedia:
Jeremiah "Jerry" Joseph O'Keefe, III (born July 12, 1923, Ocean Springs, MS) is an American World War
II veteran and decorated fighter pilot ace. In addition he has served his state of Mississippi as a member of
the Mississippi House of Representatives and was the mayor of Biloxi in the 1970s. He is also a lifelong
philanthropist and contributor to his community.
O'Keefe enlisted in the U.S. Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor and served from 1942-1943. Then he
became a fighter pilot with the U.S. Marine Corps from 1943-1945. He was a 1st Lt. with theVMF-
323 Marine Squadron, known as the "Death Rattlers". He gained recognition for his contributions to a
dogfight in Okinawa on April 22, 1945 in which he shot down five enemy planes, becoming an ace in a
single day. On April 28 Lt. O'Keefe shot down another two enemy planes bringing his total victories to
seven which made him the highest scoring ace in Okinawa at the time.
*******************************
Jackson Davis, the husband of Rosemary Slattery Davis, also had an interesting story around his service
during the Second World War. As told by him: he graduated from LSU law school in 1940 and practiced
law for a while but understood that he would be drafted more sooner than later. He decided to enlist in
order to have a choice on how and where he was to serve. In the summer of 1941 Rosemary, whom he
had met while at LSU, drove him to New Orleans with the idea of enlisting in the Navy with a desire to
go into intelligence. He achieved both and enlisted as an officer. He could have been sent to either Hawaii
or the Philippines. As it turned out he was sent to Hawaii and arrived there on September 7, 1941.
He was assigned to the ‘code breakers’ for the Pacific region. On December 7, 1941 he was awakened by
a commotion in the hallway of his hotel (due to lack of space some officers were housed in Honolulu) and
he dressed quickly and ran downstairs. He flagged down a taxi to take him to the base. Almost all
accounts I have read remark good naturedly that he “went to war in a taxi”.
The effort of the group in which he served was monumental in that the Americans were able to break the
code and used the insight for the war without the enemy ever suspecting that their code had been broken.
Results such as insight into the great battle at Midway, and being able to tracking down Yamamoto, were
enabled by the code breakers being able to stay a step ahead of the Japanese.
Jackson told me that they were also able to gain intelligence on the movement of supply ships and could
have an American submarine waiting to sink the ship. A great deal of damage was done by the work of
this group.

I just have to add that I am still amazed that Jackson was able to get Rosemary a job in Honolulu and have
her sent over on a destroyer after she graduated from LSU in 1943. A few months after she arrived they
were married and even got to honeymoon on Waikiki Beach.
*******************************
My Mom remarked on the pride that the family had with these efforts during the war, but also the deep
sorrow in the loss of her cousin and friend, Joe. Alice Sebastian told me that the last time she saw Joe was
in Biloxi when he came by to see Jerry (who had left for his training) and that he had said to her to tell
Jerry to “keep ‘em flying” (His bombardment group was assigned to McDill A.A.B. in Tampa, Florida
between May 13, 1942 and June 26, 1942, and he probably made his way over to Biloxi during that
period.)
Slattery descendants have continued to serve their county in every conflict that followed, from Korea to
Afghanistan and Iraq. Any effort on the front line, by definition, means the willingness to surrender one’s
life and deserves our gratitude.
Some other family stories
During WWII, everybody used ration coupons as all available supplies went to the war effort. My Mom
related to me how she cooked Spam for breakfast, lunch and dinner. She would fry it with eggs (when we
had eggs) to start the day, fix sandwiches for lunch and bake it for supper. Everybody was burned out on
Spam but I was not. I must have enjoyed it three meals a day as I still enjoy a Spam sandwich, but not
every day or every meal!
She also told me that she traded her cigarette coupons to her sisters (Lolly and Jo) for butter and flour
coupons. She did not smoke but she needed to bake. On the other hand there were eight people living at
the Big House and I think they did OK. One part of the family would talk to another part and a lot of
trading went back and forth. The probably took place all over the country.
After the war the economy finally began to recover from the depression and the fortunes of the Slattery
family did as well.
Alice Sebastian told me a couple of great stories.
Her brother Johnny, who because of his age, entered the service late in WW II and became a pilot with
the Army Air Corps but never served overseas and, according to her, regretted that. So later when the
Vietnam War broke out he volunteered to serve as a surgeon through the American Medical Association.
While he was in Vietnam he found a woeful lack of orthopedic surgery skills among the local doctors and
as a result many limbs were lost that might have been saved. Well it seems that one morning he came in
early and found a young boy sitting there who had a bad leg. Johnny asked him why he was there and he
replied that “Dr. So and So told him he would have to have his leg removed”. When Johnny examined the
leg he found it did not have to be removed and could be saved using his orthopedic skills. The little boy
expressed his fear that if the doctor found out he talked with him he would be angry. So Johnny told him
to hide in a closet until he came back for him.

