Born in
Dresden, Tennessee, Slemons attended
Bethel College. He moved to
Arkansas in 1852. He studied law, including at
Cumberland University. He was
admitted to the bar in 1855 and practiced in
Monticello,
Drew County. He served as member of the Arkansas State convention in 1861. He entered the
Confederate States Army in July 1861 and served as colonel of the
2d Arkansas Cavalry in Price's Cavalry during the
Civil War. In the Fall of 1864, while fighting in
Kansas, Slemons had his horse shot out from under him, and he and a large part of his regiment were captured. For the remainder of the war, he was held captive by
Union forces. He resumed the practice of law. He served as district attorney 1866-1868. Slemons was elected as a
Democrat to the
Forty-fourth,
Forty-fifth, and
Forty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1881). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1880. He resumed the practice of his profession in Monticello. County and probate judge of Drew County 1903-1907. He was in the
Justice of the Peace 1908-1918. He died in Monticello, December 10, 1918 and was interred in Union Ridge Cemetery, near Monticello. ==References==