Nicholas Bittner

Daniel + Amelia Dustin Lasbury. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FindaGrave ID: 178462711
• Residence: Camden, Maine, USA; Address:
  Beaucaire Ave, Camden, Maine, USA

Notes:

Died:
CAMDEN - Joshua Coffin Lasbury, 77, died Friday, Oct. 7, 2011, after a brief illness at Pen Bay Medical Center. He was born Aug. 17, 1934, in Hartford, Conn., son of Ralph Cherokee and Cecelia Chase Lasbury.

He attended Kingswood School and Hebron Academy, and University of Connecticut. From 1954 to 1958, he served in the U.S. Army, and was employed for many years in sales at various manufacturing companies from 1960 to 1984, including Clapp & Treat, West Hartford, Conn. He enjoyed hunting, fishing and gun collecting.

Surviving are his four children, Ashley A. Lasbury of Portland, Amelia L. Bittner and her husband, Daniel, Victoria L. Lasbury and her husband, Jamie R. Bloomquist, and Jessica C. Wheeler and her husband, Adam, all of Camden; sister, Abigail Fitzgerald and her husband, John, of Camden; brother, R. Chase Lasbury and his wife, Nan, of Winter Park, Fla.; 10 grandchildren, Cate, Nick, Samantha, Eleanor, Joshua, Margaret, Mason, Leah, Gabriel and Evelyn; many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents; daughter, Katherine Lasbury; sister, Cela Johnson; and brother, Benjamin L. Lasbury.

A memorial gathering was held Oct. 10. Interment will be private and held at the convenience of the family. If desired, memorial contributions may be made to Bob Gagnon Cancer Center, care of Pen Bay Medical Center, 22 White St., Rockland, ME 04841. Arrangements are with Long Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 9 Mountain St., Camden.

Joshua + Evelyn Elizabeth Cate. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Also Known As: Ralph Cherokee Lasbury
• FindaGrave ID: 16281051
• Occupation: Tobacco Grower
• Occupation: 6 May 1956; Tobacco Grower

Notes:

Died:
OBITUARY
By George Bradgon (regular correspondent for the Tobacco International)
Lasbury, Connecticut Valley head who wrought labor reform, dies
Ralph C. Lasbury Jr., one of the colorful figures in the history of tobacco-growing in the Connecticut River Valley, died March 18 at his winter home, Winter Park, Fla. Death came suddenly from a heart attack. He was 72. Under Lasbury's direction, the valley's growers of high-priced cigar-wrapper leaf drew national attention in the improvement of migrant farm workers' working and housing conditions. He was executive director of the Shade Tobacco Growers Agricultural Association in Connecticut and Massachusetts for 26 years, until retirement in 1968. At his retirement, the then- president of the association, Gerrit Krot. declared that no man in contemporary American agriculture contributed more to the industry's welfare. Such contributions were also referred to by Krot when Doris Rockwell, Lasbury's assistant, retired at the same time. He said she "also pioneered in capably administering the association's Youth Camp Program, the biggest farm youth employment program in the country, as well as our Farm Workers Hospital, the first and still the only establishment of its kind. " A tall, spare man, Lasbury was an outspoken individualist. He worked hard and played hard, taking pride in his ability to hunt ducks and coons, and to judge and ride horses. He was also proud of the fact that, to some extent, Indian blood flowed in his veins. Comparatively few knew that his middle name was Cherokee, his paternal grandmother being a member of that tribe. This in no way conflicted with the fact that one of the gifts of the American Indian to modern society was tobacco. Outside the door to his office stood a cigar-store Indian, and on the wall behind his desk hung a picture of one of his favorite horses. At a birthday party some time ago for a now-deceased grower named Thrall, Lasbury paid one of his highest tributes when declaring, "Oliver J. Thrall is the best coon-hunter in New England." Another hobby was collecting antique duck decoys, 200 of which Lasbury once owned. He helped popularize the Morgan horse and was the owner of the former national champion gelding, Windcrest Fireball. Lasbury was the first president of the Connecticut Morgan Horse Club. One of his first memories of the tobacco business occurred when, hardly old enough to walk, he was strapped to the buckboard of his father's wagon and rode while the older Lasbury inspected his 225 acres of broadleaf tobacco, grown for use as cigar binder

Lasbury finished his high school education in Winter Park, Fla., after his father sold his tobacco farm and moved south. While completing his education at Rollins College in Winter Park, he met his future wife, Cecilia Justice Chase. Mrs. Lasbury's family established Chase Groves, near Orlando, in which citrus business the fourth generation is still in active operation.

Ralph Lasbury returned to Connecticut and was appointed the first executive director of the Shade Tobacco Group in 1942 as a result of criticism aimed by the Connecticut State Department of Labor at the conditions surrounding employment of youth in tobacco fields and sheds. Children only eight years of age worked 9 1/2 hours a day, six days a week on some farms; there was criticism of housing, unsanitary living conditions, unsafe transportation, and lack of supervision in some cases.

Lasbury was called to his job as a result of his volunteer work with the Connecticut Defense Council at the outbreak of World War II, when he was assigned to take charge of farm labor. As his first job with the shade group, he drew up corrective regulations and obtained acceptance by the growers. The regulations were put in effect voluntarily in 1942, becoming the basis for Connecticut's pioneering Farm Labor Youth Law of 1947.

