Slafter, Coroden H

Slafter, Coroden H., a Baptist missionary, was born in Norwich, Vt., Jan. 31, 1811. He removed with his parents to the town of Lawrence, St. Lawrence Co, N.Y., and remained there until 1831. Soon after his hopeful conversion, he felt it to be his duty to preach the Gospel. Like so many other young men whom God calls to be his servants in the ministry, he was poor, and saw no way by which he could obtain the funds necessary to procure an education. Trusting, however, in him who, he believed, had chosen him to enter upon what proved to be his life work, he went to Hamilton, and entered the Baptist institution in that place. His frank statement of his feelings and wishes won the confidence of sympathizing friends, and, along with what he was able to earn by his own efforts, he was supplied with an amount of funds sufficient to carry him through his studies. On leaving the institution, he carried with him the sincere esteem of friends who had given him their love and their aid to fit him for the service upon which he purposed to enter. The cause of Christian missions had taken strong hold upon the mind of Mr. Slafter. It is related of him that "even before his conversion what he had heard and read on the subject had made a deep impression upon his mind, and while pursuing his studies, on looking over the field, the condition of the 'poor perishing heathen' presented a claim which he could not resist." Having decided what was the path of duty, he offered himself as a missionary, and was appointed to the Siam field. He sailed from Boston in December, 1838, and arrived at Bangkok via Singapore Aug. 22, 1839. The hopes which had been raised with reference to Mr. Slafter's qualifications for his work were not disappointed. Having acquired the language, he entered upon his missionary labors with characteristic zeal and energy. Having in his mind made a survey of the great field of his missionary operations, he determined in person to see as much of it as it was possible for him to visit. In order that he might carry out his purpose, he procured and had fitted up a family boat, in which he and his companion made several excursions upon the River Meinaur, and the canals which connect this with the other principal rivers. He penetrated farther into the interior of the country than any other Protestant missionary has ever done. It was his earnest desire to do a work which no other one had done before him, and it was his delight to distribute tracts and such portions of the Bible as had been translated into Siamese where the good news of salvation through Christ had never before been proclaimed. While thus engaged, the messenger of death came to him, and he was removed from the scene of his earthly toils April 17, 1841. It seemed a dark and mysterious Providence which thus early in his career brought to a termination so many cherished plans. But the cause was God's, not man's, and "he doeth all things well." See The Baptist Memorial, 1, 82. (J.C.S.)