West Virginia Advocate May 9, 1983
James and his brother John were married in a double wedding ceremony, they each paid the Rev. Balmain five shillings to perform the ceremony. This
informaiton was found in the journal of Rev. Alexander Balmain, housed in the
Handley Library in Winchester, Va. in the archives on the lower floor. Some of the entries in the journal, in Balmain's own hand, pre-date the Revolutionary War.
James was a farmer and a lawyer. I don't know whether he trained for the
legal profession or not, but numerous documents in the county courthouse show
that he served as a "Lawful attorney".
According to the description of the deeds, he lived on the North River of
the Cacapoon, about one-mile above the Fork. This was a 315 acre estate which was purchased in 1797, from Henry Ward Pierce of Cecil County Md.
For some reason, James inherited only one shilling from his father's
estate. His wife, Margaret, claimed one half of the personal estate of her
father, James Largent, in 1814.
It is believed that they were the parents of three sons and six daughters. No attempt is being made to account for the numerous Slanes who migrated to Ohio, commencing in 1811.