Cornelius Lezenby and Eliza Wilson, Immigrants
and some of their Ancestors
and Descendants


GEORGE FRANCIS5 LEZENBY (John4George3John2, Cornelius1 ) was born at Vineland, Cumberland County, New Jersey on 6 April 1928 a son of John Wallace Lezenby and his wife Agnes Frances Brooks.[1] He married at Brimfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, on 20 June 1953, MARIE ALVINA BAGSTER-COLLINS.[2] She was born at Peekskill, Westchester County, New York, on 31 March 1932, a daughter of Denzil Bagster-Collins and his wife Emilie Borchers Mittendorf,[3] and died at Lansdale, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania on 10 November 2023.

George grew up in Vineland, the youngest of three sons of a taxi driver and postal worker married to an elementary school teacher. He graduated from Vineland High School on 1945.[4]

Marie “Mimi” Bagster-Collins spent her earliest years at Peekskill, while her father, Denzil Bagster-Collins, taught at various schools in Westchester County and nearby Connecticut. At the age of seven Mimi moved with her family to Penn Yan, Yates County, New York, as her father had taken the position of professor of English at Keuka College, Keuka Park, Yates County. Mimi moved rapidly through the grades of the Penn Yan school system, completed her last year of High School at Monson Academy, Monson, Hampden County, Massachusetts, and graduated in 1946 at the age of 15. After a year of post-graduate study at MacDuffie School, Granby, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, she entered Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Hampshire County, from which she graduated with a B.A. in Liberal Arts in 1952.[5]

George graduated from High School in June, 1945, and joined the Merchant Marine in July. Like his brothers, serving in the Merchant Marine and the Army Air Force, George was motivated by patriotism. The war ended in August. George came home for Christmas, was honorably discharged from the Merchant Marine, and signed up for the Navy in February, 1946.

After boot camp, George was placed in an "outgoing unit," and they were shipped in cattle cars to San Francisco. George reported, "It took a whole week to get across the country. On the way, people thought we were returning veterans and cheered." George was sent to Guam where he worked as a stevedore. He reported, "The food was terrible. It was left over food stored there for the invasion of Japan. The pay was held up. Our clothing wore out." A ship arrived with a box of T-shirts. Everyone was getting into them. Someone warned George they were coming to arrest them, so he took off his T-shirt. The rest of the group went to the brig for pilfering, but George escaped.

George's major assignment in the Navy was with the American Graves Registration. He was sent to Ulithi, in the Caroline Islands, about 400 miles south of Guam. There he and four other persons had the responsibility for digging up 300 bodies of soldiers to bring them back to the States. A huge fleet had been stationed there for the invasion of Okinawa. Some died of natural causes, others died from bombing of Japanese airplanes. The graves had been rushed. The diggers gave each head to a dentist to check the dental chart and identify the remains. The dentist was drafted, hated the service, and he and George became friends. The officer mistakenly suspected something inappropriate going on between them and gave George a hard time. Thy were in Ulithi 30 days.

Back in Guam, George worked as a stevedore with a group that had just been to a nuclear test site. They were at first stationed in a former Japanese POW camp on Guam.Then they were transferred to an air base where conditions were much better. George had diarrhea, was losing weight, and his hair was falling out. He was going to sick bay frequently, but they were not doing anything for him.. George got a picture of himself taken, and sent it home. His father spoke to a congressman who called the base commander, and George was sent to a hospital. He spent two months at the Navy hospital on Guam, in the dermatology unit. They were constantly testing for metabolism. He had low thyroid. George later read that the Navy at that time was using radio-active crystals to treat thyroid. Then he was sent to Hawaii, where he had an entire room of 50 beds to himself. He was told, "You’re radio-active, no one wants anything to do with you." After a week in Hawaii, George was sent to Oakland, California, for 6 to 8 months, where he was thoroughly tested. At a medical review in December 1947, he was told: "We don’t know what to do with you." Every night he had liberty. He enjoying going out; and was drinking too much. He decided to go home; they agreed.

His parents picked him up at the Camden Airport, and they went home in complete silence. They didn’t know what to do with him, wondering if perhaps he was an invalid. George joined the “52-20 club” through which he could get $25/week for 52 weeks. After one week he withdrew, and went to work at the glass factory for $30 a week.

