[1] Born in Culpeper County, Virginia, on April 27, 1797, Slaughter was educated at the College of William & Mary.
In 1832, Slaughter introduced resolutions in the Indiana General Assembly supporting President Andrew Jackson and the Nullification Crisis involving South Carolina; the resolutions passed the Indiana General Assembly.
[2] Slaughter was appointed Register of the Land Office by Andrew Jackson in Indianapolis, and was transferred to Green Bay, which was in Michigan Territory.
In 1835, he became one of the first white settlers to take possession of land claims in the area of Madison, Wisconsin, in present Middleton.
He was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to oversee the commissary and later was quartermaster at Jefferson Barracks Military Post, Missouri.