Laurent Lesser (1838 - 1900)

Born 11 Jun 1838 in Sundhausen, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France

Husband of Catherine (Schirck) Lesser — married 27 May 1866 in Warren County, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died 20 Nov 1900 at age 62 in Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States

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Biography

Lawrence Lesser has German Roots.

Lawrence Lesser migrated from Alsace, France to United States of America.

Laurent Lesser, POW and husband of Catherine Schirck Lesser

PVT Lawrence Lesser served in the United States Civil War.
Enlisted: 5/29/1861
Mustered out: 1865
Side: USA
Regiment(s): Co. K 1st Bucktails, Thirteenth Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment

Biography of Laurent/Lawrence LESSER of 1838

Lawrence Lesser was a Prisoner of War held in the Andersonville Prison during the American Civil War.

Laurent Lesser was born June 11, 1838 in Sundhausen, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France, the son of Jean Philippe Lesser and his wife Marie Madeleine Fehlmann.

Laurent Lesser immigrated to the United States with his parents, and settled in the state of Pennsylvania. He began using the English version of his name, Lawrence.

Laurent Lesser worked as a blacksmith in Warren, Pennsylvania.

Laurent Lesser married Catherine Schirck of Warren, Pennsylvania. In June 1861,

Laurent Lesser enlisted in the 13th Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment (42nd Infantry), a regiment remembered as the "Bucktail Rifles" because they had to shoot a deer and bring it's tail to qualify to join.

Laurent Lesser was part of the Army of the Potomac, and fought in major battles, including Gettysburg, Antietim, and Fredericksburg, as well as many smaller battles. He was captured at the Battle of Cold Harbor in Virginia and spent some time in Anderson Prison where he read the Bible cover to cover four times. He was finally released in a prisoner of war trade in March 1865.

After the war, Laurent Lesser returned home to Warren, Pennsylvania where two more children, Edwin Baldwin Lesser and Carrie Mary Maude Lesser were born.

By 1872, the Laurent Lesser family moved to Jamestown, New York, where Alice C. Lesser was born in 1872, and Estella A. Lesser in 1874.

The Laurent Lesser family celebrated the 100th birthday of the United States in 1876.

By November 1877 the Laurent Lesser family had moved back to Warren, Pennsylvania where the youngest son Harrison Clayton Warren Lesser was born.

By 1882, the Laurent Lesser family moved to Erie, Pennsylvania and the family continued to grow with the birth of [[Lesser-56|Lavinna Lenora Lesser] in 1882.

Laurent Lesser and Catherine Schirck Lesser had a large family of eight children, two sons and six daughters:

1. Rosania C. Lesser, born March 31, 1861
2. Edwin Baldwin Lesser, born December 1866
3. Carrie Mary Maude Lesser, born September 19, 1870
4. Alice C. Lesser, born December 4, 1872
5. Estella A. Lesser, born November 28, 1874
6. Harrison Clayton Warren Lesser, born November 1877
7. Cora Mae Lesser, born September 12, 1879
8. Lavinna Lenora Lesser, born September 19, 1882

Laurent Lesser died November 20, 1900 at age 62 in Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania after being struck by a trolley car, leaving his wife a widow. Fortunately, his children were all grown by that time. He is buried with his wife Catherine who died in 1929.

Research as compiled by Sharon Centanne, Friday, January 2, 2015, and updated Thursday, January 28, 2016.

This profile is a collaborative work-in-progress. Can you contribute information or sources?

Sources

• The Schirck Family History by Salome Anne Schirck Gruber Huck, Warren, Pennsylvania, 1930. Second edition updated by Hazel Culbertson and Dorothy Keller, and republished by Glenn Culbertson in 1967.

• Find A Grave: Memorial #6009757, maintained by Donna Kalberer. Originally created by Fred King. Record added December 3, 2001.

• Family pictures sent to me from living cousins

• Lesser Family Tree by Nancy Lesser on Rootsweb.com - http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=nlesser1&id=I2585

• United States Federal Censuses:

1. 1860 Conewango, Warren County, Pennsylvania
2. 1870 Brokenstraw, Warren County, Pennsylvania
3. 1880 Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania
4. 1900 Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania

• Newspaper article from November 1900 describing his death is available behind a pay wall at ancestry dot com.