Joe H. Slusher, enlisted as private in Co. A., 54th Va. Regt., Civil War.

The 1860 and 1880 censuses both record his occupation as physician. He was an amateur herb doctor and ginseng hunter, and had no medical training except from Native American medicine men.

Joseph probably died between 1880 and 1885, and definitely by 1900, when Nancy was listed as a widow. The 1885, 1889 and 1890 tax lists do not list him, but his son Joseph is listed as a head of household, with no "Jr." attached and no initial given. I have examined a lot of these tax lists, and they almost always attached Jr. and Sr. or else a distinguishing initial when there were two men of the same name in the county (Sr. and Jr. were even used when the two were not father and son, to signify "the elder" and "the younger".)

A chart for the Joseph Slusher family sent to me by Anna Lewman (but I think sent to her by someone else) gives Nancy Wade's date of birth as 20 May 1817. But Elza Cox gave it to me as 1819, no day/mo. 1819 seems more consistent with census records. (The 1900 census, where she is living with her daughter Samantha and son-in-law Henry Skaggs, says she was born May 1820.)

Floyd County Marriages Book 2, Page 257, lists marriage of Joseph Slusher and Nancy Wade, bond issued 17 Nov 1838, surety by Samuel Dobyn, married on 29 Nov 1838 by Nathaniel Thompson.

1840 census of Grayson Co., Virginia, lists on p. 22, line 26 (between Elijah Turman and Joshua Mabry):
Joseph Slusher, 1 w male 20-29; 1 w fem 20-29; 1 w fem < 5; 1 fem slave < 10.

1850 census of Floyd Co., Virginia, lists as family #816:
Jeremiah Slusher, 34, chairmaker; Nancy, 30; Margaret, 9; Mahala, 7; Cealy, 6; Peter, 5; George, 4; Jacob, 1. All born in Floyd Co. (This census taker recorded counties for those born in Virginia.)

I have no idea why Joseph was listed as Jeremiah. This is the only record I’m aware of in which that name appears. Mahala and Peter are also listed with Joseph’s parents at household #690.

1860 census of Morgan Co., Ky, lists family #456:
Joseph Slusher, 42, physician; Nancy, 40; Celia, 15; Samantha, 8; Martha, 6; Joseph, 7/12. The baby born in Ky, all others in Virginia.

(Joseph was not an MD, other sources give his occupation as 'herb doctor'.) Their children Mahala and Peter were living in Virginia with Joseph’s father when this census was taken.

1870 census of Elliot Co., Ky, Moccasin precinct, enumerated 6 Aug, lists on p. 3 as family #20, next door to John & Celia (Slusher) Mays:
Slusher, Nancy, 60; Martha, 15, Joseph, 10.

They are reported as all born in Kentucky, but it is wrong. Joseph H. Slusher is not listed in either Rowan or Elliott in 1870. I don’t where he was. He seems a bit old to be off doing migrant lumber work as the young men often did in the summers. Perhaps he was off on one of his “sang hunting” trips, which could take weeks or even months. Ginseng season began in August, when the leaves start to turn red.

1880 census of Rowan Co., Ky, Christy Creek prec., lists on p. 80, family #336:
Joseph Slusher, 63, physician; Nancy, 62. Both b. in Va. (They are listed as boarders in the household of their dau and son-in-law, Henry & Samantha Skaggs.)