Lemuel Lasell (1759 - 1843)

Born 23 Jun 1759 in Windham, Windham, Republic of Vermont

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 30 Apr 1843 at age 83 in St. Albans, Franklin, Vermont, United States

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Lemuel Lasell was one of the Founding Fathers of St. Albans Vermont.

Biography

Lemuel Lasell was born in 1759 in Windham, Windham County, Connecticut to Joshua and Hannah (Bingham) Lasell. Hanna's father was Deacon Lemuel Bingham of Connecticut.

Lemuel came to Swanton in 1777 (or '78) where he was among the very first settlers under the New Hampshire Grants. He married Dorothy Brooks, daughter of Adonijah and Olive (Harrington) Brooks of St. Albans Point. There were no roads in Swanton at the time and paths followed marked trees. The town meeting of 1792 was held at his house; he was the Moderator and was appointed Constable. Their first five children were born there: Labin, Azariah, Fanny, Ralph, and Lydia. Nelson and Adonijah were born in St. Albans. Lemuel held the honor of being the first Captain of the first military company in Swanton (circa 1805).

The Lasells moved to St. Albans about 1806. The first clearing at St. Albans Bay, from the shore to the meeting house, was a tract of land on the Lasell and Buck properties. Lemuel passed away in 1843 and Dorothy in 1852, both in St. Albans. Labin, born 1791, was the first white child born in the town of Swanton. He married Hephzibah Lovewell in St. Albans in 1815 (Her brother Nehemiah Lovewell and his son Robert were both Patriots of the Revolutionary War; Robert was also one of the original settlers of St. Albans). Labin and Hephzibah had at least three sons: Smith, Henry, and John. Smith was born in St. Albans in 1852, married Sarah Skinner (daughter of Alva and Betsey (Sanborn) Skinner of St. Albans), and together they had eight children: Merrill, Haskell, Loren, Marshall, Frederick, Alvah, Henry, and Erastus. Henry Lovewell Lasell's wife's name was Mary Frances. Henry and Mary had at least two children: Helen (Lassell) McKnight and Burton Isbill LaSelle. John passed away at a young age.

Azariah Lasell was born to Lemuel and Dorothy in Swanton in 1795, Fanny in 1802 (Fanny married Nelson Bullard and they lived in Swanton where they owned and operated a hotel for 28 years and farmed), Ralph in 1803 (he married Augusta Young), and Lydia in 1805. Nelson was born in St. Albans in 1807 (he married Thankful Irish).

Adonijah Beach Lasell (the youngest child of Lemuel and Dorothy) was born in 1813 in St. Albans. He married Elvira Baffle. Their only child was William Arthur Lasell was born on the Point in 1846. William, who went by his middle name Arthur, married Ellen Hathaway (daughter of Hiram and Adeline (Tullar) Hathaway of the Point). Arthur and Ellen Lasell lived on the Point and had two sons there: Beach Adonijah and Norman A. After Ellen passed away, Adonijah married Ella Washburn. He and Ella had a daughter named Mary. Maps from 1850 and 1871 show A. Lasell living on the Point next to H. Hathaway. Families that married descendants of Lemuel Lasell and Dorothy (Brooks) Lasell include the following surnames and more: Lovewell, Skinner, White, Sargent, Wight, Scribner, Bond, Hittman, Spalding, Widmer, Drew, Dugan, Norton, Paul, Bullard, Young, Irish, Baffle, Hathaway, Washburn, Mason, Fawcett, and Taubert.

“The History of the Town of Swanton” includes this story in their records:

“Mr. Brooks had a daughter some 14 yrs of age, who had but a short time previous gathered what was then known as cat-tail from the swamps in quantity sufficient to make herself a bed. This she made up that night for the weary travelers, and they enjoyed much their night's rest. When on their journey the next day, young Meach, speaking of their excellent reception of the night previous, observed to his companion, that is a fine girl, to give up her own bed for our accommodation and comfort. Yes, replied Lasell, she is so, and her father is coming to our part of the country soon to settle, and I shall taker her, if I can get her, for my wife. Some 2 years after this Mr. Brooks settled on St. Albans Point, the acquaintance was renewed, and the girl that kindly furnished her own bed for the comfort of the tired travelers became the wife of Mr. Lasell, a numerous posterity being the result of this union.”

Sources

• Marriage. "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XFVG-M8R : 19 February 2021), Dorothey Brooks in entry for Lemuel Laselle, 1843.

• Lazell, Theodore Studley, 1871-. John Lazell of Hingham And Some of His Descendants. [Haverhill, Mass.]: Privately printed [Record Publishing Company], 1936. Page 43.

• Find A Grave: Memorial #15906694.