Thanks to the G. I. Bill, the Lezenby boys could go to college, an option they had not previously thought possible. Alfred and John were already attending college. George started at Drexel University in Philadelphia, in September 1948. Through their work-study programs he spent time in New York City. he graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration on 13 June 1953. A week later, on 20 June, he and “Mimi” married.[6]

Springfield Republican for 21 June 1953, as found at genealogybank.com


wedding of George and Mimi
from the personal collection of George F. Lezenby

George and Mimi lived at Brooklyn, New York, for a couple of years. George worked in accounting for Peat, Marwick & Mitchell; Mimi worked for New York Life as a convention planner. Their first child was born in September, 1954. Mimi had been raised in the Episcopal Church and continued active all her life. George was confirmed in the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit at Brooklyn on 5 May 1955.

The Lezenby family moved to Rosalyn, Abington Township, Montgomery County, in 1955. A year later they moved to a new development at Canter Square Green, Whitpain Township, Montgomery County. George worked as comptroller for Gerhard Appliances, Glenside, Montgomery County, from 1955 to 1997. Mimi worked at “The Lighthouse,” a settlement house in the Kensington section of Philadelphia for a while, and later taught school in the Methacton School District, from 1972 to 1997.[7] About 2008 George and Mimi moved to Elm Terrace Gardens in Lansdale.

George and Mimi Lezenby affiliated with Saint Thomas Episcopal Church, Whitemarsh Township, Montgomery County, from 1 June 1956 to 18 December 1957.[8] Then they belonged to the Church of the Messiah, Gwynedd Township, Montgomery County. Since 1963 they have been active at Saint Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, Blue Bell, Montgomery County. George has served four terms on the vestry and Mimi has served two terms. George used his accounting skills in the service of the deanery, and regularly sings in the choir. All of the children were baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal Church.[9]

George Lezenby served on the Whitpain School Board beginning in 1964, and following school consolidation, on the Wissahickon School Board from 1966 to 1971. He was the first treasurer and fourth president of that Board. He also served on the North Montgomery County Vocational-Technical School Board and building comittee. After his school board experience, George served on the Wissahickon Library Board from 1971 to 1977, acting as president the last two years.

George and Mimi have both been active leaders in Parent Teacher organizations, and numerous other community activities. Mimi organized the CropWalk for the Wissahickon Valley area several years.[10]

Kathryn Lezenby graduated Wissahickon High School in 1974 and attended Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Greene County, Ohio, from 1974 to 1979.[11]

George Richard Lezenby, who goes by“Rick,” graduated from Wissahickon High School in 1975. He served in the Army about 1976 to 1979, where he was a clerk. He received a B.A. in Philosophy from Temple University, Philadelphia, in 1987, and later received a Masters in Library Science from Drexel University. His wife, “Margo” graduated from Freeport High School (Nassau County, New York), received a B. A. from the University of Pennsylvania about 1981, and an M.A. degree from Temple. Rick is a reference librarian at Temple University; Margo is an archivist at the Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia. Margo is active in the sport of fencing as a participant and as a coach. Margo and the children are confirmed in the Catholic Church.[12]

Chris Lezenby graduated from Germantown Friends School, Philadelphia, in 1981, received a B.A. in History from Temple University in 1986, and a Masters in Science Information Services from Pratt Institute, New York, New York. in 1990. He worked as a financial librarian for Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, New York, New York, from 1994 to 2018.[13]


LEZENBY FAMILY AT GREEN LANE PARK 2017
Front Row: Dan Lanpher, Mimi, Connie, Mina, Denzel, George
Middle Row: Katay, Margo, Chris
Back Row: Wesley Lanpher, Rick, Eleanor Lanpher

George Lezenby and his wife Mimi Bagster-Collins had the following children:

