Abisha Slade was born in Caswell County, North Carolina on September 15, 1790. He served as the clerk of the Caswell County court of pleas and quarter sessions from 1840-1852. Slade is best known for having credit for the a new form of fluecured yellow tobacco, often called Bright Leaf Tobacco, which African Americans he enslaved discovered and developed. He died in Caswell County in about 1870.