Walter Lasby 1
- Born: 22 May 1843, Ponsonby, Nichol Twp, Wellington, Canada West (Ontario), Canada
- Marriage (1): Lavinia Freeman
- Died: Feb 1920, California, United States at age 76
Research Notes:
From Excerpts from....The Lasby Story
by Bill Lasby, Toronto, Canada.. June 18, 1969
(original is 9 typed pages)
at http://www.angelfire.com/in3/vanbrink/lasby.html
Immediately after the Civil War, Minnesota was formed into a state and there was a great rush of settlement. Walter Lasby left Canada and went to Minnesota and took up a homestead. He married Lavinia Freeman and he became a prominent citizen in southern Minnesota. There were four children, some of whom became quite famous. A son, William, became an orthodontist and founded the dental school of the University of Minneapolis. The daughter, Jennie, was quite a brilliant person. She was the first lady astronomer in the United States and received an appointment to Potsdam just before the outbreak of the first World War. Going over in the boat to take up this appointment, she met a young German musician who was returning to Germany due to the threat of war. They fell in love at once. Because of the war, Jennie returned to the United States but following the war went back to Germany to find her love. He had been badly gassed and apparently wasn't expected to live long. They were married and as Mrs. Tessman, came back to the United States. Jennie immediately went to work teaching at one of the universities in California and had quite a brilliant career. She had the old Lasby family bible from which she gave me many of the dates and some of the information that is on the chart. Through my correspondence with Mrs. Tessman, I met Mrs. Helen Jeffrey, who was the daughter of William Lasby referred to above. She was a charming lady and became quite a good friend of ours.
Following her Aunt Jennie's death, she intended to go to California to work with Mr. Tessman, then an elderly gentleman, in the winding up of her aunt's affairs. Apparently, many of the Lasby artifacts, including the old Lasby bible, had been kept by Mrs. Tessman. Unfortunately, Helen died quite suddenly and she was the last of the Walter Lasby family. In her will, she left me a beautiful china pitcher that had been brought to Canada by Margaret Challenor-Lasby in 1824.
Walter married Lavinia Freeman.
|