THE LASSETER FAMILY

 The following bio was taken from page 280 of the book entitled “Rusk County History” compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

 Transcribed by Shirley Koym

 Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Cemeteries of Texas

The Lasseter family came to Rusk County, Texas in the mid-1800’s from Pike County, Georgia.  Head of the family was Dr. William A. Lasseter, who was born in Pike County, January 13, 1826, together with his wife, Amanda Howell, born July 18, 1827, and four children, all born in Griffin, Georgia.  They were Solomon Marion Lasseter, who later fought in the Civil War in the First Texas Infantry, a part of Hood’s Brigade; Mary Lasseter, James Alexander Lasseter, and Frances Lasseter.

 The Lasseter's came to Texas in 1851, settling in Pine Hill, Rusk County, on a farm that was on the border of Rusk and Panola Counties.  Eleven other children were born to them, most of whom after their marriages became heads of large Rusk County families.

 Dr. Lasseter practiced medicine and also was a successful farmer.  Since the family home was at a crossroads, they had many and frequent guests, particularly Methodist and Baptist preachers and circuit riders.  It was the task of the sons to care for their guests’ horses.

 One daughter, Frances, married Joseph Hancock, and they were parents of Mrs. Charles Lacy, Mrs. P. M. Biddle, and Miss Cassie Hancock.  Solomon, the oldest son, married Antoinette Glaze.  Before his marriage he went with his father to the Civil War and his war record is recounted in Texas Who Wore the Gray by Sid Johnson.  He participated in the battles of his brigade from Yorktown to Chickamauga in which he was seriously wounded.  After the war he settled in Tyler where his family was prominent.  His son, Elbert, was a successful attorney, founder of the law firm of Lasseter, Simpson & Spruiell and also a founder of Peoples National Bank.  A grandson, Robert Hamilton, was a member of the Texas Supreme Court for many years.

 Among the Lasseter children was a set of twins, Robert Lee and Thomas Jackson.  Lee married Adella Long of Clayton, Panola County, and they established a home and farm about two miles north of Henderson at the intersection of what is now Millville Drive and the Kilgore Highway.  Lee Lasseter introduced the cultivation of strawberries and boysenberries in the county.  He was a successful truck farmer, raised ribbon cane and made syrup, and operated a dairy and a chicken hatchery

 Six children were born to the Lasseter’s:  Jessie, who became Mrs. Homer Schur; Imogene, who married Richard Davis and lived in Beaumont; and Eunice Lasseter, Ernest, Ramsey and Elwyn, the three sons who were educated at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College, going there when their friend and neighbor, Col. R. T. Milner, was president.  Ernest became an agriculture teacher in high schools in various towns of Texas; Ramsey was a chemist and employed with Gulf Oil Company in Sweetwater until his death in 1953.  Elywyn, an attorney, served in the House of Representatives in Austin in 1931-32 and later in the 1940’s.  While in Austin he married Eugenea Boehringer of Marshall who for ten years was secretary to C. V. Terrell, chairman of the Railroad Commission of Texas.  They moved to Henderson in 1936 where he was in partnership with Clifford Stone, an attorney.  During World War II he served as a member of the Selective Service Board.  He practiced law in Henderson until his death in 1960.

 The home place is now owned by a daughter, Imogene Davis, who lives there and her son, Richard Davis, attorney, now located in Conroe, Texas.

 Submitted by Gene Lasseter