Miranda Wilmarth (Sheldon) Lux (1825 - 1894)

Born 23 Dec 1825 in Cranston, Providence County, Rhode Island, USA

Wife of Charles Lux — married 10 Feb 1857 in San Bruno, San Francisco County, California, USA

Descendants

Died 20 Sep 1894 at age 68 in San Francisco, San Francisco County, California, USA

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Biography

Miranda W. Lux was born in Cranston, Rhode Island on December 23, 1825. She was the daughter of Jeremiah and Sally Sheldon, and was reared in Chepachet, Rhode Island. On January 23, 1846 she was married to Jesse Potter. Shortly after the birth of their only son, Jesse Sheldon Potter, Jesse Sr. came to California, where he was joined by Miranda and their son the following year.

Unfortunately, Mr. Potter met an accidental death on April 15, 1854, when the steamer Secretary blew up on San Pablo Bay while racing the steamer Nevada.

Following the death of her first husband, she married Charles Lux, a partner in the Miller and Lux Company, one of California's largest landowning and ranching corporations.

Throughout her life, Mrs. Lux contributed to, and was involved in, the development of schools and aid societies. She was especially active as a director of the Protestant Orphan Asylum and as a leader in the kindergarten movement. Mrs. Lux was also vitally interested in technical, manual and vocational education; fields that were newly being considered important to the general education of children. Miranda Lux died on September 20, 1894. In her will, she set aside approximately $500,000 to perpetuate her lifelong interest, which she expressed in this way:

"It is my desire to assist in furnishing facilities for the education of young children in what is known as 'manual training' and all kinds of training by and through which habits of industry and practical knowledge of those things which are useful in earning a living may be acquired."

Eighteen years after the death of Mrs. Lux, her bequest would be used to found the Lux School of Industrial Training, an institution dedicated to the technical education of girls, which operated in San Francisco from 1908 until 1953. When the school was discontinued, the proceeds from the sale of its plant and equipment were added to the funds in the trust, and in 1955, the name of the trust was changed to the Miranda Lux Foundation.

Sources

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=21016722

Upper Snake River Family History Center and Ricks College (Rexburg, Idaho). California Marriages, 1850-1877 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.