Later when it was a safe Johnny came back for the boy and operated on him. He saved the little boy’s leg.
When the boy awoke he told Johnny he was afraid the local doctor was going to be very angry with him
for not losing his leg but Johnny said he would handle it and that was that. What a great story. One can
only imagine how many people had their limbs saved because he volunteered to train the Vietnamese
surgeons.
Another story had to do with Johnny flying through Shreveport on his way to the West Coast during WW
II. He had a layover of a few hours. He called Alice to ask her to come out for a visit while he was there.
She was in a great hurry and was driving down Hollywood when she had a flat tire! When she got out to
survey the situation two men stopped and offered to help. She explained to them that she was on her way
to the airport to see her brother and said to the men: “Look I don’t have very much time, would you mind
lending me your car and when you get the tire fixed just drive my car out to the airport.” And that is what
happened. She said her brother was speechless when he heard the story!
A personal story: In the late ‘40s and early ‘50s I would walk with my Dad to his job at United Gas on
Fairfield Avenue and continue on to my school at St. John’s Grade School. As we walked 3-4 cars would
stop and offer us a ride and my Dad would gently decline. Finally I asked him why people were doing this
and he explained that during the war many people ran out of gas because of rationing and as a result
people assumed that you would appreciate a lift so they would stop and offer. It just became a great habit
created during the war.

The Slattery Building Ghost(?) – from the Shreveport paper
In 1923 at the age of 80, John Bernard Slattery began construction on the skyscraper which would come
to bear his name. Upon its completion in 1924, the Slattery Building was the tallest privately owned
building in the state. Today, the building is home to a number of businesses and offices. For over eighty
years it has silently watched over the growth of the city, and while it is far from being the tallest building,
it is still impressive. It is also on the National Register of Historic Places.
No one knows the identity of the spirit that has been heard knocking about the top floor. Some locals
claimed to have both seen and heard a man walking about the top floor. Members of the Slattery family
(who sold the building in 1998) speak of a handy man that fell to his death into a large fan on the roof of
the skyscraper. However, it is not known if this is the ghost who occupies the building. Because of the
unknown identity of the spirit and the spirit’s motives for haunting the top floor, it is a most mysterious
haunting.

