Theodore Slafter was born to a distinguished New England family in Dedham, Massachusetts in 1854. At the age of thirteen, his drawings of notable Slafter family homesteads accompanied the 1869 memorial publication of the descendants of John Slafter, a Norwich, Vermont deacon. After graduating from Dedham High School, Slafter attended Dartmouth College where he graduated in 1875. Later, he studied at the Royal Academy in Munich. He exhibited at the Boston Art Club and the Art Institute of Chicago. In addition, he was a member of the Copley Society. A February 15, 1943, Boston Post photo portrays a distinguished looking 89-year old Slafter, described as a "retired painter" and one of three living members of the Dartmouth class of 1875, receiving the Boston Post cane, apparently for being the oldest living resident of Walpole, Mass.