BIOGRAPHIES

Laura Lyon Slaymaker most recently worked for the United States Department of Justice, Office of United States Trustee in Savannah, Georgia.  Prior to that, she was a shareholder in the Lancaster law firm of Blakinger Byler & Thomas practicing in the areas of Zoning and Land Use, Municipal Law, Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights, Employment, and General Litigation practice. 

A native of Wilmington, Delaware, Laura received a B.A. degree with honors from University of Delaware, and a law degree with honors from Penn State Dickinson School of Law, where she served as Comments Editor of the Law Review.  While in college she held internships with the Mayor of Wilmington’s office, as well as with DuPont.  During law school, she was an intern for the Pennsylvania State Police, Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement. 

Laura has held the position of President of the Lancaster YWCA, and co-chaired the Race Against Racism in 2001.  She is a former Girl Scout Leader and United Way volunteer, and former Board member of Lancaster AAUW.  Currently, she
is involved with her childrens’ activities including Trident Swim Club and YMCA Youth Soccer.

Laura lived at White Chimneys, the Slaymaker family ancestral home, for several years, and it was there that she developed a commitment to both historic and agricultural preservation. Laura feels strongly about maintaining the balance between land preservation and responsible development. Working in Savannah, Georgia, Laura was able to enjoy, first-hand, the benefits of careful preservation planning.

Samuel C. Slaymaker, III grew up in Gap, Pennsylvania at his family’s ancestral home called White Chimneys.  Surrounded by his family’s history, as well as Lancaster County’s history, he developed a passion for the preservation of those characteristics which make Pennsylvania’s heritage so rich and unique.  Slaymaker Heritage Law is located in the former factory of Sam’s family’s business, The Slaymaker Lock Company, founded by Sam’s great-grandfather in 1888, which was a Lancaster manufacturer of padlocks for close to 100 years.  This circa 1918 building is both a significant landmark in the history of Lancaster industry and an excellent example of the adaptive re-use of an historic structure.

Sam currently works part-time as Executive Director of Rock Ford Plantation, and previously worked as Executive Director of The James Buchanan Foundation for the Preservation of Wheatland.  A lawyer by profession, Sam also spent 10 years in the practice of general law with the Lancaster firm of May, Metzger and Slaymaker.  He has served on the Board of the Lancaster County Historical Society, as well as the Donegal Society and the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution.  Service to these organizations is a family tradition for the Slaymakers, going back to Sam’s great-grandfather. Sam received the C. Emlen Urban Award from the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County in 1998 for the preservation of his historic family estate, White Chimneys, using a combination of building facade and open space easements, “marking the first instance in Lancaster County that a property listed in the National Register of Historic Places has been preserved in this manner.”  

Sam graduated from the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey and received a B.A. degree in History with highest honors from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.  He received his law degree from Penn State Dickinson School of Law and, after graduation, he worked as a law clerk for Federal District Judge Ronald Buckwalter in Philadelphia. In 2005, Sam earned a Master’s degree in American history from Millersville University.

Sam views Slaymaker Heritage Law as the ideal merger of his legal training, museum and volunteer experience, unique upbringing in his family homestead while surrounded by his family’s long standing commitment to historical causes, his previous work in historic preservation, and his desire to preserve our heritage while planning for our future.