532 Oak

The beautiful home at 532 Oak was built c. 1894 for the Sloate family. This was actually the Sloate’s second home in Winnetka.

The first documentation of George and Cornelia Sloate in Winnetka appears in the 1855 census. Little is known about their lives before they arrived on the North Shore. Records indicate that Cornelia was born in Connecticut in 1819, but that’s about all we’ve been able to find.

Once in Winnetka, though, we know that the Sloates were quite immersed in village life. They settled on some land on Sheridan Road – approximately where 483 Sheridan is today. Like many early settlers near the lakefront, the Sloates aided the survivors of the Lady Elgin the night it was wrecked by the schooner Augusta in 1860.

George was the first school director in the village, serving in that position from 1861 to 1869 aside from the time he spent away with the Union Army. Although he enlisted in Illinois, he was placed in the 7th Kansas Cavalry Regiment, the same regiment as famed cowboy and entertainer “Buffalo Bill.” We don’t know much more about George’s life – he appears in the 1865 New Trier census, so he may have survived the war. We do know, though, that Cornelia is listed as “widowed” in the 1880 census and that she submitted an application for his Civil War pension in 1889.

According to our records, the Sloate’s homes were known as “gathering place[s] for young people,” likely because of their impressive daughters, Nellie and Grace. Nellie, the eldest, was a talented artist and musician. One of her paintings, completed in the 1880s, is now part of the WHS archives. Nellie was reportedly known as “the pretty sister.” As a young woman, she met an unnamed “attractive” Northwestern student whom she wanted to marry. Apparently, her mother forbade the union because the young man had foolishly admitted to the pious Cornelia Sloate that “he did not think social dancing was a sin” and that “in fact, he quite enjoyed it.”

Grace was arguably the most notable member of the Sloate family, at least in Winnetka. Born in the village in 1856, she became the first librarian in 1885, staying in that position until about 1904. Grace was also well-known as an “able writer,” a skill that assured her place in Winnetka’s history. In 1924, Grace wrote a lengthy letter to her friend Kate Dwyer, a well-known local teacher, detailing her “early reminiscences” about early settler life in the village. She describes a village many of us would hardly recognize – one full of “radiantly green” rolling meadows and mischievous cows. This record of her memories is one of the reasons we know about many aspects of early Winnetka today.

While we estimate that this house was built c. 1894 because the sewer connection occurred that year, it is possible that Cornelia, Nellie, and Grace built this house earlier. The Sloates lived here until 1904, when they moved to Evanston. Since then, the house has undergone several renovations, including an extensive remodel in 1954, yet thankfully, still stands today.