Follow-up
This first edition purposely covers the family of JBS and his children with a few stories about a few of his
grandchildren. I have learned so much about the family and I hope that you also find this interesting and
enjoy reading this as much as I did compiling it. I say compiling because much of the content was
provided through conversations with Bill Slattery, by the documents left to me by my mother, Florence
Tierney Sullivan, and the research of Joe Slattery. We also profited from other sources like Rosemary
Slattery Davis and a treasure trove of pictures from Bob Carmichael. Joe was also a significant editor to
the final documents as was my twin, Flo Fowler Sullivan. Finally, Maureen O’Keefe Ward provided
wonderful documentation on the life of her grandmother, Tess Slattery O’Keefe and pictures left by Tess
about her life, the life of her siblings and more history on her maternal family: the Herrons.
As I said earlier the sponsor and impetus behind this effort was Bill Slattery. He asked me to pull together
the “Slattery” story. I have worked closely with Bill for the last five years on the Slattery Co. and as I
mentioned earlier he taught me a great deal about the family. Born in 1930 his memory goes back to key
happenings such as the death of John F. Slattery (he remembers it as the first time he viewed a dead
body), giving milk taken from the cow behind his dad’s home on Thornhill to his Uncle John, Aunt Grace
and the Big House, and his vacation with the O’Keefe’s home in Ocean Springs. There are three
grandchildren still alive and it is wonderful to include some recollections from them.
There are several additional steps you might take as descendants of JBS:
Are there stories of your family within the Slattery/O’Keefe context that you would like to
communicate to your siblings, nieces, nephews or cousins? Send me a Word document with the
story and any photographs you have and I will publish an updated document this year. Please
send any changes/additions to: saphrpro@aol.com. I would also like to receive any feedback from
you on errors or omissions.
Are there members of your extended family who have not received this this document that you
would like to be added to the distribution? Please send Joe Slattery their email and physical
addresses and we will send them a copy.
Do you think having a reunion in 2014 (early summer) would be something you would be
interested in attending or even helping with? It has been suggested that two reunions might be
held: one in Biloxi and one in Shreveport. Bill Slattery has offered to have the Slattery Co. pay
for the catering and set-up/clean-up; we can get reduced rates at local hotels. Let me know what
you think at saphrpro@aol.com.

Slattery History Final 2014 Frank Sullivan PDF

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Slattery Family History

Family History and Stories

Slattery Family History Page 1 January 2014

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Slattery Family History Page 2 January 2014

Slattery Family History Page 3 January 2014

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Slattery Family History Page 4 January 2014

Slattery Family History Page 5 January 2014

Slattery Family History Page 6 January 2014

The move to Biloxi was covered as it continued.

Slattery Family History Page 7 January 2014

Slattery Family History Page 8 January 2014

Slattery Family History Page 9 January 2014

Slattery Family History Page 10 January 2014

1872 – JBS graduates from the University of Wisconsin

1876 – JBS and Mary Herron are married in Omaha Nebraska.

Slattery Family History Page 11 January 2014

Early History of the Slattery Family up to 1874

John Patrick Slattery’s Civil War service

Mustered in: September 7, 1861

Slattery Family History Page 13 January 2014

Early History of the Slattery Family up to 1874(Continued)

By Joe Slattery (Continued)

Slattery Family History Page 14 January 2014

Typed notes set out the news clipping of their marriage:

The children John and Mary Slattery:

Slattery children other than John f who had no children

Thomas Anthony Sep. 18, 1888 Mar 19 1904 15

Paul Thomas Jun. 29, 1890 Feb. 21, 1947 56

Slattery Family History Page 15 January 2014

and was a lifelong bachelor.

William Bernard Feb. 3, 1892 Mar. 29, 1960 68

Louis Aloysius Sep 28 1899 Nov 4 1899 6 Wks.

Slattery Family History Page 16 January 2014

Slattery Family History Page 17 January 2014

The family of John Bernard Slattery

Slattery Family History Page 18 January 2014

ELLEN RYAN SLATTERY

Slattery Family History Page 19 January 2014

Slattery Family History Page 20 January 2014

Figure 1 - Rob Slater, the brother of JBS, with his family.

ROBERT FRANCIS SLATTERY

Slattery Family History Page 21 January 2014

Slattery Family History Page 22 January 2014

Slattery Family History Page 23 January 2014

Slattery Family History Page 24 January 2014

Slattery Family History Page 25 January 2014

Figure 5 - Edward Slater

Slattery Family History Page 26 January 2014

EDWARD HENRY SLATTERY

Slattery Family History Page 27 January 2014

John Francis Slattery (1877–1936)

Slattery Family History Page 28 January 2014

Slattery Family History Page 29 January 2014

Slattery Family History Page 30 January 2014

Mary Ellen (Nell) Slattery Tierney (1883-1970)

Slattery Family History Page 31 January 2014

JOHN B. SLATTERY - Written by Nell Slattery Tierney

Slattery Family History Page 32 January 2014

Slattery Family History Page 33 January 2014

Nell Slattery Tierney (1883–1970)

Mrs. Robert A. Tierney

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