At the dawn of the American Revolution, a Native American by the name of Keghgekapowell supposedly received a patent for the land of present day Slate Hill, as this is the name found on the Wawayanda Patent. When his tribe, probably from the Algonquin Nation of the Lenni Lenape, had left the land to go West, Keghgekapowell was said to have gone with them never to return. The site of his abandoned estate is located on a hill on present day Jogee Road. The road was named after Keghgekapowell since his name had taken the simpler form of Jogee by European settlers.

One of the early settlers, Richard Wood, built Woodlawn Farm, and was one of the original members of the Primitive Baptist Church of Brookfield. Both his house and church, the oldest buildings in Slate Hill, still stand and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.