  1. CONSTANCE ANNE6 LEZENBY b. at Brooklyn, New York, on 25 September 1954.
  2. KATHRYN JOYCE6 LEZENBY b. at Abington on 13 July 1956.[14]
  3. GEORGE RICHARD6 LEZENBY b. at Norristown, Montgomery County, on 29 August 1957; m. at Readfield, Kennebec County, Maine, on 27 August 1988 MARGARET SZABUNIA, b. at Freeport, Nassau County, New York on 20 March 1958. Rick and Margo had the following children:
    1. Emilie Hermina Lezenby b. at Bryn Mawr on 31 January 1995.
    2. Denzil Wallis Lezenby b. at Bryn Mawr on 8 July 1997.[15]
  4. CHRISTOPHER ANDREW6 LEZENBY b. at Norristown on 3 November 1962; m(1). at Brooklyn on 19 May 1990 STEPHANIE HEACOX; divorced about 1996;[16] m(2) at Weld, Franklin county, Maine, on 16 August 2018 ELOISE FLOOD.[17] Chris Lezenby and his first wife Stephanie Heacox had the following child:
    1. Noah Bartholomew Lezenby b. at Brooklyn on 23 January 1992.[18]


FOUR GENERTIONS OF LEZENBY WOMEN
front: Eleanor Lanpher
middle: Mimi Lezenby, Anna Kohlman
back: Connie Lezenby, Kathryn Lanpher
photo by George F. Lezenby

NOTES

1Interview with George F. Lezenby and Marie Alvina Lezenby, by Charles A. Maxfield, 23 September 2010. notes held by Charles A. Maxfield (Lansdale, Pennsylvania).
2"SC Professor's Daughter Wed," Springfield Republican, 21 June 1953, p. 30, col. 8; Genealogy Bank (genealogybank.com : accessed 29 October 2016), Newspaper Archives.
3Interview, George F. Lezenby and Marie Alvina Lezenby, 23 September 2010.
4Vineland High School Vineland, Cumberland County, New Jersey, "The Record 1945," digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 7 June 2018), p. 29, George Francis Lezenby; U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1990.
5Interview, George F. Lezenby and Marie Alvina Lezenby, 23 September 2010.
6Interview, George F. Lezenby and Marie Alvina Lezenby, 23 September 2010. George Lezenby, Lansdale, Pennsylvania, interview by Charles A. Maxfield, 17 June 2018; notes, privately held by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale, Pennsylvania.
7Interview, George F. Lezenby and Marie Alvina Lezenby, 23 September 2010. George Lezenby, interview, 17 June 2018.
8"Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985," digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed ), St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Whitemarsh, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
9Interview, George F. Lezenby and Marie Alvina Lezenby, 23 September 2010. George Lezenby, interview, 17 June 2018.
10Ibid.
11Interview, George F. Lezenby and Marie Alvina Lezenby, 23 September 2010.
12Interview, George F. Lezenby and Marie Alvina Lezenby, 23 September 2010. Temple University, "Templar 1987," digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 7 June 2018), George Lezenby; U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1990.
13Interview, George F. Lezenby and Marie Alvina Lezenby, 23 September 2010. Temple University, "Templar 1985," digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 7 June 2018), p. 288, Christopher A. Lezenby; U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1990.
14Interview, George F. Lezenby and Marie Alvina Lezenby, 23 September 2010.
15Interview, George F. Lezenby and Marie Alvina Lezenby, 23 September 2010. Constance Anne Lezenby, Birthday Calendar, 2014, privately held by Constance Anne Lezenby, Lansdale, Pennsylvania.
16Interview, George F. Lezenby and Marie Alvina Lezenby, 23 September 2010. Constance Anne Lezenby, Birthday Calendar.
17Conversation with Nicholas Lezenby and Eloise Flood, by Charles A. Maxfield, 23 September 2018. held by Charles A. Maxfield.
18Interview, George F. Lezenby and Marie Alvina Lezenby, 23 September 2010.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lezenby, Constance Anne, Birthday Calendar, 2014. Privately held by Constance Anne Lezenby, Lansdale, Pennsylvania.

Lezenby, George. Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Interview by Charles A. Maxfield, 17 June 2018. notes. Privately held by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale, Pennsylvania, .

Lezenby, George F. Lezenby and Marie Alvina. Interview. 23 September 2010. notes held by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale, Pennsylvania.

"Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985." Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com.

Springfield Republican. Springfield, Hampden county, Massachusetts. 21 June 1953.

Temple University, "Templar 1987." Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.

________. "Templar 1985." Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.

Vineland HighSchool, Vineland, Cumberland County, New Jersey. "The Record 1945." Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.


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