Our Sloans
A Railroad Family
D.A.
quit school at 15 and went to work on the railroad with his father, Lewis
Carlton Sloan. He changed jobs a few times but went back to the railroad.
D.A.Sloan Sr. started work on the Seaboard Railroad at Fish Creek Ga. around 1942.Life on the railroad would prove to be a "moving experience" for the Sloans. You see, the railroad operates on seniority and if a senior employee decided that the section where you worked would suit him better than his own section, he could put in a bid for your section, whereby you would then be “Rolled” to another section. This would go on until you gained enough seniority that no one else could have you “Rolled”. So D.A was “rolled” to Cedartown Ga. around 1944, then moved to Ragland Al. for about three months before D.A. was "rolled" back to Cedartown. They moved back into the same house. Evelyn, their oldest daughter, was in the 2nd grade at that time. David, their oldest son, started school in Cedartown in 1945. They moved to Whitmire S.C. in 1946 for a few months, then on to Carlisle S.C. for the remainder of that year and into 1947. From there, they moved to Hiram Ga. for a short time then back north, to Eastbrook N.C. where they lived until March 1949 when D.A was "rolled" once again. They then moved south again to Odenville Al. where Evelyn, David, and Thelma finished out the school year, D.A Jr. was only 3yrs.old. Granddaddy, Lewis Carlton Sloan, died in Polk Cty, Ga. that summer on Aug.6, 1949. From Odenville, they moved to Fort Lawn S.C. where they lived until Evelyn, David and Thelma graduated high school. They moved from there to Waco N.C. for a short time and from there to Wellington Al. where D.A. Jr. graduated from Alexandria High School. In 1965 they moved to Athens, Ga. By this time D.A. Sr. had built up enough seniority that he couldn’t be ‘rolled’ anymore and he bought his house in Comer Ga. That's where D.A. and Dora lived out the rest of they're lives. D.A. retired from the CSX railroad about 1978 and would have worked longer if his health had allowed it. He had emphazema and was very short of breath when he retired. D.A. Sr. and Dora Sloan were married almost 56 years when D.A. passed away in 1990.
Dora was a wonderful woman, who loved her family dearly and constantly worried about every one of them. She never drove a car, and loved to cook for her family. We always went to their house for Thanksgiving and Christmas. She would have HUGE meals cooked with several cakes, pies and almost always had some homemade fudge. Dora made beautiful homemade quilts practically all of her life, some of which she sold, many we still have and use. She also loved flowers and was always working in the yard planting and caring for her flowers. She had many flowers in pots, in the fall of the year she would store them inside the house and the wellhouse out back, and in the spring she would place them on the front porch and around the yard for people to see and enjoy. She had hardening of the arteries and a bad heart. She was putting her flowers out in the spring of 1996 when an aneurysm in her heart burst causing her death.
D.A. and Dora are buried side by side in the Comer Cemetery
in Madison Cty. GA.
Written by
Mark Jenkins (Grandson) with the help of my mother, Evelyn Sloan Patman.
D.A. Sloan Sr.'s Parents
D.A.'s parents were
Lewis Carlton Sloan and Virginia Myra Lumsden {Sloan}. They were married on
Oct.28, 1888. He was called "Carl" and She was called
"Virgie". Carl was born on Dec.25, 1866 and died Aug.6, 1949 and
Virgie was born Mar.19, 1874 and she died Mar.19, 1941. Both are buried at
Sardis Methodist Church in Fish Creek Ga. Carl worked most of his life on the
Railroad. He helped build the narrow gauge RR that went through western Ga. and
eastern Ala. and was called "The East and West Railroad". He later
helped lay the tracks of the `Seaboard Airline Railroad', now called `CSX',
which followed the old `East & West' tracks. He later worked as a section
foreman, keeping the tracks repaired. Carl worked for the Railroad for 30 years
of his life, and moved from place to place as his job required, much the same
as his son D.A.’s family. He was a kind, gentle and jolly man, but very stubborn
where his convictions were concerned. He was also a mason and an odd fellow. It
was said that if he were angry with you, you'd better cross the street when you
saw him coming, as he wasn't afraid to fight!
Carl and Virgie had 10 children altogether, 3 of which died.
Dora Thrasher Sloan's Parents
Dora's parents were David Jackson Thrasher and
Dahlia Lou Keaton Thrasher. They were married on Sept. 7, 1912 and Dahlia died
in 1946 after giving birth to 13 children. David Jackson lived to be 93 years
old and remarried twice after Dahlia passed away. He was a wonderful man who
loved gardening and always worked somewhere, doing something, until he was up
into his 80's. He also loved to fish and made homemade wine up into his 80's as
well. He was always a jolly, happy-go-lucky kind of man, with a kind and gentle
way about him. He died in 1986 and will always be dearly missed by all who knew
him.