C. C. Slaughter was the oldest son of George Webb Slaughter (1811 – 1895) and Sarah Mason Slaughter (1818 – 1894). C. C. was born to the couple February 9, 1837. He was married to Cynthia Ann Jowell on December 5, 1861. To this union were born six children:
- George Morgan Slaughter (1862 – 1915)
- Minnie Slaughter (1864 – 1955)
- Dela Slaughter (1866 – 1956)
- Eugene Ewell Slaughter (1868 – 1870)
- Robert Lee Slaughter (1870 – 1938)
- Edgar Dick Slaughter (1873 – 1935)
C. C. and Cynthia had moved their family to Dallas in 1873. Two to three years later, Cynthia Ann became ill and passed away in her sleep on May 17, 1876. Her obituary was not specific on the cause, calling her death “unexpected” and saying that she had been ill with “a complication of diseases.” This left C. C., then about thirty-nine years old, to take care of his five surviving children who ranged from around three to about fourteen years old.
In his excellent biography (1) of C. C. Slaughter, author David J. Murrah relates how C. C. and his second wife, Carrie Averill met at a church social in Kansas later in 1876. Carrie was the twenty-four year old unmarried daughter of a local Baptist minister and his wife, Alexander McCormick Averill and Rebecca F. Morton Averill. After a long and somewhat methodical courtship, the couple was married on January 17, 1877. To this union were born the following children:
- Christopher Columbus Slaughter (1879 – 1940)
- Walter Webb Slaughter (1880 – 1881)
- Alexander Averill Slaughter (1881 – 1931)
- Carrie Rebecca Slaughter (1883 – 1958)
- Nelle Louise Slaughter (1892 – 1964)
C. C. died on January 25, 1919. Carrie survived him about nine years until her death on January 1, 1928. Cynthia Ann, C. C. and Carrie are all buried in the historic Greenwood Cemetery in Dallas, Texas as are at least a half dozen other family members.
George Morgan Slaughter was born November 2, 1862. He married Alice Louise Donohoo in 1893. They had two sons and two daughters. George was a stockman all his adult life and lived on the ranches while he managed family properties in West Texas and New Mexico. George was a former president of the Panhandle Stockmen’s Association. He died on July 15, 1915 on a family ranch near Littlefield, Texas at the age of fifty-one from what was termed apoplexy or heart trouble. Alice Louise followed him in death about thirty-three years later and both are buried in Roswell, New Mexico in South Park Cemetery.
Minnie Slaughter was born July 23, 1864. She married Dr. George T. Veal. Dr. Veal was a medical doctor. The couple had no children. For many years they resided in Chavez County, New Mexico, living in Roswell. Dr. Veal was also interested in politics and was elected to serve in New Mexico’s second legislature. He also served as Mayor of Roswell. Dr. Veal passed away at their home in Fabens, Texas near El Paso on April 22, 1944. Minnie was active in Baptist causes and was a charter member of the Southern Baptist Woman’s Missionary Union created in 1888. Minnie died after a long illness on October 20, 1955 while living in Dallas. Her funeral was held in a chapel named for the Slaughter family at First Baptist Church. She and Dr. Veal are both buried in Grove Hill Cemetery in Dallas.
Dela Slaughter was born March 8, 1866. She married Gilbert Greer Wright, an attorney, in 1885. The couple had three daughters and three sons. At some point, Mr. Wright served as a judge in Dallas. Judge Wright passed away in 1943. Dela survived him about thirteen years, passing on July 5, 1956. Both are interred in the Slaughter mausoleum at Greenwood Cemetery in Dallas.
Eugene Ewell Slaughter was born December 17, 1868 and died on March 29, 1870 in Palo Pinto, Texas. He is also interred in the Slaughter mausoleum at Greenwood Cemetery in Dallas.
Robert Lee Slaughter was born August 15, 1870. He married Florence Harris in 1891 and they had one son. He had grown up on the Slaughter ranches and became the manager at age eighteen. One of the large holdings was north of the Midland-Odessa area and for many years he lived in Midland before relocating to Lubbock County. He appears to have later been married to Belle O’Pry. Robert died in Dallas on September 29, 1938 and is interred at Grove Hill Cemetery there.
Edgar Dick Slaughter was born August 1, 1873. He was first married to Carolyn Ligon Graham around 1900 and later married to Sallie Gibbs. He and Carolyn had one son. In his obituary, he was described as a retired investor and a Mason. He died at age sixty-one on January 13, 1935. His vehicle crashed through a bridge railing and was submerged in a creek below. He was extracted from the vehicle and taken to a hospital but never regained consciousness. Edgar Dick is interred in Oakland Cemetery in Dallas.
Christopher Columbus Slaughter, Jr. was born February 8, 1879. He married the former Elma Lecter in 1904 and the couple had one daughter. He was in the insurance business, serving as president of the Southern Old Line Life Insurance Company, and a rancher. C. C., Jr. was a past president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. C. C., Sr. was a charter member of that organization. C. C., Jr. had also served as an officer of the C. C. Slaughter Cattle Company from 1909 to 1914. He died at his home on January 5, 1940. His wife Elma survived him twenty-seven years and both are buried in the mausoleum at Sparkman Hillcrest Memorial Park in Dallas.
Walter Webb Slaughter was born in 1880 and died on June 29, 1881 at about one year of age. He is believed to have been interred in the Slaughter family mausoleum at Greenwood Cemetery.
Alexander Averill Slaughter was born on September 18, 1881. He was married in 1905 to Blanche Fallon with whom he had one daughter. He later married Dorothy L. Stockton in 1919. His obituary refers to him as having been a life long resident of Dallas and a prominent businessman. He died at the age of forty-nine in Dallas on March 25, 1931. No cause of death is noted. Alexander and Dorothy are both interred at Grove Hill Cemetery in Dallas.
Carrie Rebecca Slaughter was born January 6, 1883. She married John Henry Dean, a medical doctor, in 1905 and the couple had one son. Dr. Dean practiced medicine in Waco for a number of years and died at the age of fifty in 1929. Carrie survived him about sixteen years until her death on August 7, 1958. Both are buried at Grove Hill Cemetery in Dallas.
Nelle Louise Slaughter was born May 24, 1892, the last of the children of C. C. and Carrie Slaughter. She married Ira Pleasant DeLoache in 1913. The couple had two sons and two daughters. Mr. DeLoache became a well known real estate investor and is noted to have developed the Preston Hollow neighborhood in Dallas and also the town of Whiteface in West Texas. Nelle died on January 1, 1964 and Mr. DeLoache died about one year later. Both are buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Dallas.
(1) Murrah, David J., “C. C. Slaughter, Rancher, Banker, Baptist,” University of Oklahoma Press, 2012
© 2025, all rights reserved.
Texas History Notebook 