After serving as a colonel in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, he became president of the railroad line between Nashville, Tennessee and Decatur, Alabama.

Sloss knew that all of the ingredients needed to make pig iron were present in Birmingham.

Along with Henry F. DeBardeleben and James Aldrich, Sloss formed the Pratt Coal and Coke Company.

[1] Again working in conjunction with DeBardeleben, Sloss founded a furnace company in 1880 and started construction in 1881.

[2] Sloss was so influential in the development of the city of Birmingham that the Birmingham press suggested in 1881 that he be elected the state Governor: His excellent business qualifications, brilliant intellect, splendid character, and fine executive ability, all combined, make him the grandest man in Alabama today for our chief executive.