The Islands: Biographies: Wolfe Island Bio 13

Wolfe Island Biographies 13

Thomas V. SLUMAN

From Portrait and Biographical Record of Portland and Vicinity, Oregon, Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1903, p. 572-3. Courtesy of the Library Association of Portland, Oregon, 2002.

Thomas V. SLUMAN, proprietor of the Mount Tabor Nursery, and one of the best known of the Canadian-Americans who have settled in Multnomah County, was born in Kingston, Canada June 20, 1852, and received his first impressions of life and work on his father's farm. His boyhood days were favored with better educational advantages then fall to the lot of average farm-reared youth, his preliminary training being supplemented by a course of study in the high school, and later attendance at the Kingston Military Academy, from which latter institution he received a second-grade certificate.

The business career of Mr. Sluman was inaugurated in his twenty-first year, when he learned chees making in New York state, and thereafter returned to the paternal farm in Canada, where he conducted his father's dairy of seventy cows and made cheese on a comparatively large scale. In 1876 he disposed of his home interests and located in Brookfield, Mo., and after engaging in farming for a summer started a nursery at Eureka, Kans., which was maintained with a partner for three years. The winter of 1883 was spent in Pueblo, Colo., and upon coming to East Portland, June 9, 1883, he was variously engaged for about two months. An opportunity for advancement was found in selling nursery stock, for which he rented land, and continued thus for two years. In 1885 he purchased his present farm of nine acres, all of which was originally under heavy timber, and necessitated the usual arduous effort for its clearance. As spaces were denuded of their original growth, nursery stock was set out, and flourished in the almost primeval fertility of the soil. In addition to his nursery stock Mr. Sluman raises a few small fruits for market. In all he owns eleven acres, having purchased two additional acres of land.

As proof of his faith in the continued properity by which he is surrounded he has invested in town property to a considerable extent, and owns, besides other lots, number one hundred and forty, one hundred and fifty, and number nine on Tabor Heights.

In 1882 Mr. Sluman was united in marriage with Meliss Firestone, a native of Missouri, and of this union have been born two children, Rufus and Olive, living at home. Mr. Sluman is a Republican in politics, and with his wife is an active member of the Baptist Church. A deacon in the church, he has also served as treasurer, having filled the latter position for about four years. Mr. Sluman is a man of unquestioned integrity, and the management of his nursery and general business indicates ability of a high order.

Notes

-Thomas was baptized at Trinity Anglican Church, Wofle Island.

-Obituary:
From the Oregonian (newspaper), December 10, 1932, p. 12.
Thomas Venton Sluman
Thomas Venton Sluman, nurseryman who died at his home in Mount Tabor, December 4, was a resident of Portland from 1883 until the time of his death.
Born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, June 20, 1852, Mr. Sluman attended school there and on December 11, 1882, was married to Melissa Firestone at Fort Scott, Kan. The couple came to Portland in 1883, making their home at Mount Tabor, then a separate community. Mr. Sluman was engaged in the nursery business until about ten years ago when he retired. He was a life deacon in the Hinson Memorial Baptist Church.
Besides the widow, he is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Olive C. Stanley; a son Rufus V. Sluman, and three sisters and two brothers.

The Islands: Biographies: Wolfe Island Bio 13