Henry Slicer (March 27, 1801 – April 23, 1874) was an American

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

minister who served as

Chaplain of the Senate The chaplain of the United States Senate opens each session of the United States Senate with a prayer, and provides and coordinates religious programs and pastoral care support for senators, their staffs, and their families. The chaplain is appoi ...

for three separate terms.

Early years

Henry Slicer was born on March 27, 1801 in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

, the son of Andrew Slicer and Elizabeth Selby. During his youth he worked for a time as a painter of furniture while he studied for the ministry. He was licensed to preach in December 1821, by the Methodist church.

Ministry

Slicer served pastorates at the Harford circuit (1821) and then the Redstone circuit (1823), west of the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

. Then he was assigned to the Ebenezer Station in Washington, D.C. at the Naval Yard (1824). In 1837 he was elected to serve as

, a post to which he would again be elected in 1847 and 1853. The unfortunate duel on February 24, 1838, at the

Bladensburg dueling grounds Bladensburg Dueling Grounds is a small spit of land, a fraction of its original size, along Dueling Creek, formerly in the town of Bladensburg, Maryland, and now within the town of Colmar Manor, just to the northeast of Washington, D.C., U ...

, between two Congressmen,

Jonathan Cilley Jonathan Cilley (July 2, 1802 – February 24, 1838) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine. He served part of one term in the 25th Congress, and died as the result of a wound sustained in a duel with another Congressman, ...

and