Slocum, Henry Warner, 1826-1894

Slocum was born in Delphi, a hamlet in Onondaga County, New York. His father was Matthew B. Slocum, and his mother was Mary Ostrander. He was the sixth of eleven children. He attended the State Normal School in Albany and the Cazenovia Seminary in Madison County. At the age of 16, he received a Public School Teacher's Certificate from the County Superintendent of Schools, and worked occasionally as a teacher for the next five years.

On the recommendation of Congressman Daniel F. Gott (Onondaga, New York), Slocum obtained an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1848, where he did well academically, graduating seventh of 43 in the class of 1852. He tutored his roommate, cadet Philip Sheridan, in mathematics. In his memoirs, Sheridan credited Slocum with helping him pass his examination and graduate from the academy. While at West Point, Slocum expressed opposition to slavery, which was an unpopular position since many of the cadets were from the South.

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