The Sleet Family

The Sleet Family. Sleettown . Gateway To Freedom. , The story of the Sleet family in central Kentucky began in Mercer County, Kentucky, at the beginning of the 19th century. An 1836 will of Reubin Sleet, a Mercer County slaveholder, made the first reference to Warner-the patriarch of the African-American Sleet family. Upon Reubin's death, Warner and his wife, Octavia (an Apache Indian) were willed to Lucy Ann Peters, Reubin's daughter. Warner and Octavia Sleet later moved, most likely with their new owner, to Boyle County. Each of their three sons-Henry (c. 1842), Preston (c. 1844), and George (c. 1850) were born in Boyle County., In 1865 the 13th Amendment gave the Sleets their freedom from bondage, and the sons and their families settled on the old Perryville Battlefield. The settlement expanded over the coming decades and became known as Sleettown, and the Sleets themselves became a prominent local family., Many residents of Sleettown were buried in the city cemetery, located in the field in front of you. Other Sleets were interred in Perryville. Sleettown vanished in 1931, a victim of the Great Depression and demographic changes. The town's legacy lives on today through the work and accomplishments of the Sleet family. From business owners to city officials to a federal judge, the Sleets remain active in the Perryville community-and beyond., The most notable Sleet descendant is Moneta Sleet Jr., who in 1969 became the first African-American to win the Pulitzer Prize in photography. He is best remembered for his documentation of the Civil Rights movement, including the famous photograph of Coretta Scott King at the funeral of her husband, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., (Caption):, The Sleet Family Circa 1880 , Back row, left to right: Rachel Sleet Peters, John Sleet, Lucy Sleet, Emma Sleet, Simon Sleet, Mary Bell Sleet , Front row, left to right: Katherine Sleet, Preston Sleet (son of Henry and Katherine), Henry Sleet