During the harvest season, 1968, Senator Harrison Williams of New Jersey. chairman of the Senate Migratory Labor Committee, inspected the shade growers' labor camp in Windsor, Conn.. with its modern housing, recreational and cafeteria facilities, representing a $2,000,000 investment. The association's operation was the "most enlightened" of any employer group in the nation he had visited, Senator Wiliams said. That year the shade growers employed a peak total of 20,000 farm hands with a $27 million payroll. Beginning with Lasbury's appointment and lasting until a few years after his retirement, growers operated a unique program, bringing West Indian residents annually for the season. They formed a core of experienced farm adults. Thousands annually were thus recruited, under a contract providing round trip air fare. Jamaicans were hired for many years, until enactment of alien work laws caused a switch to Puerto Ricans. Four years ago, after protracted labor troubles, the importation program was dropped, and domestic labor substituted.

A memorial service for Ralph Lasbury will be held May 19 at. 2:00 p.m. at the Congregational Church of South Windsor, Conn., in this the town where he lived most of his life.

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Ralph C. Lasbury, Jr. Collection:
The Shade Tobacco Growers Agricultural Association

Windsor Historical Society
96 Palisado Avenue, Windsor, CT 06095

? 2005 Windsor Historical Society

Full document at http://windsorhistoricalsociety.org/fa_lasbury.html

Ralph C. Lasbury, Jr. was born September 4, 1906, in the Broad Brook section of East Windsor, Connecticut. He was the second child of Ralph C. Lasbury and Eloise Thrall. Lasbury Senior was one of Connecticut's important broadleaf tobacco growers. At one point, he had 500 acres of broadleaf growing.

As a young boy, Ralph C. Lasbury, Jr. worked tobacco every summer. After high school, he went to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. He then worked for his father at the South Windsor Tobacco Company.

In the early 1930's, Mr. Lasbury worked for Henry Trumbull in Plainville, Connecticut. He developed a type of humus for tobacco beds and received much praise from the shade tobacco growers.

In 1939, he was appointed as the first Chairman of the Connecticut Marketing Authority in Hartford. He held that position until 1978. The Connecticut Regional Market in Hartford was one of his major accomplishments.

Mr. Lasbury was appointed to the Farm Labor Committee of the State Defense Council in 1941. He and a number of tobacco men, including William S. Fuller, Albert Newfield, Lamarr Monroe, and Charles Huntington, developed a code of standards for tobacco workers. Hours, housing, and sanitary conditions were included in the unprecedented code.

On November 30, 1942, Mr. Lasbury was hired as Executive Director of the Shade Tobacco Growers Agricultural Association. The first offices were established at 148 State Street in Hartford, Connecticut.

One of his first duties was to develop a workable labor program. His program included the establishment of attractive youth camps, adult guidance proposals, and a "day-haul" system so that local teachers and students could earn extra money. Also, many corrective regulations were drawn up. These became the basis for the Farm Labor Law of 1947.

Mr. Lasbury's job as spokesman for the tobacco growers brought him to the State Legislature. He also went to Washington to participate in Congressional hearings on tobacco labor and production problems.

One of Mr. Lasbury's proficiencies was his public relations work. He and the Association produced a documentary film on shade tobacco. The film served as a teaching tool for the public and the sales people of the cigar industry.

The 1960's saw more contributions by Mr. Lasbury to the industry. He established the first state licensed hospital in the United States for migrant agricultural workers. In 1968, Senator Harrison Williams of New Jersey inspected the Windsor Labor Camp and said that the association's operation was the "most enlightened" of any employer group he had seen in the country.

In 1968, Mr. Lasbury retired. Upon Lasbury's retirement, Gerrit Krot, president of the Shade Tobacco Growers Agricultural Association, said that "no man in contemporary American agriculture contributed more to the industry's welfare."

Besides his work in the Association, he had many other interests. Lasbury was the first president of the Connecticut Morgan Horse Club. He served as a director of the Connecticut Antiquarian and Landmarks Society. He was an avid trout fisherman and fox hunter and collected antique duck decoys.

Ralph C. Lasbury, Jr. died of a heart attack on March 18, 1979, in Winter Park, Florida. He was 72. When he died, he left his wife, Cecilia Chase Lasbury; two sons, Ralph C. Lasbury and Joshua C. Lasbury; and two daughters, Cecilia Johnson and Abigail Fitzgerald.



Scope and Contents

The collection documents a significant portion of the professional activities of Ralph C. Lasbury, Jr. over a period of fifty years as the head of Connecticut regional agricultural marketing and employer groups. Minutes, correspondence, reports, leases, fiscal reports, copies of state legislative activities, and newspaper articles document the establishment, opening, and operation of the Connecticut Regional Market, a venue for the sale of Connecticut agricultural commodities. It also contains minutes, correspondence, membership lists, reports, and negotiations on behalf of the British West Indies Employers' Association. Lasbury represented the interests of tobacco growers, traveled extensively for the Association's executive committee, and met regularly with Caribbean governmental officials.

Ralph married Cecilia Justice Chase on 2 Nov 1929 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Cecilia (daughter of Joshua Coffin Chase and Mary Cook Justice) was born on 6 Aug 1905 in Camden, Knox, Maine, USA; died on 17 May 1991 in Orange, Florida, USA; was buried in South Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FindaGrave ID: 16198150

Notes:

Married:
Marriage Licence number 580617