While her husband was in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, serving as legislator, State Treasurer, then Secretary of the Commonwealth during the Civil War, the diminutive Catharine Frick Slifer acted as both mother and father to the Slifer children, while also overseeing the family's extensive farming operation. Relatives and neighbors alike knew that, although small in stature, Catharine Slifer had the strength of character required to meet these heavy responsibilities. An unwavering devotion to home, community, and country, as well as a deep, abiding religious faith, carried her through the anxieties of war, and the bitter loss of loved ones.

Her strength and faith were rooted in traditional German-Swiss values. Emigrating from Switzerland in the early 1700s, Catharine's great-grandfather, John Conrad Frick, settled in Germantown. His grandson, John B. Frick, married Anna Elizabeth Gotschall whose prosperous German farming family was based in Lancaster. Their daughter, Catharine Motter Frick, was born in Northumberland on June 9, 1814. She was one of sixteen children, three of whom pursued notable military and business careers. Her brother Jacob Frick served with distinction in the Mexican and Civil Wars. He was awarded a congressional medal for his bravery on the battlefields of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. William Frick established a successful boat-building business in Northumberland, and Henry Frick later joined his brother's lucrative business ventures.

Catharine Frick met Eli Slifer while he was working in the canal trade in Northumberland. They were married there on February 4, 1840. In 1841 Slifer became a partner in his brother-in-law's boat-building enterprise. They formed Frick, Slifer, and Company in 1845, an enlarged boat-building and lumber manufacturing concern which was then relocated to the east side of the Susquehanna River opposite Lewisburg. Lumber and canal boats were in such great demand that the business was again moved in 1850 to Lewisburg at the point where Buffalo Creek and the Susquehanna connected. Eli Slifer remained a partner in the company until 1858 when he became deeply involved in his political career. During the years the Slifers lived in Northumberland, three of their eight children were born. The first, John Frick Slifer, born on November 19, 1840, died two months before his second birthday. The next two children were Samuel Harley Slifer, born on September 8, 1842, and Catherine Spyker Slifer, whose birth date was September 16, 1844. After the family moved to Lewisburg, Clara Jane Slifer was born on July 10, 1846, followed by William Henry Slifer on January 1, 1848, John Eli Slifer on December 23, 1849, Eli Slifer, Jr. on June 16, 1852, and Anna Frick Slifer on September 16, 1855.

The deaths of two young sons, her first-born, John Frick, on September 21, 1842, then John Eli, on May 10, 1851, were difficult burdens for Catharine Slifer to bear. John Eli died in a horrible accident that occurred in front of the family's home. The child darted into the street in the path of a cart carrying scrap iron, and was crushed under the heavy weight of its wheels. Catharine witnessed this terrible tragedy from only a short distance away. The following poem written by the grieving mother illustrates Catharine's love for her child:

O, how dreary seems the day Since little John has gone! How hard to keep the tears away That trickle one by one.

Catharine Slifer endured these emotional hardships with courage. She became an able supporter of her husband as he assumed increasingly significant leadership roles in state government. Eli Slifer was elected to the State Legislature in 1849, and the State Senate from 1851 through 1855. He served as State Treasurer in 1855 and 1859. In January, 1861, he was named Secretary of the Commonwealth. Catharine maintained a stable environment for her children, despite the prolonged absences of their father. For Eli, she provided a comfortable home where he could rest briefly before returning to the pressures of Harrisburg.

In 1857 Eli Slifer purchased land comprising over 188 acres from the Musser family who had lived there since 1802. Because the tract was located at the mouth of Buffalo Creek where its waters flowed into the Susquehanna River, and its boundaries were shaped much like the Greek letter "delta," the property had been named Delta Place. Sometime during the years 1860-1861, the Slifers built a new home on the land. The original Musser house was razed, and the distinguished Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan hired to design a country mansion that blended into the beautiful natural setting. Sloan's elegant villa design was featured in the December, 1862, issue of Godey's Lady's Book and Magazine, with architectural floor plans of the house and an illustration of the exterior.

The three-story, Tuscan-style Delta Place, situated on a high rise above the Susquehanna, commanded a sweeping view of river and mountains. The first floor rooms, including a large front hall and spacious drawing room, contained long, vertical windows that were entranceways to the broad veranda surrounding three sides of the house. White marble fireplaces accented every room on the first two floors. There were a total of twenty rooms, with four bedrooms on each of the second and third floors. A third-floor tower staircase led to the cupola which offered a superb scenic perspective of the countryside. Here Eli Slifer entertained business and government visitors, with Catharine as gracious hostess.

Despite the joys of a loving family and beautiful home, the post-war years brought further trials for Catharine Slifer. Eli's health had been nearly broken by the stresses of his service as Secretary. Husband and wife were again separated when he traveled to warmer climates to recuperate, but he never regained his strength, and retired to Delta Place, nearly incapacitated at times. Catharine and Eli also missed their children as the young Slifers married and moved away to establish homes and families of their own. Tragedy struck again in 1879 when their son William Henry, the father of six children, was killed in an accident at the stone quarry he operated on his farm in Kelly Township.

The rest of the Slifer children led happy, productive lives. Catharine stayed in touch with her close-knit family, and took a keen interest in the well-being of her many grandchildren, enjoying their frequent visits to Delta Place. She actively participated in family and community affairs until her health began to fail, and she then had to face many years as an invalid with severe heart problems. After nearly fifty years of marriage, Catharine Frick Slifer died on September 7, 1886, at age 72. She was remembered by all as a loving wife and mother whose first priority was the sanctity of her home. Her life seems best summed up in this tribute:

Catherine Slifer was a pillar of strength . . . assuming the full and heavy responsibilities of taking care of a large family while her husband took care of matters of state and business.

Sources Consulted

Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania:

Including the Counties of Centre, Clinton, Union and Snyder, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, and Many of the Early Settled Families. Chicago: J. H. Beers, 1898.

Kalp, Lois. "Walls Memoir: Dedicated to the Memory of Anna Frick Slifer

Walls and Eli Slifer Walls, and to William Cameron Walls for Whom this Memoir was Written." Typescript, 1904. Walls folder, Box 7. Slifer-Walls Collection. Special Collections/University Archives, The Ellen Clarke Bertrand Library, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa.

Long, Clara Slifer. "Our Slifer Family, 1718-1956." Typescript, n.d.

[37 pp., pagination added]. Slifer General Papers, Box 4. Slifer- Walls Collection. Special Collections/University Archives, The Ellen Clarke Bertrand Library, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa.

Reed, Doris Hartley. Delta Place: Indian Hunting Grounds, Slifer

House, Ross Mansion, United Evangelical Home, Lewisburg United Methodist Homes, 1769-1976. Lewisburg, Pa.: Slifer House, 1976.

Slifer, Catharine Frick. "In Memory of Little Johnie Slifer By His

Bereaved Mother." Typescript poem reproduced in "Our Slifer Family, 1718-1956" by Clara Slifer Long., p..25. Typescript, n.d. [37 pp., pagination added]. Slifer General Papers, Box 4. Slifer-Walls Collection. Special Collections/University Archives, The Ellen Clarke Bertrand Library, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa.